The recent world premiere of David Gordon Green’s Halloween at TIFF (our review here) has us very excited. The general buzz afterward was extremely positive, and most people praised the focus on Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode and her daughter and granddaughter, played by Judy Greer and Andi Matichak, respectively.
But also getting heaps of accolades is the score, composed by the man who composed, co-wrote, and directed the original, the one and only John Carpenter. We’ve been dying to hear his new take on the familiar music, and now Sacred Bones Records has unveiled the first track from the upcoming soundtrack, fittingly titled “The Shape Returns.”
The entire soundtrack is composed by Carpenter along with his son Cody and his godson Daniel Davies, with whom he composed and toured his two Lost Themes albums and re-recorded several of his classic movie scores. The above gives us a several of the cues we remember from the original movie–the opening sting/trill, the driving beat of the bass drum and clicks, the familiar 6/4 time theme itself–but adds quite a few new elements. There’s much more emphasis on the different types of synth sounds for the theme, giving us the 1978 original toward the beginning, and something much more akin to the 1981 sequel version thereafter, with fuzzier squeals and howls.
Since this track is not merely the theme, but a cue from the film itself–presumably from the moment when Michael Myers puts on the infamous William Shatner mask again and fully embodies his evil destiny–we also get to hear some of the other spins Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies are bringing to the movie. It definitely has the right feel, but thankfully it doesn’t feel like a straight retread of the original. It’s been 40 years, after all.
Halloween the movie and the soundtrack album drop on October 19. Only one month to go, trick or treaters!
Image: Blumhouse
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
