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Podcasts The Frame
John Carpenter makes the scariest 'Halloween' music
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Episode 19106
Listen 26:40
John Carpenter makes the scariest 'Halloween' music

The filmmaker no longer sits in the director's chair, but he still composes the music for his frightful franchise; the scary voice of a four-year-old in "It"; and is the TV content boom leading to more stunt performer injuries and deaths?

Jamie Lee Curtis returns in the 2018 reboot of "Halloween."
Jamie Lee Curtis returns in the 2018 reboot of "Halloween."
(
Blumhouse Productions
)

On today's show:

Music to get scared by

(Starts at 8:30)

When John Carpenter first started making feature horror films such as “Assault on Precinct 13” and “Halloween” in the 1970s, his budget was too small to hire a large creative team. From writing to directing, he did it all. Surprisingly, what ended up striking audiences the most were his scores. While horror movie music had traditionally been written for a large orchestra, Carpenter’s scores were improvised on an old-fashioned synthesizer. He has since left the world of cinema, focusing fully on making music with his son. The Frame’s John Horn stopped by Carpenter's office to talk about his music, career, and the role of horror in all of our lives. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMCLVSlk1Tk

The scariest nursery rhyme ever

(Starts at 19:40)

Just over a year ago, the movie “It," — based on the 1986 Stephen King novel — broke the record for biggest opening weekend for a horror film with $123 million, and became the highest-grossing R-rated horror film of all time. The very first thing you hear in the movie is the voice of a little girl — four-year-old Elodie Barker — singing a nursery rhyme. “What was fascinating about using something as seemingly innocent and innocuous as a children’s play song is that incredible dichotomy between what’s on the surface and what is under the surface,” said the film's composer, Benjamin Wallfisch. To celebrate Halloween, we revisit Tim Greiving's feature about the creepy use of a little girl's voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=MuCPaRbEuv8