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Review of Halloween Kills (John Carpenter/Various)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you are a devoted enthusiast of this franchise's
mercilessly rising body count, John Carpenter's music, like the films,
struggling to find ways to evolve its core concepts into anything
substantially new.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear anything particularly scary or even unnerving in this score, the loudest and most dissonant passages annoying rather than frightening.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Halloween Kills: (John Carpenter/Various) While
initial studio hesitancy and the 2020 pandemic delayed the production of
Halloween Kills, nobody could resist the cheap thrills resurrected
by 2018's Halloween and its two promised sequels. Picking up the
original 1978 storyline and ignoring most of the other sequels and
reboots, the 2018 film was met with praise from concept enthusiasts,
especially with original actors returning to the fray. The first sequel
to this extension, 2021's Halloween Kills, did not fare as well
critically, for the movie failed to take its narrative in any meaningful
or surprising direction and didn't offer as much presence for lead
actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Rather, the movie is simply an excuse to see a
wide variety of new and returning characters killed by the evil "shape,"
Michael Myers, even despite entire well-armed mobs attempting to
overtaken him in open spaces. The movie requires you to believe that the
citizens of the nice town of Haddonfield are all a bunch of helpless
cows awaiting slaughter, with no law enforcement prowess whatsoever.
Certainly, by 2021, both the national press and the FBI would be all
over this insanity and give it the death it truly deserves. But, alas,
no. Audiences absolutely must see a creepy guy kill others without the
convincing purpose that even a terminator has. After helping launch the
concept in the 1970's, director, writer, and composer John Carpenter
disavowed much of the franchise thereafter, bowing out after three films
and only returning for the 2018 entry as a consultant and composer. He
returns again for music duties on Halloween Kills, joined like
before by his son, Cody Carpenter, and rock-musician godson, Daniel
Davies. The director, David Gordon Green, encouraged these men to take
the modernized version of their classic 1978 Halloween music from
the previous movie and make it even more aggressive, supplying perhaps
an experimental edge to this score. After all, with bigger, angry
slasher mobs must come some stomping electronic bravado, right? The end
product here 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 continuation alone 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. 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. None of these modes of presentation 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. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 44:02
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Halloween Kills are Copyright © 2021, Sacred Bones Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/19/21 (and not updated significantly since). |
