Ranking Every John Carpenter Theme Worst To Best

In John Carpenter's earliest full length movie, we are treated to two musical styles which couldn't be any more different. The first is the country ditty, Benson Arizona, which was written by Carpenter and Bill Taylor, and sang by a college friend of Carpenter's. This fun little number is technically the actual theme to Dark Star, but this high ranking entry is also largely down to the alternate and amazing electronic musical score which acts as a long, ever-changing opus across the film.

When these moments occur, they hit with a high level of intensity. Dark Star is largely a comedy film, but the music score is all out horror, and massively clever given the year and the budget on which it was created. Even in his early years, Carpenter knew how to create monstrously atmospheric music, and placing this in a film alongside the chirpy bounce of Benson Arizona really brought some humanity into the picture.

Carpenter would continue to be a many a great thing throughout his career, as these staggering musical building blocks proved.