Nu John Carpenter met The Ward wederom een bescheiden film hit scoort, heeft de website Fear.com een top tien gemaakt van zijn eigen geschreven muziek. Want voor veel van zijn films maakte hij gewoon zijn eigen muziek, en deze voelen net als de jaren 80 erg 8-bit en zelfs futuristisch aan. Mijn all time favoriet qua film en muziek van hem is en blijft toch wel:

Halloween

Let's face it, folks: if you don't know this theme, you don't know horror. Inspired by a 5/4 time signature that his father taught him on the bongos, the simple piano-based music for this horror masterpiece rolls slowly and steadily through scenes, much in the same way Michael Myers methodically, patiently roams the streets and sidewalks of Haddonfield... until night falls and he finally zeros in on his targets; then the music begins to stalk with him, building simple layers of synthesizer on top of repeating piano rhythms. It's the simplicity that sells it, with some motifs containing only one long dissonant chord, or a climactic theme with only one piano note being banged repeatedly, insistently, never stopping... just like The Shape himself. John later felt ashamed for using so many "stingers" - sudden loud and sharp synth stabs - to sell the shocks. But if you try to tell me those moments didn't scare you silly the first time you watched this movie, I'm calling bullshit.