Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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Brand: HALLOWEEN-20TH ANNIVERSARY EDIComposer: John Carpenter
Conductor: John Carpenter
Composer: John Ottman
Composer: Paul Rabjohns
Orchestra: Bowling Green Philharmonic
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 1998-09-22
Music Label: Varese Sarabande
Soundtracks:
- Halloween Theme
- Halloween 1963
- The Evil Is Gone!
- Halloween 1978
- The Boogie Man Is Comming
- The Shape
- The Hedge
- He Came Home
- Trick Or Treat
- The Haunted House
- The Devil's Eyes
- The Boogie Man Is Outside
- Damn You For Letting Him Go!
- Empty Street
- See Anything You Like?
- Lock The Door
- He's Here?
- Light's Out
- Cut It Out
- Tombstone
- The Shape Stalks Laurie
- Turn Auround
- Unlock The Door
- The Hanger
- Call The Police
- Last Assault
- Was It The Boogie Man?
- End Credits: Halloween Theme-Reprise
Music reviews of Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music Review: John Carpenter's classic minimalist horror movie soundtrack
Rating: 5 Stars
I never underestimate the importance of a great musical score to elevate a movie. The epic score that John Williams composed for the original "Star Wars" movie is a great example on that point. John Carpenter's score for his film "Halloween" performs the same function, albeit on a less artistic and arguably more primal level. After all, Carpenter provides a remarkably minimalist score using a collection of synthesized instruments, piano, and percussion, and ends up with one of the most effective horror movie scores of all time.
For the 20th anniversary edition of the "Halloween" soundtrack a collection of choice bits of dialogue have been added. This works for two reasons. The first is that it is difficult to hear this music and not have scenes from the film come to mind, so you might as well hear the dialogue. But the second is more important, and that is because there is a lot of repetition with the musical motifs here, of which there are five primary ones.
First, there is the "Halloween Theme" which becomes identified as "The Shape," as Michael Myers is referred to in the credits. Second, the strings that you hear in the "Halloween Theme" end up being the theme we associate with the character of Laurie Strode, and if you are wondering why you think the heroine in this film is doomed, the music would be a good reason. Third, there is the "Haunted House" motif, which is associated first with the old Myers house and then whatever building the Shape happens to be in before he appears and stars slicing and dicing teenagers. This is associated with the stalking theme of "Hedge," "Boogie Man is Outside," and "Empty Street," which escalates into the final theme when the Shape goes after Laurie in "The Shape Stalks Laurie" and "Last Assault."
The effectiveness of this soundtrack is captured in contrasting the opening track of the "Halloween Theme," where the short-stringed piano and synthesized strings create the richest track on the album, and the simple and unsettling piano motif that represents the Shape. I always wondered why this was so effective and now I know. Instead of being in standard 4-4 time, the motif is done in 5-4 time. No wonder it sounds unnatural, eerie, and wrong. Of course, ever since Bernard Hermann's classic score for "Psycho" the high- pitched sound of strings has been associated with homicidal maniacs playing with sharp instruments. But Carpenter goes for something rather different, going instead for electronic sounds in the lower register in addition to the sharper synthetic sounds at the other end.
Every October 31st when the porch lights are finally out and the candy that the trick or treaters have not taken away can be claimed as my own, I watch "Halloween." The music has always been the best part of the movie for me, but it was not until I listened to this sound track and read the linear notes that I could really appreciate the way it was constructed, both in terms of the distinctive musical motifs and the way Carpenter uses his specific instrumentation to great effect. Yes, it gets a bit redundant and repetitive (on what would have been the "B-Side" in the old days of vinyl albums), but that is off set by the dialogue and the deserved reputation and "Halloween" soundtrack has in the pantheon of horror movie soundtracks. Final Note: Note how the finale of "Halloween" is rescored when it becomes the opening of "Halloween II" and render your own judgment as to how effective the change is given it is now the prologue and not the climax of the film.
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Description of Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: HALLOWEEN-20TH ANNIVERSARY EDI
Title: SCORE
Street Release Date: 09/22/1998
Genre: SOUNDTRACK
The success of the original Halloween launched six sequels, a ravenous decade's worth of imitators, and Hollywood careers for star Jamie Lee Curtis and director John Carpenter. But its budget was a micro one, and director Carpenter managed to save a few bucks by hiring the same composer he'd worked with since his days as a student and struggling indie--himself. Borrowing the staccato rhythmic devices of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells cum Exorcist score, Carpenter overlaid them with a few simple Grand Guignol-esque synth chords and created nothing less than a surprisingly enduring horror classic. Carpenter also gleaned a few hints from Italian prog-rock horror-score kings Goblin, imbuing his simple, synthesizer-based cues with an almost subconscious sense of dread, tension, and impending doom. If the music has become something of a modern cliché, that's only a testament to its continued ability to strike terror in the hearts of listeners. --Jerry McCulley
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