Ranking Every John Carpenter Theme Worst To Best

The Prince of Darkness theme is a solid example of Carpenter and Howarth getting it all too right. This may not be considered the creme of Carpenter's works, but it's certainly a worthy contender in every other respect. If you think it's the best, then power to you.

The rule with many a great and memorable piece of music is that the simplest ideas are the best ones. It's certainly true in this case. Musically, the Prince of Darkness theme is pretty simple. Within it exists only a handful of melodies and ideas, but two things make it an exceptionally brilliant handful.

The first is the arrangement. This theme builds up slowly and steadily into a creepy crescendo. The second is the gothic sounds of the instruments. It's pretty obvious that you're listening to an electronic piece of music, but whatever the source, the brutal clunk and the operatic ferocity of those sound effects are so overbearing that a pleasurable sense of discomfort swiftly ensues. It's creepy and fun, and delightfully noisy in its own right.