Halloween: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

John Carpenter, Halloween (Related Recordings)

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 (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,834 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #19 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Holiday > Halloween
  #22 in	Music > Soundtracks > By Decade > 1970s

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 Good soundtrack, October 21, 2007

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

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.

6 of 6 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in my Collection!, October 26, 2005

By	Michael L. Matheny "music fan" (Byram, MS USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love to collect all sorts of scary and suspense film scores and this one is the top in my collection. Like I said before I collect film score cd's. The others i enjoy listening to are the following:

*The Amityville Horror by Lalo Scifrin
*The Exorcist by Various composers
*Psycho by Bernard Herrmann
*Cape Fear by Bernard Herrmann/Elmer Bernstein
*The Others by Alejandro Amenabar
*What Lies Beneath by Alan Silvestri
*Halloween (of course) by John Carpenter

If you enjoy hearing scary and suspense music that is written for films, be sure to check "Halloween" out, plus all of the other cd's that I listed above. You won't be disappointed!