Over the course of five decades (!), master filmmaker John Carpenter has left an indelible and idiosyncratic mark on horror and sci-fi with films like Halloween, Escape From New York, The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China, Prince Of Darkness, They Live, and In The Mouth Of Madness. Hell, even some of Carpenter’s lesser works (Village Of The Damned, Vampires) put his contemporaries to shame. Equally indelible and idiosyncratic are the scores for Carpenter’s films, many of them self-composed, self-performed, and delightfully minimalist and synthesized. Shit, is there anything better than the hypnotic, endlessly looming score to Prince Of Darkness?
Unlike the above clip, we have a message for you, Carpenter fans, and you are going to like it: On Monday, July 18, John Carpenter will perform music from his classic films at Milwaukee’s historic Pabst Theater. “John Carpenter: Live Retrospective” will also feature original, non-soundtrack compositions from the director/musician’s upcoming Lost Themes II album. Carpenter will be joined by his son Cody Carpenter and his godson Daniel Davies (both of whom co-recorded the Lost Themes albums), as well as a live band and an accompanying stage production. Reserved seating tickets are $45.50 and $65.50, and go on sale Friday, April 8 at noon.
Here’s that four-hour fight scene from They Live. It doesn’t have any music in it, but whatever.