art two in my John Carpenter series. Some of these fuckers are a bitch to find, so enjoy! Oh, and just to disappoint some of you right now instead of later, I don’t have Assault On Precinct 13 or Dark Star.
Halloween I
I think it can be scientifically proven that Halloween is the best slasher movie of all time. A large part of its effect has to be contributed to the amazing score provided by the film’s director John Carpenter. It may sound like it was recorded on a Casio keyboard, but the stark and slightly unearthly feeling of it really helps create the mood of the movie. Carpenter has done the score to nearly all of his films (The Thing being a notable exception, but he was able to get Ennio Morricone for that one so who can blame him for passing) but this is still probably his best. It’s in print but you can usually only find the 20th Anniversary Edition for sale, which is pretty much just a CD version of the movie. This is just the music, the way it should be.
Halloween II
Carpenter was surprisingly involved in the sequel to Halloween. He wrote and produced with the Debra Hill, and once again contributed the score. Helping him on the score was Alan Howarth, who also worked on the score to another cult classic, The Final Countdown. Most of this album is just reworked versions of the original score, but it still sounds damn good. This one is a little harder to come by, if you want a CD of it you’ll have to shell out anywhere from 30-60 bucks on eBay.
Halloween III
I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen Halloween III but I’ve heard good things about it and this score is pretty good. John Carpenter worked on this score too, and I’m pretty sure it’s the last one he was directly involved with (the rest of them just recycled the stuff he already did.) I do know one thing though, this thing is a bitch to find. Want it on vinyl? That’ll set you back about $125. How about CD? Hope you got $200 to blow. Unless you’re as insane lucky as I am, and you can pick it up for five bucks.