Editorials
Deeper Cuts: 5 Underrated John Carpenter Scores
Horror legend John Carpenter turns 78 this Friday, and Halloween Night: John Carpenter Live from Los Angeles is now streaming on Screambox. Bloody Disgusting is celebrating with John Carpenter Week. For John Carpenter’s birthday, Patrick Brennan champions the composer’s underrated works.
Halloween. Escape from New York. Assault on Precinct 13. These are the movies that usually come to mind when fans think of John Carpenter as a film score composer (hell, a lot of us practically have the music from those movies committed to memory).
Their themes are iconic and showcase what’s made the legendary director’s musical output so memorable. Through the synthesizer – an instrument he will always be synonymous with – Carpenter creates layers of atmosphere anchored by melodic hooks that refuse to leave your brain. As a result, he joins the ranks of film composers whose instantly recognizable style has helped them achieve rock star status (at least to us movie nerds).
As is the case with any popular musician with a lengthy catalog, it’s easy to get caught up listening to just the hits. There’s a reason why certain Carpenter scores, like the films they’re paired with, have become seminal records for so many fans. But there are many other fantastic pieces of music to be found throughout his career.
So, here are five John Carpenter scores that deserve more love. Some are underappreciated while others appear to be slept-on entirely. All, as the kids say, are bangers. Give them a spin, if you haven’t already, and see if you agree.
Village of the Damned (1995)
If you’re only familiar with John Carpenter’s 80s output, then his remake of the sci-fi horror classic Village of the Damned will be a fascinating listen for several reasons. For starters, those curious to hear what his synthesizer would sound like accompanied by a small orchestra will find their opportunity here. Also adding to the unique flavor of the score is the fact that Carpenter had a different musical collaborator for this picture. While much of the previous decade was spent working with Alan Howarth, this project saw him teaming up with Kinks lead guitarist Dave Davies, most notably on the track “March of the Children.” The end product is a score that sounds unlike anything heard in a Carpenter film to that date.
Prince of Darkness (1987)
The second film in John Carpenter’s “Apocalypse Trilogy” is a steady and deliberate affair. The tension ratchets up incrementally, similar to how the laws of nature slowly begin to defy themselves as the movie’s title baddie gestates in his glass womb. The score to Prince of Darkness illustrates that mounting dread beautifully, providing a smorgasbord of highlights. The pulsing “Opening Titles” plays like a staccato heartbeat, informing us of the impending awakening of the sleeper, while “Darkness Begins” sounds like the perversion of a sacred hymn, complete with a demonic organ and choir. But it’s “The Devil Awakens” that really brings the heat, beginning with a hint of quiet menace before exploding into chaos. It’s Carpenter’s most complete sounding score from start to finish, and it’s no surprise that it’s one of his favorites.
Body Bags (1993)
Listen: I defy you to tell me “The Coroner’s Theme” isn’t a goddamn bop. If that single opening track was the only decent piece of music found in Body Bags, I’d still say the score was underrated; that’s how much it slaps. Thankfully, while it definitely is a high point, there are plenty of other great moments in this collaboration between Carpenter and Jim Lang (who would go on to work with John on In the Mouth of Madness the following year). There’s the jazzy Twin Peaks-esque “Long Beautiful Hair,” the chillingly disturbing finale that is “…Pluck it Out,” and “The Picture on the Wall,” which sounds like a distant cousin to Halloween’s “Main Title Theme.” It might not be the moodiest entry in Carpenter’s discography, but it’s hell of a lot of fun.
Christine (1983)
This may seem like a weird choice for a list of underrated works, but hear me out. Yes, it’s been agreed upon in recent years that “Moochie’s Death” is an absolute heater of a tune. It’s uncanny the way Carpenter is able to give voice to Christine’s single-minded rage and bloodlust, and it’s often the theme that comes to mind for folks when they think of the film. But what always gets me in the feels when watching the movie are the score’s quieter moments. There’s so much going on in “Arnie’s Love Theme,” for instance. On the surface, there’s the sound of the character’s obsession building, but beneath that, we hear the aspects of Arnie’s personality that make him a perfect target for an entity like Christine: his loneliness, insecurity, and self-loathing. To me, this is one of Carpenter’s most emotionally rich musical outings, and it deserves a place amongst his best works.
Vampires (1998)
If you’re a fan of the blues or Memphis soul, you’re probably going to perk up when you look through the list of musicians John Carpenter enlisted for Vampires, his criminally underrated horror western. Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Don, one-half of the iconic Stax Records instrumental group Booker T & the M.G.’s, lend their immense talents to the score, along with Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan guitarist Jeff Baxter. Big names aside, what makes this movie so interesting sonically is the fact that it gives us both sides of the Carpenter musical experience. We get the synth maestro with his brooding and atmospheric melodies (“Sunrise Death,” “Valek’s Portrait”) and the rock & roll-loving bandleader (“Slayers,” “Motel Sex”). It all makes for one of the most versatile and infinitely listenable scores to be found in Carpenter’s catalog.
Follow along all week long as we salute John Carpenter.
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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