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The biggest dilemma facing the music for 2018's Halloween was its general approach to the passing of time. Should the score reprise its former self as a method of reminding the audience that, despite the decades in the interim, nothing has really changed between the lead characters? Or should that time, and the troubles and preparation of the heroine, reshape (pun intended!) the score into an evolved version of its prior presence? A combination of both, favoring the latter, was probably the best bet. Carpenter, however, decided upon a straight update of the classic score, retaining the synthetic tones of yesteryear while beefing up some of their qualities with newer technology. If you found the original score to be arduously grating, then the same will apply here. An enhanced role for electric guitar is the most obvious alteration to the equation, chase cues like "The Shape Hunts Allyson" and "The Shape and Laurie Fight" likely appealing most to concept enthusiasts if only because the instrument lends a dose of badass attitude to the environment. Otherwise, and especially in the application of the piano and general synthetic keyboarding, there's surprisingly little development of interest in the 2018 score. The sound effects used in the loops tend to have a watery personality. The production quality of the sound is improved, of course, but that was never much of an obstacle in the first place. Perhaps the more pervasive disappointment in the score is Carpenter's decision not to push his themes into unfamiliar territory, devising a few variants to supply newfound intrigue but only applying them in minimally effective ways. The three major themes of the original all return, but it's really the main theme and especially its iconic, underlying 5/4 rhythm that returns satisfyingly. The rhythm becomes the default device of movement for far more cues than expected here, which is nice, especially as it takes the place of the organ-like effects of the original. Fragments of the actual ascending theme are everywhere in the work. Aside from the expected, formal arrangements of the rhythm and theme together in "Halloween Theme" and the lengthy "Halloween Triumphant," the composing team supplies the theme in full during "The Shape Returns" to announce the character's successful return to glory. Prior to that, there's an almost empathetic, lyrical rendition of the theme in "Prison Montage."

In the original Halloween, Laurie's theme was merged with the "Haunted House" motif in memory, and you hear some of that mingling here in the later cues. Her theme, after being only briefly alluded to in "Laurie's Theme," is saved for direct combat with Myers and the main theme in the final moments of the score. None of the character's conflict, psychological defeat over time, or perceived, prevailing victory at the end is satisfyingly developed by Carpenter outside of the dramatic cello and choral passages of "The Shape Burns." (This cue, quite ironically, sounds like an early electronic entry by John Ottman, who arguably recorded the best orchestral version of Carpenter's main theme for one of these films, albeit in a rejected effort.) The opportunity for persevering defiance on the heroine's part was lost. Meanwhile, the stalking motif from the original Halloween does make itself heard here, though its thumping piano base is replaced by a synthetic alternative in "The Shape Kills" and "Ray's Goodbye." In a nice touch, that motif sets the pace for the main theme in "The Shape and Laurie Fight." The guitar-laden "Halloween Triumphant" suite at the end provides seemingly endless reprises of the main theme and its rhythm before offering an extroverted take on the character material for this film. Carpenter and his team do extend an alteration of the main theme's progressions from "The Shape Burns" into the start of this suite as a method of providing a more determined drive to the theme, though it reverts to classic form after one performance. Ultimately, the score is exceedingly faithful and will please hardcore concept enthusiasts with its continuation of Carpenter's original ideas and general tone. The music isn't particularly refined, its conclusions to crescendos and cues often awkward, its sampled rhythmic devises occasionally obnoxious at the forefront of the treble region, and its adherence to synchronization points not always crisply realized. But some of these problems primarily plague the album experience, in which the 43 minutes of score-only material can sometimes drag interminably despite short track lengths. On the upside, though, Carpenter fans were treated to both CD and vinyl options for 2018's Halloween, the final track alone worth the album price for these loyalists. The soundtrack remains a mixed bag, though, appropriately satisfying in its faithfulness but lacking the kind of evolution and intrigue to take the concept to the next level. Then again, that pretty much summarizes the film itself; you know exactly what you're going to get.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 43:29