7/10

Despite leaving the director's chair nearly 20 years, John Carpenter's legacy as a filmmaker has been unparalleled. Having been known for his work on classics like The Thing, They Live and Christine, the director was always very involved with the music and compositions in his movies, usually writing and performing the soundtracks himself. Now with a fledging musical career under his belt, Carpenter has returned to work on one of his most iconic horror films Halloween to revamp the original score in accompanying the latest addition to the film's franchise.

When you first hear those keys of the main theme, chills still run up your spine. Carpenter has taken the original hook of the theme and seen it elegantly reworked for a modern release. This goes for much of this new collection, taking the tone of the 1982 original score and seeing it reimagined for a modern audience, producing a cleaner use of the synthesisers to add a more ambient tone. Yet while the soundtrack fits to a much more sombre approach than the sharp, stabbing sounds of its original, it manages to create a solid feel of impending doom without looking to drag you too far into its sound, perfectly suiting itself as an accompaniment to the new film.

He has obviously always had a flair for producing dark and haunting film scores, but with use of modern production techniques, John Carpenter has truly been able to let his creativity shine and deliver a truly fright-inducing collection here. Keeping it more organic than before, the soundtrack pulls itself out of the technical limitation of the 1980s and unleashes a bold and vibrant version of his formidable work.