John Carpenter has shared the track "Michael's Legend" from the score for the upcoming film Halloween Kills. Halloween Kills is the second film in Blumhouse's trilogy about the serial killer Michael Myers, who first appeared in Carpenter's 1978 classic Halloween. Although it is the 12th film in the Halloween franchise overall, the film is only in continuity with the original film and the 2018 Halloween. Halloween Kills will debut in theaters and stream on Peacock simultaneously on October 15.
John Carpenter's influence can be felt across the entire franchise. On the first film, which he made independently on an extremely low budget, he was director, co-writer, producer, and composer. He went on to write 1981's Halloween II (though it was directed by Rick Rosenthal), and scored that film along with the largely unrelated Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Carpenter's iconic synthesizer score has become synonymous with the franchise and the holiday of Halloween in general.
When Carpenter returned to score 2018's Halloween, he collaborated with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, the son of Dave Davies from The Kinks. They set out to use all the resources at their disposal to take the necessarily simple original score and expand it into a larger soundscape without losing its iconically terrifying charms. The trio will be returning to score Halloween Kills, and on YouTube, John Carpenter has shared a new track from the film. Check out "Michael's Legend" below:
This new track continues their work of resurrecting the feeling of the original Halloween theme while also breathing new life into it. They have transposed its pared-down eeriness into a grand gothic sound that feels like it will swell until it crushes the listener under its sheer atmosphere. It doesn't have a sound that is quite as unique as "The Shape Hunts Allyson," the standout track from their previous collaboration, but it's a clear and definite continuation of the feeling they captured in 2018.
There really isn't anyone better than John Carpenter to tell the story of Michael's Legend, whether in music or on screen. He may not have written or directed Halloween Kills, but providing the score is both a way of providing a stamp of approval and driving the story in the direction it needs to go. As anyone who has seen a Halloween film knows, the music is perhaps the key element to delivering the franchise's epic clash between good and evil, so it's refreshing to have him behind the reins of a Michael Myers movie soundscape once again.
Source: John Carpenter
