Soundtrack Review: Halloween (1978)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

October 31, 2008

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110108 0700 soundtrackr1 Soundtrack Review: Halloween (1978) This is a review of the motion picture score for Halloween by John Carpenter.

“It can be argues that this score only contains 3 cues, but given the context of the movie and the overall coolness of the tracks it doesn’t need anything more.”

So this is the first Halloween of SoundtrackGeek.com and aren’t we excited! I love horror movies, always have, however there are hardly any great horror scores, and certainly not memorable ones. One can say a lot about John Carpenter and I’m sure you will, however in 1978 he composed for a movie called Halloween which became pretty famous. Not only have the sadistic main character Michael Myers killed a lot of people, but he has also helped John Carpenter become a famous composer and film maker. It has been 30 years since it all began and a bunch of sequels and a prequel has been made since. John Carpenter only composed for Halloween 1, 2 and 3, then he left it to Alan Howarth. You are probably wondering why I am reviewing the original score instead of the 20^th anniversary edition. First of all, avoid the 20^th anniversary edition. It adds nothing new, and a lot of the cues are just dialogue from the movie itself. This is the real deal and is the best edition in my opinion. So how does this stand up to the test of time? It’s 30 years later and is it still worth listening to?

Track List

Halloween – Main Title (*****)
Laurie’s Theme (****)
Shape Escapes (***)
Meyers’ House (****)
Michael Kills Judith (****)
Loomis And Shape’s Car (***)
The Haunted House (****)
The Shape Lurks (****)
Laurie Knows (**)
Better Check The Kids (***)
The Shape Stalks (****)

Halloween – Main Title

There are 11 cues on the original record and we’ll stick to that. It’s funny, but if you take away the Halloween Theme, this score would have been long forgotten. That didn’t happen however and it’s easily remembered as one of the best horror scores of all time. We of course start off with the famous “Halloween – Main Title” which sound has been haunting us each Halloween since and to be honest, I’m still not tired of it and probably never will be. Such is the power of the theme crafted by John Carpenter that it will outlive us all. Truth be told, it’s not really a scary cue, but it’s hard to beat sentimentalism and fond memories of horror past. It is truly one of the greatest horror cues ever made so thank you John Carpenter for that feat.

We move on to theme nr. 2 which is known as “Laurie’s Theme”. It is a simple 3 key piano piece, a very dark and sad one at that. It does have it’s merits and works well within the context of the movie. The twisted and lonely Michael Myers certainly had his influence over “Laurie’s Theme”. While the 80s-like bass is thumping through it, we think of the sad relationship between Laurie and her brother Michael. “Shape Escapes” is a reprise of the main theme with some echo effects that perhaps should be in a science fiction feature. It brings us to “Meyers’ House” which is a sad place to be as the somber piano from “Laurie’s Theme” plays on in an even slower tempo to make it even more twisted. At the end, the main theme ends this cue.

3 Themes

Judith screams for help in the cue “Michael Kills Judith”, but perhaps not the way you think. The screams are highly synthesized and it’s the opening of this cue. It’s quite creepy. This cue use less piano, except for a variation of “Laurie’s Theme” but it relies heavily on its electronic sound. “Loomis and Shape’s Car” starts of like “Shape Escape”, which is exactly like the main theme except for some added synths at the end. “The Haunted House” is again a variation of “Laurie’s Theme”, but like “Michael Kills Judith” focuses less on the piano and more on John Carpenter’s synthesizers.

There is one more theme, and it is introduced in “The Shape Lurks”. Here Carpenter tries to do something different by using the piano as a kind of “Psycho” effect. It’s a lurking sound and works great in the movie. The theme is simply 3 keys on the piano which doesn’t change pitch or tone throughout the cue. Simple but effective with added synth and bass. To tell the truth, this score relies heavily on 3 themes I have described and each of the 11 cues uses variations of these. It can be argues that this score only contains 3 cues, but given the context of the movie and the overall coolness of the tracks it doesn’t need anything more. “Laurie’s Theme” is used as the main force in both “Laurie Knows” and “Better Check the Kids” and the lurking piano theme from “The Shape Lurks” is stalking us in the cue “The Shape Stalks”.

Conclusion

There is no doubt, this soundtrack is indeed remembered for its main theme, but there’s more to it than that. The Carpenter sound is not for everyone, but no one can deny the themes effectiveness of getting the message across. Michael Myers is out there and he is out to get you. It’s a classic horror score that everyone should listen to and enjoy on Halloween and for the rest of the year. Happy halloween!

110108 0700 soundtrackr2 Soundtrack Review: Halloween (1978)