OK, I FINALLY got my Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers Expanded Soundtrack in the mail yesterday (I ordered this thing on July 17th - and got it this week - phew!)
Here’s my critical review of the whole release, including the music (quality, track selection etc) and art work.
Ok firstly, if you haven’t picked this up, I really do think it’s worth the money, ESPECIALLY if you don’t have Varese Sarabande’s original release of the soundtrack from '88. The cover art work is similar, but a little darker, with high contrast, and the title “Limited Edition Expanded Original Motion Picture soundtrack” at the top.
On the back is the track listing, 15 tracks in all, totalling over 52 minutes of music. It does, as far as I can tell, include every musical piece created for this movie. There isn’t anything (to my knowledge) that has been left out.
Upon opening the CD, we get a great looking disc, with the H4 cover art on it, and a fold-out insert, with three-panel write-ups and full color photos, including the scene with Myers and Brady at the top of the stairs. Behind the CD (after taking it out) there is a rare shot of Myers that is KILLER. Love this shot. I’ve only ever seen it a few times before. On the insert there is a great write up by our Halloween friend Stefan Hutchison. Aside from a few spelling mistakes and format problems, it is a great write-up about the state of Horror sequels in the 80’s and how well the music holds up today - not really sounding dated at all. On the back of that is a short write up from Alan Howarth, the composer of the soundtrack, and he feels it is one of his best scores. I have to agree. Again, it’s riddled with a few spelling mistakes, and kind of comes off as a bit un-professional. (no spell check???)
Anyway, on to the MUSIC.
The first track is described as the Halloween 4 theme. Right away, this is a little odd, as it’s just the “Garage” and “End Titles” version of the theme, faded in and lasting a minute. This particular theme shows up twice more in the soundtrack. I notice also that this release suffers from the same problem the new Halloween II soundtrack suffered from, that is what I think is over-compression of the music - meaning that even the “quiet parts” of the music are brought up to the levels of loud parts, like the stings. If anyone knows anything about audio recording, this “mastering” seems as though it was just a simple compression/limiter setting applied generously to all the tracks. I can even hear the noise and hissing of the master tapes creeping in.
The second track is the opening titles music. It sounds pretty good, very atmospheric. But then I noticed the new music creeping up. Little pieces of when the nurse visits Myers’ body on the gurney, and his burnt arm slips out. Those music cues are in there, and it was a welcome surprise. Then we hear the Halloween theme, as it first appeared in this movie. From this track on, it seems as though the music all appears in chronological order, unlike the Varase Sarabande release from 20+ years ago. The next track is called Haddonfield, starting with the murder music of the paramedic getting Myers’ thumb in his head. I jumped, and was surprised to hear it sounding so awesome. Great little tiny piece. The rest introduces Jamie Lloyd. Here, we hear the music cues of when Jamie sees the ambulance outside her window, and the subtle ethereal cues that were never released before. And the under the bed attack. Sounds pretty good, but I can still hear the noise. I wish they could have applied some noise reduction, or remastered all the tracks of music individually, but I doubt they had all the layers.
Track 4 is called “Darkest Night” and this is where the track listing begins to get confusing - for this is the music during the day time hours, when Loomis first hears about Myers’ missing from the ambulance. Most of this track is unreleased music, and it’s great to finally hear it, even though the cues are short and sweet. Next is the confusingly named track called “He’s in the Street”. Included here is the garage section, with the mechanic getting killed as well, and Loomis meeting Myers in the dining room. Some great music here. We also here the Halloween Theme again, for the second time.
Then we have “Outside the House” which features the music when Jamie is getting teased outside her SCHOOL (not her house) and visiting the drug store, where she bumps into Myers. All this music is great, and most unreleased. Loved this section. We also get the bits with Myers outside the Carruthers house, and walking up the stairs and seeing the photos of Laurie and himself. Nice cues!!
“In the Shadows” is next, and features the music of Rachel searching the streets, and the hillbillies getting in their trucks. Also here is when Loomis and Meeker enter the Carruthers house and see the dead dog. Also, Bucky’s death by electrocution music is here.
Next up is “Basement Terror” and really is the parts where Rachel is being chased by “someone” and Loomis and Meeker see the multiple Myers’. It also is in the Meeker house, where Brady is in the attic, and the girls are in the bedroom. I think some of this may be out of order in the movie…
Then we have a track called “The Dream” Oddly named…as most of this is when poor Kelly gets the shotgun to the gut. Here’s where the music really shines, and the bass and treble seems a bit cleaned up. But, I can tell they simply went back to old tapes, and compressed them, as when you listen very carefully, you can hear some of the “stings” happening in the background before they are supposed to happen. This is because of the nature of audio tape. As the tape is stored on reels, overly loud cues can magnetically transfer to the tape that is resting right next to it, either before or after. So in cases like this, you can hear, although very quietly, what is going to come up next before it gets there, especially if it’s a quiet part before a loud part. Later in the soundtrack when Earl gets his neck ripped open, right before the sting, you can hear it during the quiet part. Odd indeed
“Still he kills” is next, and the entire sequence in the Meeker house, including the roof attack. VERY odd, because the next track is called “On the Roof” and starts just when Jamie bumps into Loomis on the street, after she’s come down off the roof, and goes into the school house.
“Shape Attack” is next, and includes more unreleased music, like when the hillbillies take Rachel and Jamie into their trucks. Also includes the whole truck attack. Good stuff on here. Although, when Myers falls off the roof of the the truck, as with the original soundtrack, the music is slightly different. INstead of having the low “Shape Stalks” piano bit, it goes right into the Theme variation.
“Myers Finale” is the second last track, and features the music when Myers gets shot 40 times and falls down the well. then we get to hear what I was personally waiting for…the music when Jamie dons the Clown mask, and attacks her stepmother. Sounded very much like the original movies music. And I LOVE the music when Loomis screams “NO!” to Jamie at the top of the stairs. It sounds great here.
Finally, the last track is the closing titles music, ending with the same theme we’ve heard twice before.
All in all, this is was a decent release. The packaging is well done, and the images are adequate, with a nice rare photo of Myers behind the CD.
The music quality I would give a 6 1/5 or 7 out of 10. It really could have been better, but I feel that’s as good as the master tapes are and this is probably the best we will ever get for this soundtrack. Having heard all the of the music cues and unreleased material seals the worth of this CD for me, as I’m a huge fan of the music for all the films up to part 6. I hope they release a part 5 and part 6 as well, for both movies, especially part 6, have lots of unreleased music kicking around. I’d love to hear all the producer’s cut cues as well as the theatrical cut cues for “Curse of Michael Myers”, because the existing CD release of that one has mix of both, as well as some music that never appeared in either version!
Bottom line, if your a fan of the music of Halloween 4, and don’t already have the Varese Sarabande soundtrack, pick this one up!!!
Cheers!
