“Halloween Theme” John Carpenter Cover by Wilson—Video of the Week 10/26/20

Ahhh, it finally feels like Fall. The leaves are changing colors, there’s a crisp in the air, and plenty of scary movies on television. It’s hard to flip through the channels this month without coming across the movie that changed the horror genre (or one of its sequels), John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece, Halloween.

Not only did Carpenter direct the eerie slasher flick, but he also composed the original score. After the studio nearly balked on the film from watching a cut without music, Carpenter came up with the now ubiquitous theme using 5/4 time on piano that was taught to him many years earlier by his father.

The Halloween theme has become synonymous with the end of October holiday, and there are a few unique interpretations that have been spawned throughout the years. For our pick this week, we chose a version played on guitar by an artist simply known as “Wilson.”

This UK guitar player/vocalist has a couple of original albums to his credit, along with a couple of covers on his YouTube channel. But it’s this cinematic rendition of the Halloween theme that got our attention.

The clip begins with the point of view of our favorite movie madman picking up a knife in the kitchen (complete with breathing sound effects), but then puts it down and opts for an acoustic guitar—conveniently resting on a stand just a few steps away.

Then we see Michael Myers, with a glowing jack-o-lantern at his side, break into the start of the tune. Wilson fills out the music by using the body of the guitar to thumb and tap the percussive parts which we get to enjoy in split screen.

Wilson doesn’t really bring anything new to the theme, but it just shows what a little creativity and imagination can do to make a successful video. On his Facebook Page, Wilson claims that this is his favorite time of year, and for decades now, this season would not be the same without this music. Watch below.