Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Soundtrack]

John Carpenter, Halloween (Related Recordings) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 25, 1978
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00000153Q
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,926 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Halloween

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carpenter's classic score., October 12, 2001

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

Carpenter's simplistic score is every bit as famous as John Williams's score for Jaws, probably because it is so rhythmic and easy to remember.

This the 1983 remix release supervised by Carpenter and his then partner Alan Howarth, so the music is altered. There is a thumping bass beat beneath the Halloween Theme that did not exist in the original score (but was in the score for the sequel) and the tones are ever so slightly off, the piano not sounding quite as icy as it had in the film.

But these are minor quibbles. The music is still classic stuff and this disc is a required one for the director/composer's biggest fans. Highly recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good soundtrack, October 21, 2007

By 

T. Mckim - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

I'll make my review short so here it is:

If your looking for the original michael myers halloween music look no further, this is indeed the better soundtrack than the special edition one. This soundtrack includes all the music you hear,except Mr.Sandman,from the original halloween film. This soundtrack doesn't have voice clips within the tracks so if you want just the music, buy this soundtrack.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quintessential collection of scary songs!, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Audio CD)

Creepy, goose-bump inducing, spooky....I can't even listen to this CD when I'm alone at home, or else I get the uncontrollable feeling that Michael Myers himself is stalking me in my own house! Play it for the trick-or-treaters, or when you're in a weird mood, meditate to it....classical, supernatural, paranormal, mysterious and spiritual, really gets your mind thinking about the unknown. Halloween is that one night of the year when anything seems possible....