There’s a reason the classic Halloween score is still John Carpenter’s ringtone.
Even after all these years, the shrill “Michael Myers Theme” still has an ability to make our toes curl with a mixture of fear and trepidation.
Although when it comes to Blumhouse and David Gordon Green’s horror sequel, one which ignores all other installments in the franchise save for the first, Carpenter is bringing a “fresh and inventive” score to help welcome Myers back to the big screen after almost 40 years – 40 years for the Blumhouse timeline; 16 years for everyone else.
Those comments were made by Green during San Diego Comic-Con, which brought forth a new and seemingly terrifying promo for the Halloween of 2018. It’s a franchise revival brimming with nostalgia and A-list talent, and Green is a big believer in the music that’s been woven into the fabric on his sequel.
It’s certainly the foundation of this movie, is John’s original theme. He’s composing the music with his son, Cody [Carpenter], and Daniel Davies, so the three of them are working together. It’s fun to be able to say, ‘When do you want iconic and when do you want to be fresh and inventive?’ So that’s kind of the balance we’re exploring right now. Hopefully, he’s doing that today. The score also has a bit of Christine and Big Trouble in Little China in it.
And we can’t say we disagree. Without Carpenter’s classic score playing in the backdrop, Michael Myers wouldn’t be nearly as formidable as he is when those famous piano chords begin to strike. Plus, with callbacks to Christine and Big Trouble in Little China, it would seem John Carpenter brought all of his experience to bear for this one.
Halloween has been earmarked for a global release on October 19th. And yes, it appears David Gordon Green and his creative team – primarily co-writer Danny McBride – have mulled over the possibility of a direct sequel already.