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•	2021 Album

•	2025 Album

•	2021 Album

The end product for Halloween Kills isn't significantly different from the 2018 Halloween score, however, with a few heavier layers to some cues, but the overall equation remaining mostly static. The continuation of the franchise's original three themes is still commendable in these newer works, and that faithful dedication alone to melody and style may be enough for some listeners of Halloween Kills, but Carpenter and his team are clearly struggling to find ways to evolve these ideas into anything substantially new by this point. Given how stale the formula of the film has become, perhaps the tired stance of the music cannot be considered a surprise. To a moderate degree, Carpenter does supply a bit more dramatic depth to the tone of Halloween Kills in its treatment of the survivors, the music more often exploring piano-driven tonalities to compelling ends. But whatever advances made in these portions are countered by completely limp suspense and action writing. There is not much depth to this music, no weight or breadth to its motions. The piano holds its own, but all the synthetic elements, including electric guitar, are shallow and unconvincing. Some of the action cues aren't even scary, including the totally pointless loops of "Rampage." The confrontation cue, "Payback," is not engaging enough in its sparseness. These issues exist in most of the cues, leaving listeners grasping only to the concept's themes for satisfaction. The main franchise theme remains a winner in all of these films, both the melody and its iconic, underlying 5/4 rhythm returning frequently in Halloween Kills. In "Main Title," its familiar piano tones are joined by a poorly sampled or manipulated synthetic choir, with extended treatment including even some poor brass sampling. The rhythm alone opens "Standoff," slowed significantly, before the fragmented theme later emerges over Carpenter's stalking motif with very dissonant results. The piano rhythm is joined by menacing electric guitar notes in "He Appears," while the theme is manipulated by angry guitar in "From the Fire."

Fragments of theme lace "Unkillable" in highly obnoxious pulsing action, "Payback" opens with a reprise of the "Main Title" performances, "Michael's Legend" offers the idea in softly altered form on piano over a new rhythmic base, and a more formal arrangement with additional, more grating synth layers in "End Titles" cranks up the volume but not the power, the solo piano rhythm suddenly ending to close out score and suggest more horrors to come in the next film. Meanwhile, given the emphasis of the script on other characters, heroine Laurie Strode's theme remains somewhat diminished in Halloween Kills, consolidating at 1:17 on piano in "Strodes at the Hospital" but overtaken by new protagonist material emphasized for this entry. Beginning earlier in that cue as a rambling piano rhythm under synth ambience, this music becomes somewhat elegant via piano solo in "Frank and Laurie" and highlights the best cue in the work, "It Needs to Die," with more determined, tonal, and dramatic appeal that includes a few piano leads as well. Ghostly deconstructions of this material over suspenseful ambience occurs in "Reflection," and related piano layers are a nice touch in the hype-seeking "Michael's Legend." The stalking motif consisting of a thumping piano base returns under the under main theme in "Standoff" but really makes its mark under the entirety of "First Attack," though this cue is tormented by terrible upper range synths that will send you fleeing. The motif doesn't really recur after that, though the same general idea elongated with louder malice can be encountered in "Cruel Intentions" and "Hallway Madness." Few other motifs of interest exist in Halloween Kills, the repetitive descending sequences of "The Myer's House" doing little to extend a musical identity to the villain. Overall, the score hits all the right basic notes but sounds incredibly cheap given the filmmakers' intent to instill a greater sense of gravity in this score. The impact simply isn't there, most cues neglecting to generate even moderate doses of dread, and only the most avid franchise enthusiasts will appreciate the continued variations on the main theme and its rhythm.

As expected, the score was released on album by Carpenter's own label, Sacred Bones, in a wide array of product options ranging from a CD to a series of limited LP vinyl collectibles. Similar merchandise from the 2018 score, leading up to its expanded album of 2019, were quick to sell out, and this demand has forced the label to attempt to limit the quantities of especially the LPs that individuals can purchase. True to the franchise's era and good for a chuckle, Carpenter even offers a cassette option for Halloween Kills, along with a "Trick or Treat" tote bag. In 2025, both the 2021 and 2022 sequel scores received expanded treatment on CD and vinyl just like the 2018 predecessor had already experienced, including an option to purchase the fuller versions of all three in one set. (Endless varieties of colorful vinyl options with gruesome artwork continue to earn Carpenter cash from the seemingly endless wealth of this franchise's fanbase.) In the case of this entry, many ambient and transitional cues are added to the experience, but more of the softer piano material is there as well. A significant amount of important music is revealed in the longer offering for Halloween Kills, causing a much better-rounded listening experience with very impactful holes filled in the narrative. Amongst the new cues, the stalking motif is sparsely rendered in "Flashback," "Hey Kid," and "Someone's in the Car" while nice hints of the Laurie Strode theme in "Phone Call" and "Back at the Hospital" extend into the tonal piano contemplation of "Goodbye Michael" and "Frank." That theme also continues in slight ambience during "Look at Me." Vitally, the main theme is provided a fascinatingly soft, almost haunted version in "Back to His Sister's Room," and the important, propulsive duo of "Final Kill" and "Michael Answers" drives the conclusion. If approaching Halloween Kills on album for the first time, the fuller 77-minute presentation is the much better representation of the score. That said, none of the various album options will convince you that anything's new or scary in this sequel, however, the music and its creator potentially running out of inspiration even if the body count mercilessly continues to climb.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download