John Carpenter thaws out Lost Cues for The Thing
John Carpenter is releasing an album of unused music cues for The Thing, to coincide with the re-release of Ennio Morricone’s score on vinyl.
He hasn’t made a movie since 2010’s The Ward , but John Carpenter has found new ways to remain active in recent years. (We can always hold out hope for a return to the director’s chair, though.)
With the recent influx of horror-film scores that hark back to the nostalgic influence of artists like Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder, and Carpenter himself, the director created – with some frequent soundtrack collaborators – Lost Themes in 2015. This LP of original material was followed by a hugely successful tour and a follow-up record, Lost Themes II, in 2016. Recently, Carpenter retooled his most noteworthy film scores with contemporary renditions, and – in a bit of aesthetic synchronicity – came on board to score 2018’s Halloween.
But perhaps Carpenter’s most successful – and certainly endearing – score is one he didn’t compose at all.
1982’s The Thing, which went from being a critically-bashed box-office bomb to a contemporary success (thanks to various home-video incarnations and online fan enthusiasm), was distinctive for a myriad of reasons, but a big – yet subtle – part of its unsettling effect was the unique score by Italian maestro Ennio Morricone.
One of the unexpected treats of Carpenter’s live shows was seeing the assembled band perform the unforgettable “heartbeat” theme that kick-starts the movie and recurs throughout.
Pitchfork recently revealed that the Morricone score will be re-released on vinyl on May 5…along with Lost Cues: The Thing, containing previously-unreleased material “re-recorded by Carpenter, his son Cody, and godson Daniel Davies.”
Per Pitchfork, Carpenter states:
"“Because we weren’t finished editing the movie, Ennio had to score without seeing a complete picture. When we put everything together, there were gaps dramatically where I would have wanted music. So I went off and scored a couple of simple pieces that filled in.”"
Both releases are available for pre-order from Waxwork and Sacred Bones Records.
The Thing, Signs and other alien apocalypse movies. dark. Next
What is your favorite John Carpenter score? Let us know in the comments.