Listen to Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ version of the iconic Halloween score

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Much like John Williams’ work on JAWS, John Carpenter’s score for HALLOWEEN is just as iconic as the music itself. The minimalist composition brought to life with Carpenter’s piano work is an unforgettable piece of movie music and is the last thing you want to hear when walking down a moonlit street.  The music – and the movie itself – had a profound effect on musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and to mark the impending release of Carpenter’s newly recorded horror themes, the Oscar-winning duo (THE SOCIAL NETWORK) have delivered their own take on the score. You can listen below, and if you didn’t think the music of SOCIAL NETWORK and HALLOWEEN could go together then you’re wrong…dead wrong.

Reznor spoke about seeing the movie for the first time (via Variety) and how it forever changed his life and most likely is the reason why he went down the life path he did:

 I clearly remember my friends and I at 13 years old conning our parents into letting us see ‘Halloween’ when it came out in 1978. We left the theater forever changed. We were damaged and scarred, with the shit genuinely scared out of us and that theme stuck firmly in our heads. John Carpenter, it’s your fault that I turned out the way I did.

Carpenter also had very kind words for the track, saying it did "amazing justice to the original."  John Carpenter’s Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 features many of the director/composer’s most classic work, including new versions of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, all done by Carpenter himself. Here is a full tracklist, and the album is out on October 20:

1.In the Mouth of Madness
2. Assault on Precinct 13
3. The Fog
4. Prince of Darkness
5. Santiago (Vampires)
6. Escape From New York
7. Halloween
8. Porkchop Express (Big Trouble in Little China)
9. They Live
10. The Thing
11. Starman
12. Dark Star
13. Christine

I agree with Carpenter that this new version does a terrific job of staying true to the original score's roots while delivering something fresh and dark. My heart really started pounding around the two-minute mark when the original score and the Reznor/Ross music began meshing together in a tremendous way.  Though I would think Carpenter would want to the music for the new movie as well, something tells me they should get Reznor and Ross to contribute in some way, at the very least. Their work on David Fincher's recent films have resulted in some of the most unique movie music around, and perhaps they could work their dark magic on the new HALLOWEEN.