John Carpenter Crafts an Unsettling Requiem for Michael Myers on New ‘Halloween Kills’ Song

John Carpenter and his collaborators, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, have released a new song, “Michael’s Legend,” the final offering from their forthcoming score for Halloween Kills. 

“Michael’s Legend” is — unsurprisingly — an eerie, unsettling tune, led by a piano melody that at times seems to recall Carpenter’s classic Halloween theme, but carries it’s own distinct gravity. There’s even a creepy false ending at the end, before the keys return for one last ominous toll. 

Prior to “Michael’s Theme,” Carpenter teased the Halloween Kills soundtrack with “Rampage” and “Unkillable.” The Halloween Kills soundtrack is set to arrive October 15th via Sacred Bones, with the film hitting theaters (and Peacock) the same day as well. 

Directed by David Gordon Green, Halloween Kills was supposed to arrive last October, but was postponed because of the pandemic (the third installment of the new trilogy, Halloween Ends, will be released in October 2022). Halloween was revived in 2018, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle on hand to reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. 

Earlier this year, Carpenter released his first album of non-soundtrack music in five years, Lost Themes III: Alive After Death. Carpenter launched the Lost Themes series in 2015, dropping the sequel the following year. The idea behind the project was to create “a soundtrack for the movies in your mind.”