Halloween movie playlist: Slasher soundtrack maker is back

More than 40 years after his Halloween theme announced the arrival of one of the most feared slashers in cinema history, Carpenter’s score remains on top of any poll of horror film soundtracks. After Hollywood executives declared the 1978 classic wasn’t scary enough after test screenings, its director composed and recorded his mighty movie music in just three days, transforming the viewing experience from a whimper to a bloodcurdling scream. With no budget and the clock ticking, armed with the DNA of his music professor father and an array of synthesisers, Carpenter perfected the marriage of score and scenes to amplify the plot’s shocks and surprises and trigger the viewer’s emotional anxiety. “Yeah, that’s the whole point, to provide another voice in there; that’s what we’ve always hoped to do,” the veteran filmmaker says. While lionised as a filmmaker, Carpenter has generated a cult following for his scores and soundtracks.He has been composing and recording his own scores since he created the soundtrack to his first film, 1974’s Dark Star, originally as a cost-cutting measure. But he remained the soundtrack star even as he struck box office gold throughout the ’80s and ’90s with the Halloween franchise and Escape From New York and its sequel. And the budgets got better.“They sure have. And the time has gotten better than the three days I had in 1978,” he says.After the 1978 original, Carpenter wasn’t interested in directing any of the sequels as he felt he had already “made that film once”. But he was brought back into the fold for the slasher series’ reboot as a trilogy, helmed by director David Gordon Green and horror hit maker producer Jason Blum. They launched with Halloween (same title as the original but entirely different film) in 2018, followed by this year’s Halloween Kills and concluding next year with Halloween Ends. “There were a few conversations and Jason Blum convinced me to be involved. He said, ‘Look, they’re going to remake this movie with you or without you. So why don’t you lend your voice and make it better instead of sitting on the sidelines and criticise it?’ “And I said, ‘OK, I’ll do that’. It’s worked out pretty well.”Carpenter again enlisted his musician son Cody and composer Daniel Davies – the son of The Kinks’ Ray Davies – to create the score for Halloween Kills, the 11th instalment of the slasher series. The composer says the trio start with the bedrock of his original theme and build on that after watching the rough cut of the film, adding layers of sinister synth tones, dissonant notes and that particular sonic alchemy which steals your breath and sends your pulse racing. Even the song titles, including Rampage, It Needs To Die, Unkillable and He Appears, are enough to send shudders down your spine. “I wanna prepare you … Halloween Kills is pretty rough,” Carpenter says.“It’s the ultimate slasher film, it’s not for the weak.”Even after almost five decades as a composer for film – and also with his son and Davies as their side project Lost Themes – Carpenter is no closer to understanding why the horror genre needs music to amplify its impact on the viewer. “I don’t know why but it does. I decided not to question that years ago, not to ask myself that anymore,” he says.“It’s just what we need to do to make the movie.”Your Halloween movie playlist1. Halloween theme, John Carpenter – if you don’t shudder the second you hear those staccato piano notes, you may actually be Michael Myers. 2. Suspiria, Goblin – Tinkling music box chimes underneath the creepy male “lalalas” of the Italian prog rockers create a harrowing listening experience. 3. Ave Santani, Jerry Goldsmith – Any fan of The Omen has spent a lifetime being traumatised by Gregorian chants thanks to this truly menacing piece of music. 4. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield – Chimes were a bit of a go-to for ’70s horror as evidenced by their recurring resonance in The Exorcist. This may be the biggest “pop hit” ever spawned by the devil’s work. 5. The Thing, Ennio Morricone – The exquisitely built tension with the bass pulsing against synths which sound like they are rising from a crypt and played by a skeleton gets the jaw clenching and the palms sweating. 6. Prelude, Bernard Herrmann – The Psycho theme sounds like the frantic swoosh of a knife slashing through air. The loud, jolting strings forecast the terror to unfold at the Bates Motel. 7. Hello Zepp, Charlie Clouser – The music from the Saw films tipped its hat at the ’70s pioneers with its insistent orchestration and crunchy (sorry!) percussion.

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October 21, 2021 at 11:30PM
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More than 40 years after his Halloween theme announced the arrival of one of the most feared slashers in cinema history, Carpenter’s score remains on top of any poll of horror film soundtracks. After Hollywood executives declared the 1978 classic wasn’t scary enough after test screenings, its director composed and recorded his mighty movie music in just three days, transforming the viewing experience from a whimper to a bloodcurdling scream. With no budget and the clock ticking, armed with the DNA of his music professor father and an array of synthesisers, Carpenter perfected the marriage of score and scenes to amplify the plot’s shocks and surprises and trigger the viewer’s emotional anxiety. “Yeah, that’s the whole point, to provide another voice in there; that’s what we’ve always hoped to do,” the veteran filmmaker says. While lionised as a filmmaker, Carpenter has generated a cult following for his scores and soundtracks.He has been composing and recording his own scores since he created the soundtrack to his first film, 1974’s Dark Star, originally as a cost-cutting measure. But he remained the soundtrack star even as he struck box office gold throughout the ’80s and ’90s with the Halloween franchise and Escape From New York and its sequel. And the budgets got better.“They sure have. And the time has gotten better than the three days I had in 1978,” he says.After the 1978 original, Carpenter wasn’t interested in directing any of the sequels as he felt he had already “made that film once”. But he was brought back into the fold for the slasher series’ reboot as a trilogy, helmed by director David Gordon Green and horror hit maker producer Jason Blum. They launched with Halloween (same title as the original but entirely different film) in 2018, followed by this year’s Halloween Kills and concluding next year with Halloween Ends. “There were a few conversations and Jason Blum convinced me to be involved. He said, ‘Look, they’re going to remake this movie with you or without you. So why don’t you lend your voice and make it better instead of sitting on the sidelines and criticise it?’ “And I said, ‘OK, I’ll do that’. It’s worked out pretty well.”Carpenter again enlisted his musician son Cody and composer Daniel Davies – the son of The Kinks’ Ray Davies – to create the score for Halloween Kills, the 11th instalment of the slasher series. The composer says the trio start with the bedrock of his original theme and build on that after watching the rough cut of the film, adding layers of sinister synth tones, dissonant notes and that particular sonic alchemy which steals your breath and sends your pulse racing. Even the song titles, including Rampage, It Needs To Die, Unkillable and He Appears, are enough to send shudders down your spine. “I wanna prepare you … Halloween Kills is pretty rough,” Carpenter says.“It’s the ultimate slasher film, it’s not for the weak.”Even after almost five decades as a composer for film – and also with his son and Davies as their side project Lost Themes – Carpenter is no closer to understanding why the horror genre needs music to amplify its impact on the viewer. “I don’t know why but it does. I decided not to question that years ago, not to ask myself that anymore,” he says.“It’s just what we need to do to make the movie.”Your Halloween movie playlist1. Halloween theme, John Carpenter – if you don’t shudder the second you hear those staccato piano notes, you may actually be Michael Myers. 2. Suspiria, Goblin – Tinkling music box chimes underneath the creepy male “lalalas” of the Italian prog rockers create a harrowing listening experience. 3. Ave Santani, Jerry Goldsmith – Any fan of The Omen has spent a lifetime being traumatised by Gregorian chants thanks to this truly menacing piece of music. 4. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield – Chimes were a bit of a go-to for ’70s horror as evidenced by their recurring resonance in The Exorcist. This may be the biggest “pop hit” ever spawned by the devil’s work. 5. The Thing, Ennio Morricone – The exquisitely built tension with the bass pulsing against synths which sound like they are rising from a crypt and played by a skeleton gets the jaw clenching and the palms sweating. 6. Prelude, Bernard Herrmann – The Psycho theme sounds like the frantic swoosh of a knife slashing through air. The loud, jolting strings forecast the terror to unfold at the Bates Motel. 7. Hello Zepp, Charlie Clouser – The music from the Saw films tipped its hat at the ’70s pioneers with its insistent orchestration and crunchy (sorry!) percussion.