John Carpenter - Halloween Original Soundtrack & 20th Anniversary Edition (1978)

Update October 28th, 2010: This is an update to my original post from 2008 for John Carpenter's Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Halloween. Below you will find both the original soundtrack released on vinyl in 1978, as well as the 20th Anniversary Edition released in 1998. The 20th Anniversary Edition is in 320kbps MP3, while the original is only 128kbps. I have searched all over for a higher quality version of the original soundtrack, but apparently it is much rarer than I imagined. If anyone has the original soundtrack in a higher bitrate and is willing to share, please drop a link in the comment section. I would greatly appreciate the gesture, and I'm sure the readers would also.

To conclude my trilogy of modern day monster movies, we have the granddaddy of them all, Halloween. John Carpenter's Halloween helped to revolutionize the horror film genre. It is commonly credited it as being the first slasher movie, although Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood", released in 1971, was actually the first. However, Carpenter introduced a number of elements in Halloween that would become common in many of the slasher films that followed. Despite the fact that it was shot on an extremely low budget, it remains as one of the most successful independent movies of all time, grossing $65 million dollars. It is also widely regarded by a number of critics (myself included), as one of the best, if not the best, horror movies of all time.

In addition to writing and directing Halloween, John Carpenter also composed the score for the film. He credits both Goblin and Bernard Herrmann as major influences for the composition of the score. The score helped to push a great independent movie into legendary status. It is very minimalistic, yet extremely effective in achieving it's goal of creating a feeling of anticipation and dread within the listener. Carpenter needed only a few piano medleys, coupled with electronic sound effects and synthesizers, to create one of the most chilling scores of all time. I would have liked to have written more about this soundtrack, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment. There isn't much that I can say about this essential score that hasn't already been said though. Needless to say this makes for great Halloween music, and I hope many of you will be enjoying this when that day comes. As for the sequel, here you can find John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - Halloween II: 30th Anniversary Expanded Original Motion Picture Soundtrack http://digitalmeltd0wn.blogspot.com/2010/10/john-carpenter-alan-howarth-halloween.html

Halloween - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1978)

Year of Release: 1978
Label: Varèse Sarabande (STV 81176)
Format: Vinyl LP
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Electronic
Bitrates: 128kbps

Track List:
1. Halloween Theme - Main Title
2. Laurie's Theme
3. Shape Escapes
4. Meyer's House
5. Michael Kills Judith
6. Loomis and Shape's Car
7. The Haunted House
8. The Shape Lurks
9. Laurie Knows
10. Better Check The Kids
11. The Shape Stalks

Download: John Carpenter - Halloween Original Soundtrack
Download Size: 31MB

Note: I will replacing this link with a new download link to a higher quality version of this tomorrow morning.

Halloween 20th Anniversary Edition Soundtrack (1998)

Year of Release: 1998
Label: Varese Sarabande
Format: CD
Genres: Soundtrack/Score, Horror, Electronic
Bitrate: 320kbps

Tracklist:
01. John Carpenter - Halloween Theme
02. John Carpenter - Halloween 1963
03. John Carpenter - The Evil Is Gone!
04. John Carpenter - Halloween 1978
05. John Carpenter - The Boogie Man Is Coming
06. John Carpenter - The Shape
07. John Carpenter - The Hedge
08. John Carpenter - He Came Home
09. John Carpenter - Trick Or Treat
10. John Carpenter - The Haunted House
11. John Carpenter - The Devil's Eyes
12. John Carpenter - The Boogie Man Is Outside
13. John Carpenter - Damn You For Letting Him Go!
14. John Carpenter - Empty Street
15. John Carpenter - See Anything You Like
16. John Carpenter - Lock The Door
17. John Carpenter - He's Here
18. John Carpenter - Light's Out
19. John Carpenter - Cut It Out
20. John Carpenter - Tombstone
21. John Carpenter - The Shape Stalks Laurie
22. John Carpenter - Turn Around
23. John Carpenter - Unlock The Door
24. John Carpenter - The Hangar
25. John Carpenter - Call The Police
26. John Carpenter - Last Assault
27. John Carpenter - Was It The Boogie Man
28. John Carpenter - End Credits - Halloween Theme (Reprise)

Download: John Carpenter - Halloween 20th Anniversary Edition Soundtrack
Download Size: 124MB