Published on Nov 16, 2000
A few months ago, I found myself listening to the soundtrack to
Escape From New York, a score composed and performed by the
film’s director, John Carpenter. I think I wondered at the time why
Carpenter had chosen to compose such a minimalistic score to
balance out the action in the film.
Now, from the same stable comes the soundtrack for
The Fog, another Carpenter film (and the film that preceeded
Escape From New York). And after listening to this
soundtrack, I seem to understand both discs more, though I still
think the minimalistic style fits
The Fog better than it did
Escape From New York.
First, the usual admission: I have not seen the film, nor do I
plan to see it. Sorry, gang, but horror just isn’t my cup of tea.
But what makes this particular score so interesting is that you
don’t need to have seen the film in order to appreciate the
suspenseful undertones throughout both the soundtrack and film.
This is the kind of disc I wish I had a few weeks prior; I would
have mounted speakers outside of my house and blared this disc to
scare the little trick-or-treaters into wetting their Pokemon
suits. That’s how infectious this disc can get at times.
In a sense, Carpenter was taking a major risk at that time. He
was just coming off the success of
Halloween; to do a second horror film right in a row left
the possibility open that he would be classified merely as a horror
film director/writer. (Likewise, as she discusses in a radio
interview tacked on to the end of this soundtrack, Jamie Lee Curtis
knew she risked being typecast as a horror film actress by
accepting a role in
The Fog after performing in
Halloween.) Even more challenging, though, would be for
Carpenter to rise above the haunting score that
Halloween had – and making his audience forget about it as
well.
It wasn’t easy – and the movie almost imploded upon itself, as
Carpenter discusses in the liner notes. But musically,
The Fog has some very suspenseful moments, even if some of
them seem to stretch on a little too long.
The two appearances of “Theme From ‘The Fog'” (including the
reprise, never before released) help to set the mood perfectly.
Although this theme isn’t as catchy as other horror films from the
same area, it works in that it is more ominous-sounding from the
outset, making sure that at least portions would remain with the
listener throughout the course of the movie (or, in this case, the
soundtrack). Carpenter also does well by sticking to shorter, two-
and three-minute pieces for the most part, allowing each selection
to take its own shape while working into the big picture.
When Carpenter stretches things out a bit, though, it gets a
little tedious. “Reel 9,” the original closing piece of this
soundtrack, runs for just under 11 minutes – far longer than it
needed to in order to get its point across. Similarly, “Blake In
The Sanctuary” tends to musically overstay its welcome by about two
or three minutes – not the worst crime that could be committed, but
one that takes away from the overall power of the selection.
Carpenter’s performance of this soundtrack leans heavily on
synthesizers and keyboards – and these fit the mood perfectly. It’s
almost as if you can see the fog creeping up on you as you sit in
your easy chair, and it begins to envelop you in an area where you
thought you were safe. I thought this was happening to me as I
listened to this through headphones – only I looked up and
discovered that my wife had just exited the bathroom after taking a
hot shower. (Hmm… no wonder there’s
never any hot water left!)
The Fog might not be Carpenter’s best-remembered movie, but
the soundtrack for this film proves that it is still well worth the
listener’s time and investment to check it out. Even if some of the
pieces stretch a little too long, overall it remains a disc with
some of Carpenter’s most riveting musical moments.