Halloween and the Horror Movie Soundtrack.

Emily Costello

Horror, especially the subgenre of slasher films, has been one of the most influential, popular, and prominent film genres since its invention. This is partly due to how the genre thrives under a low budget but also due to the incredible, unique soundtracks and sound design that have emerged from it. Horror has had some of the most iconic and significant soundtracks in film history. In Psycho (Hitchcock,1960) which is often argued to be the first ever slasher film, Bernard Herman uses high discordant strings and sudden bursts of music in the infamous shower scene to create dread amongst the audience. Others like The Exorcist (Friedkin,1973)'s soft and simple piano melody composed by Jack Nizche that incites shivers of fear with its sinister tones or Jaws (Spielberg, 1975)' two notes of pure terror by the genius John Williams have brought fear to audiences for decades. The popularisation of electronic music in the early 2000's produced Saw (Wan, 2004)'s chilling theme, with almost explosive instrumentals by Charlie Clouser and punchy cello that makes the spectator feel as doomed as the film's characters. These important and immensely culturally significant horror films would be forgettable without the brilliant music which suggests that in horror, music is an essential film element, if not the most crucial one.

The idea of an ‘essential film element’ can be described as an element of film form that if removed would detrimentally affect the film’s quality, narrative, or spectator experience. In the horror genre, music often builds the narrative or creates a suspenseful experience for the spectator, further proving the value of a brilliant or experimental soundtrack to enhance the film's quality.

One of the most truly frightening horror soundtracks and a film that paved the way for the slasher genre and its conventions we know today is John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). The soundtrack which was written by Carpenter himself due to the film's budget yet expertly encapsulates the mysterious and murderous Michael Myers and the destruction he causes to the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois. The film, while not the first to be called a slasher, built on the genre conventions and ideas that were formed in earlier films like Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974) like the masked and silent immovable killer and the demonisation of sexuality, especially female desire. Carpenter even stated on his website that Hermann who composed Psycho’s score was a huge influence on him whilst making Halloween’s soundtrack. It was the first of the slashers to create the idea of the ‘final girl’ in Laurie Strode (Jaime Lee Curtis) and began one of the most financially successful and recognisable horror franchises of all time.

Opening Titles to Halloween, 1978.

Halloween Theme - Main Title

The opening scene starts with a black screen, with stark white lettering setting the scene in ‘Haddonfield, Illinois’ on ‘Halloween night, 1963’. The film’s chilling 3 note motif based theme Halloween Theme- Main Title with its haunting synthesised piano lingers from the opening credits, and over the top, a jaunty song is sung by some trick-or-treaters, telling of the scary horrors of ‘Halloween night’ as they make loud crashing sounds. What would normally be childish fun becomes menacing in the context and foreshadows the terrifying events to come. It cuts off rapidly, and the spectator is left with near silence, except for some ambient noise like a tweeting owl and chirping crickets.

The suspense level rises as the camera takes on the perspective of an unknown character and draws closer to the house. The silence is deafening and effective at building tension as we watch two characters fool around from a window. As they go upstairs, presumably to have sex and turn off the light, we hear a synthesised sound effect that breaks the silence, “Michael Kills Judith” and leaves a lingering ringing to further terrify the viewer in the darkness. As the camera enters the dark house the ringing continues and is joined by some soft tinkling piano, four of the same note and then descending in pitch. A very simplistic melody, yet this drives its effectiveness and its eerie qualities only serve to further raise the tension amongst the audience and cement the terror of the scene. The lack of emphasis on most other aspects of film form here and the utilisation of a single take makes the music the forefront focus for the spectator. In fact, Carpenter stated that when he showed the film to an executive who dubbed it “not scary at all”, suggesting that the soundtrack is the key to this scene's terror and proving that the music is an essential film element for Halloween. After the executive's comments, Carpenter composed the score in two weeks with Alan Howarth, Dan Wyman, and Peter Bergren all on a synthesiser.

The scene continues with the unknown character walking through the house, picking up a knife, and later covering his face with a mask, restricting the audience's view of the house and further adding suspense. Throughout this sequence, as he moves quietly through the house, the ringing note continues, keeping the audience on that precipice of terror, waiting for the horror they now know is coming. As he slowly ascends the stairs, a grandfather clock chimes, further creating horrifying suspense at what could be about to happen. As the camera approaches the woman, Judith Myers, we hear the same synthesised ringing sound effect from earlier. She then reveals the character as ‘Michael’. As she is naked, again hinting at sexual intercourse, the same sound effect playing creates a leitmotif, arguably signifying the rage felt by Michael at the sexuality promiscuity displayed by his sister. As he plunges the knife into her, a loud explosive sound effect plays, deep and bassy, contrasting the high and sharp ringing sounds. The scene is almost completely hidden by his mask and yet is incredibly frightening due to the score and the sound design, the dull thuds of the knife entering Judith, and the prolonged sound effect. After she dies, the piano and the sharp ringing resume, and as Michael is unmasked and revealed to be an adorable young child the piano continues to descend in pitch and is joined by more sinister low-pitched sounds as the camera leaves his perspective and the spectator is left horrified by the psychopathic behaviour of such a young child. The lack of dialogue in this scene further emphasises the importance of the music for the spectator and both the score and the way Carpenter uses silence and ambient noise show the importance of the soundtrack for the success of the scene.

First Kill in Halloween, 1978.

Halloween - Laurie's Theme

Our introduction to the protagonist Laurie is fifteen years after the first scene, after Michael escapes the sanatorium where he was imprisoned after the murder of his sister. It begins with ominous silence and more titles, setting the scene in Haddonfield, on Halloween night once again. Ambient sound designs like tweeting birds and rustling leaves are heard before a soft tinkling piano melody begins, Laurie’s Theme as the camera pans slowly across a quiet autumnal suburban town, setting the anxious atmosphere for the spectator. Notably, the sinister music begins as the word ‘Halloween’ appears on screen, another musical cue for the spectator to become nervous and apprehensive of a scare. Like in the first scene, the long takes and almost voyeuristic low and steady camera angles heightens the tension for the spectator and when paired with the contrast of the spooky soundtrack and the peaceful suburban neighbourhood successfully paints a portrait of unease.

As the Myers house is introduced, the soundtrack fades and the silence becomes even more effective at building suspense and terror, as the young boy Tommy who Laurie babysits describes the terrifying ‘Boogeyman’. The fear created through the mythology surrounding Michael only serves to increase the tension for the spectator who knows Michael has escaped and is prepared for a scare. When Michael or ‘The Shape’ as he is often referred to appears a loud screeching sound effect plays, another leitmotif created by Carpenter as it is the same played whilst Michael kills his first victim. This is meant to terrify the spectator due to the fear of what the unknown entity is capable of and the endangerment of the newly introduced protagonist. The contrast of the softer lighter piano music and the sharp synths after the silence contribute towards inciting horror amongst the audience.

Though the music doesn't resume in this scene, after the little boy Tommy walks away, Laurie sings a little melody to herself, which Lee Curtis improvised on the spot, ‘Wish I had you all alone.. just the two of us..’. As she does this Michael appears, in an above-the-shoulder shot where all that can be heard is his heavy breathing, creating both an ironic darkly comedic effect and suspense for the spectator and worry over the fate of the film's new protagonist, as well as . This is a perfect example of Carpenter’s musical excellence and his choice to use silence and diegetic sound design rather than scored music when appropriate also serves to terrify the viewer.

The 'Boogeyman' in Halloween, 1978.

Halloween - The Boogeyman

As the film develops, and the scenes in the quiet suburban town move from afternoon to darkness the music grows even more sinister. The soft tinkling piano is gone and in the penultimate chase sequence, as Laurie runs from Michael the piano becomes low and rhythmically sharp to represent Michael’s fury at her escape from him. The audience is no longer waiting on the edge of a scare but thrust amid the terror and the soundtrack reflects this, with its high keening sounds to enhance the spectator's fear for Laurie’s safety. The relentless score only lets up once Laurie is safely inside the house and soon the quiet almost gentle piano melody resumes, building the tension once again.

The film’s soundtrack is associated with “synthwave”, a music subgenre that Carpenter is credited as having a large influence on as one of the earliest directors to utilise synths for his films, followed by icons like Wendy Carlos and Vangelis. A modern film that creates both terror and unease with its synthesised soundtrack is Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin (2013), scored by Mica Levi. In an article for the BFI in 2016, they describe how the track Love, represents Scarlett Johannsons alien character slowly beginning to experience the highs and lows of humanity and how this is represented through the music, "Then there’s this major triad, a warm chord, and that’s her ‘human’ or ‘love’ feeling”. This could arguably relate to the leitmotifs used by Carpenter to reflect Michael’s psyche and distaste for sexuality, the sharp screeching sound effect to signal his unspoken rage. Both scores effectively utilise

Under the Skin, 2013.

sliding dissonant tones, synthesised sound effects, and three-note motifs to incite suspense, terror, and deep emotions from the spectator, with IndieWire even describing the soundtrack as “weird, atonal, discordant and something to get lost in..” Carpenter’s experimental scores and recreation of traditional instruments on a synthesiser surely carved the way for Levi’s more unconventional approaches to film music in Under The Skin and their other contemporary examples of synthesised soundtracks.

Whilst Halloween breaks firmly away from the Classical Hollywood scoring conventions laid out by Claudia Gorbman in her book Unheard Melodies with its frequent prioritisation of music over dialogue and the active relationship between the audio and the visual, it does still show sparse elements of the techniques used in the golden age of Hollywood, like the musical cues establishing setting and atmosphere in the opening scene, with the song sung by the children to emphasise the spookiness of Halloween night.

The Shining - Opening Theme

Halloween’s soundtrack left a lasting imprint on the genre and inspired a host of sci-fi and horror films with synthesised soundtracks, like Wendy Carlos’ The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980), which undoubtedly shows the importance of music and soundtrack to the horror genre with its sweeping dissonance and ambient sound. Slasher films and the horror genre itself would not nearly be as successful and influential to filmmaking as it is now without Halloween, its incredible soundtrack, and the films that were born from it. It is undeniably a prime example of a film that uses music as an essential film element and through its terror made one of the most significant film franchises to date.

by Emily Costello, December 2023.

Filmmography

Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

The Exorcist (William Friedkin,1973)

Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock,1960)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hopper,1974)

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)

Saw (James Wan, 2004)

Bibliography:

Gorbman, Claudia (1988) ‘Why Music? The Sound Film and its Spectator’ in Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music , London, BFI Publishing, pgs 53-69 Darling, Michelle, ‘Halloween’ Theme: What Makes the Music So Scary?’ in BerkleeOnline, Accessed 10 May 2023

Lattanzio, Ryan (2014) ‘Mica Levi on Why Composing ‘Under the Skin’ Was “Really Mental” in IndieWire, Accessed 10 May 2023

Sorcinelli, Gino (2020) ‘Samplers, Synths and the ‘Halloween’ Movie Scores, Accessed 10 May 2023

Romney, Jonathan (2016) ‘Away from the picture: Mica Levi on her Under the Skin soundtrack’, BFI, Accessed 10 May 2023