Halloween: 20th Anniversary Edition - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [EXTRA TRACKS] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [SOUNDTRACK]

John Carpenter, Halloween (Related Recordings)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 1998)
• Original Release Date: October 21, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00000C2CJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,864 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Evil Has Gone!, November 19, 2002

By	Matthew Gladney (Champaign-Urbana, IL USA) - See all my reviews

For fans of the 1978 classic slasher film "Halloween", this 20th anniversary soundtrack is a must-have. When director John Carpenter set out to write his own music for the low budget horror flick, little did we know that he was about to bring us a stirring, gripping score, in the spirit of master suspense composer Bernard Herrmann, himself.

The story of "Halloween" is pretty familiar to most people, especially to those most likely to look into purchasing this soundtrack. Michael Myers was a young boy who brutally stabbed and murdered his sister back in 1963. He was taken to a mental hospital and was put under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis (the name being an homage to a character in Hitchcock's "Psycho"). In 1978, Michael Myers breaks free, returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, IL., and terrorizes a teenage babysitter named Laurie Strode. All of the frenzied, harrowing action takes place on Halloween night. The small town setting evokes the loneliness of Autuman well: leaves descend from their trees and blow through the streets, and jack-o-lanterns line the porches of the nice, quiet homes. Michael Myers shatters all of that serenity once night falls. The film is a suspenseful, pulse-pounding exercise in terror and fear. This is all enhanced greatly by its excellent score.

Director John Carpenter notes that he played the film, sans the music, for a movie executive, and she said that it wasn't scary. Months later, once she had seen it finished, with the ominous score composed and attached, her opinion changed completely. Carpenter, with just a few sparse notes, manages to interpose urgency, dread, fear, and evil presence, ever so exceptionally into the foreboding film. Visual and aural cues work brilliantly together to form a near-perfect blend of synchronous fright. Michael Myers turns the staircase, the music reflects it. He suddenly sits up, the music is right there. He is spotted across the street from Laurie Strode's school, the score hauntingly emanates. It is simple, but effective.

One should be aware of a couple of things about this this 20th anniversary soundtrack. It is 28 tracks long, and as the score is somewhat simple, there is a bit of repetition involved. Also, the dialogue for each score segment is included on this soundtrack. If you are wanting just the music, then this is not for you. Personally, I think the inclusion of the dialogue adds to the fun of the disc. As I said at the beginning of the review, this soundtrack is a must-have for the *fans* of the film. It is a good companion-piece to the movie. In fact, one could almost say that it *is* the movie. Few scores have been able to so definitively evoke the atmosphere of their films as well as "Halloween" has. Sit back, listen, and be scared.

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I wanted the music on CD -- not the movie on CD, December 7, 2004

By	D. COLLIER "Doug Collier" (Brownwood, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really enjoy the great synthesizer sound (usually this phrase would be an oxymoron) of this film. John Carpenter is definitely a multi-talented artist (writer, director, composer). So, I am not in any way criticizing the music itself.

My gripe is against this particular CD release. I was expecting to receive a CD with only the music. Unfortunately, very few of these tracks are music only. Most of them are music accompanied by dialogue from the movie. If this only happened once or twice, I wouldn't mind so much. But it's nearly every single track. Would you buy the STAR WARS soundtrack if it had a whole bunch of dialogue on the tracks? How about THE GODFATHER, LORD OF THE RINGS, GLADIATOR, or any other great motion picture soundtrack? If people want the dialogue, then they will surely buy the DVD. But most people buy a soundtrack for the sole purpose of having the music only.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Score That Changed The Face Of Halloween Forever, October 31, 2004

By	the-gr8shag - See all my reviews

Director John Carpenter's score to the film "Halloween" is an absolute classic score, that after 25 years, can still give people chills, even if they have never watched the film.

This is a textbook example of how the power of music in a film can change the face of a it, while also, amping the film up(another great example is "Jaws").

If you don't believe me, grab a copy of "Halloween" on DVD and skip to the sequence where Laurie Strode finds out all of her friends have been slaughtered thanks to Michael Myers. Watch the entire sequence, with the volume off, from where Laurie falls down the stairs, all the way thru to where she barely makes it back across the street & into the Doyle house. Now, watch the same sequence again, but this time with the volume on & my message is made pretty clearly.

Without music in a film, emotions can't be fully brought to life, actions can be missteps, & points and themes can never be driven fully home.

With the score to "Halloween", true evil in its rawest form is unleashed and the holiday that is also known as Samhein has never been the same since.

Nor will it ever change.