Scores for John Carpenter’s three favorite films

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Director John Carpenter has a whole shelf of cult classics: “They Live,” “The Thing,” “Escape from New York,” “Halloween,” and many more. Although he had not directed a new film in more than a decade, Carpenter continued to work in the film industry, composing scores for other directors. (Bong Joon-ho recently approached him about a horror film.) He also released albums of film music—without the need for a film—and often worked with his son, Cody Carpenter, and musician Daniel Davis, his godson. The New Yorker Radio Hour producer Adam Howard speaks with Carpenter ahead of the launch of his upcoming tour, just in time for Halloween, and they discuss the unusual switch he’s made from directing to composing. “It’s a transition from pain to joy,” Carpenter explains. “Directing films is very stressful.” “Playing music in front of a live audience is fun. It’s just a joy.” Carpenter recommends three inspiring pieces of music from film history: Pepe and Louis Baron’s electronic score for “Forbidden Planet”; Bernard Herrmann worked on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”; And Hans Zimmer’s music for the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.”

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