Gary McFarland (1933-1971) was a jazz composer, arranger and performer whose light shined bright during his brief career in the 1960s; he died young in semi-mysterious circumstances. McFarland was lauded for his melodic gifts and imaginative jazz orchestrations; he possessed the affinity for mood and simplicity of expression that marks most great film composers—so it was no surprise when he tackled his first film score in 1966, for Eye of the Devil (which also goes by the title 13).

Eye of the Devil (1966) was a troubled horror film directed by J. Lee Thompson starring David Niven as the patriarch of a wine estate in rural France. When the fortunes of the vineyard go bad, Niven is summoned to die in ritualistic sacrifice—the destiny of all male heads of the family. This is discovered slowly by Deborah Kerr as the man’s sympathetic wife, and the film’s telling from her point of view allowed McFarland to write a beautiful, melancholy and expressive melody that aches with her loss and heartbreak. The theme is utterly captivating and would have been worthy of Silver Age greats like Barry, Mancini or Morricone—though it is crafted in McFarland’s own style.

The film features a component of witchcraft—David Hemmings and Sharon Tate co-star as a brother-and-sister warlock and witch—and McFarland uses haunting wordless vocals to express the mystery and horror of the European gothic setting. For the film’s climax—as the ritual suicide is carried out—McFarland creates a kind of “bolero of death” for the fateful procession; here, as in the rest of the score, the dynamic arrangements are informed by the best symphonic jazz of the era, not simply of film music.

01. Main Theme/Philippe's Study (4:49)
02. Drive to Chateau (1:00)
03. Catherine's Drive (1:30)
04. Int. Chateau Night/Jacques in Bed (3:21)
05. Odile and Children (1:21)
06. Arrow Into Tree (1:28)
07. Catherine in Chateau at Night/Children on Parapet/Catherine and Odile on Parapet/Children on Steeple (5:14)
08. Christian Galloping/Horses (0:50)
09. The Grave in the Forest (5:12)
10. Nightmare (2:34)
11. Procession (3:03)
12. Catherine to Tower (3:34)
13. You Must Help Me (5:30)
14. Parapet Pt. 1 (2:20)
15. Parapet Pt. 2 (2:32)
16. Jacques and the Eye (1:23)
17. Trailer (2:33)

Total Time: 48:44