Hear John Carpenter's score for the new Halloween

How did John Carpenter get involved in the new Halloween, a direct sequel to the filmmaker and musician's original 1978 horror classic of the same name?

"Well, [producer] Jason Blum came to see me and said, 'Instead of sitting on the sidelines criticizing these people, why don't you jump in and help?'" recalls Carpenter, who had been sniffy about recent attempts to revive the franchise. "So I decided to help try to get it as good as I could."

Carpenter not only joined the project as an executive producer, he also agreed to compose and perform the soundtrack with his son, Cody Carpenter, and godson, Daniel Davies. (David Gordon Green directed the new film.)

"We've got the basic themes from the first film, but we've improved them with the new technology we're working with today," says Carpenter. "Because that was way back. I was working with tube amplifiers in those days, which you had to tune up. Nowadays, it's unbelievable! But we invented new music in certain places that required it. You can't just retrofit something. It's got to work for the film. So, it was a combination of two things — old and new — and it was just a blast. It was fun!"

Sacred Bones is releasing the soundtrack for the new Halloween on Oct. 19, the same day the film hits theaters. But you can exclusively listen to Carpenter's score above.

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