31 Days of Halloween - Day 18: Soundtracks - Trick 'r Treat

For day 18 of our 31 Days of Halloween I will be doing a little review of one of the best scores that I have heard in years. That is the Trick ‘r Treat score by Douglas Pipes. You may have already seen me mention him in my Top 10 Horror Composers but now I want to review is actual score. I will be talking about the 4 distinct tracks on the soundtrack: “Opening,” “Main Titles” and “Meet Rhonda” 

“Opening:” The opening sets the tone that this is movie is like a Halloween kids movie gone horribly wrong. It uses light-hearted piano keys to make it sound childish in a scary way. The single note bass horn that makes us feel that something is approaching, something that is threatening and then… almost out of nowhere the score picks up and feel as though we are being chased by something.

“Main Titles:” This track is like the magnum opus of this movie and it really puts you in that mood. It’s tense; it’s dark and mystic. I felt like it was in a fair tale when I listened to this track… even more so, I felt like I was in a really twisted children’s variety cartoon. I can tell that this track was heavily influenced by the score of Friday the 13, because of its ear piercing string ensemble in the beginning. What I really enjoyed in this track, that most horror movie scores should have, is the use of low sounding bells and a children’s choir in the back.

“Meet Rhonda:” Ah, this track. A more seldom and soft sounding track… again using that piano to make the tone feel more innocent, childish but yet mystifying considering the piano was off key at points.

I am glad that Mike released the soundtrack on his website and every track on the soundtrack listening is a must but I just wanted to quickly go over the tracks that stood out to me when I was watching the movie. This is pretty much showing that I have way too much time on my hands but I think Douglas Pipes is establishing himself as a horror composer. 

Don't forget to check out Day 19 of our 31 Days of Halloween at Deadly Movies.