[niemand630]

John Carpenter's "Halloween 3" and "The Fog" were the two soundtracks that really started my obsession with soundtrack vinyl. A few years ago my excitement ratcheted when my equally obsessed friend introduced me to Death Waltz and their fantastic products. The high quality releases of Halloween 2 and 3 are a hallmark to the greatness of the vinyl resurgence. I intentionally stopped caring that I kept missing out on the Varese Sarabande versions which seemed to be creeping up in price anyway. I held out knowing it was only a matter of time before Death Waltz would put out Halloween, one of my all-time favorite movies. Eventually my patience wore thin and I couldn't pass up what I thought was a good price for the Nippon Columbia version. Wish I had been less hasty....

Then I heard that Halloween was getting the reissue treatment and that it wasn't Death Waltz, but Mondo. Great! My excitement grew as I would have finally have one of my favorite soundtracks on quality vinyl. What could go wrong??

Apparently everything. The unf***upable was absolutely f'd up!! Mondo managed to ruin one of the greatest horror soundtracks out there. Whats wrong with this worthless slab of vinyl? WHY THE F**K WOULD ANYONE WANT FILM DIALOGUE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GODDAMN SOUNDTRACK????!!! If I wanted that I could put the DVD in and turn my back to it. Then I would have both John Carpenters "fantastic" dialogue along with his brilliant score!! I mean a dvd player or small computer takes up less space then a decent record player, speakers, receiver etc. And its much f***ing cheaper! If I wanted to go "old school" I could put the VHS version on for that "analog" vibe!

I buy soundtracks for the music. I assume most people do. Whats the f***ing point of listening to parts of a movie on record?? I get it on the FOG when you introduce the record with the intro moment of the story: great setup! but I'm glad i don't have to hear jamie lee curtis speak again on the record!! because its a fucking soundtrack!!!!!!!

I dont understand how someone trusted Mondo with such an important release, but I really hope someone reputable gets a chance to reissue this properly as a soundtrack! The only decent thing Mondo did was the slipmat looked pretty cool. They should probably just stick to posters and knickknacks. In the meantime I guess Ill have to shell out for the VS version. Sucks that I may not have a stellar Death Waltz version to match my Halloween 2 and 3 lps.


Hands down this release is one of the biggest vinyl disappointments I've had in some time. In fact, its worse than the Rob Zombie remakes of the franchise.

[unpopular_poet]

I couldn't agree more. I tried to like this with the dialogue, but "Hey, Lonnie, get your ass away from there" was entertaining the first time around. Now it is annoying. I can't get excited about it -- and I know I will rarely if ever listen to what is probably one of the most important soundtracks out there. H2 and H3 were perfect. I am all for a Kickstarter to get a non-dialogue version pressed....

[Bub]

^ here here!

The LPs themselves are beautiful but yeah I agree on the dialogue being a bit much.

[ghostfires]

I will agree with this. It's becoming clear that out of all the reissue labels that have popped up, Mondo comes in last place so far in terms of actually giving the vinyl soundtrack lovers what they actually want.

[palmat]

You said it man! Huge disappointment, especially coming from Mondo.

[bitewerks]

I don't mind the dialogue & have played the set a few times. It seems like each side goes really, really quick. Also, if the dialogue wasn't there, it'd just be the same music that almost never ends. Maybe that's why they chose to use the dialogue to lengthen it out for a 2LP set & to 'justify' the $30.00?

Do the previous ost's of Halloween feature dialogue? If not, what's the running time?

If I owned the movie on blu or dvd, my opinion may be closer to everyone else's. I haven't picked the movie up b/c there are so many versions, some of which, have odd color tinting so I haven't felt like doing the research as to which release is The Best.

[unpopular_poet]

The original VS lp does not have dialogue -- I actually think that like AOP13, Halloween recycles a ton of the themes throughout, but it doesn't bother me because it flows so well. I think the dialogue on here is especially egregious, because it is constant throughout -- and excruciatingly long winded.

[reelybored]

Just got my LP in the mail the other day but haven't had a chance to listen to yet, really bummed to read that dialogue is featured throughout the score. I agree, I want to hear the music not dialogue from the film. I am fortunate to own the VS LP but was really looking forward to the reissue.

[reddye6]

Maybe it corresponds with what they were allowed to license? The tracks on the Mondo vinyl match the 20th anniversary CD release of the score.

[VinyLOST]

Not being the outcast of the board or anything, but I think the dialogue adds serious character to the vinyl. I purchased a copy of Pink Floyd's "The Film", which for those who don't know is "The Wall", only your listening to all the extra dialogue which when you buy "The Wall" itself you only hear the tracks that were meant to be the album. But as I said it's my own opinion, and only in certain cases is it good or great. "Halloween" (Carpenter version of course) is my favorite film of all time. So I really enjoy what Mondo did with both versions of the "Halloween" OST.

[horseloverphat]

[quote=10273]Not being the outcast of the board or anything, but I think the dialogue adds serious character to the vinyl. I purchased a copy of Pink Floyd’s “The Film”, which for those who don’t know is “The Wall”, only your listening to all the extra dialogue which when you buy “The Wall” itself you only hear the tracks that were meant to be the album. But as I said it’s my own opinion, and only in certain cases is it good or great. “Halloween” (Carpenter version of course) is my favorite film of all time. So I really enjoy what Mondo did with both versions of the “Halloween” OST. [/quote]

Hi...I have a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall (film version) and from what I recall...I really enjoyed that listening experience, the little cues and bits of dialogue, tv noises etc etc...I found it to be more dynamic than the stand alone LP version. Not only that, but as a massive bonus, you also get that extra extended part from Empty Spaces (plus other bits and bobs, When The Tigers Broke Free etc)...a sublime piece imo.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stImV0RomL4[/video]

Anyway...I just couldn't pass up on both the Mondo Halloween releases...fantastic artwork and simply just too iconic and important (imo) to let it pass by. Overall, I prefer the standard Halloween soundtrack...but sometimes I like to mix things up.

I totally understand the 'purist POV' though and can appreciate their disappointment.

[LoboLives]

I think if they just had one or two dialogue scenes (The Blackest Eyes and the Boogie Man is coming) it would have been fine.

Personally I think a little dialogue adds a little flavor to the soundtrack for example the intro to Death Waltz's They Live. In fact I would have loved for Death Waltz to do that with all of their releases (for example at the end of Assault On Precinct 13 why not have "Got a smoke?" to end the record or have the Duck voiced killer in New York Ripper say something or the infamous "Joy trail" dialogue in the morgue?) That way these re-releases have an identity of their own.

[Alekspectre]

I, personally, love this Mondo version, because I take it a bit like a "children's audiobook" (maybe strange) , and when I read that James Plotkin was in charge of the remastering for vinyl, i don't hesitate a minute. His work on vinyl is superb, it is NOT just a cd ripped on vinyl. But, i waiting for a maybe shorter but entire musical score. In fact, this edition is for hardcore fans. And the vinyl scores market is made of that; hardcore buyers.

[bpwlogan]

The dialogue can be a little long winded in this one, but overall I like the way they did the album. It's nice at 45 speed too. I like dialogue in a soundtrack if it's not too long. This soundtrack borders on that. Don't really care for the cover art though.

[MODAREC]

I don't really mind dialogue, as long as it's not laid over the music. Pretty useful in dj sets to mix over the top or use as intro's or outro's. I have a bootleg LP of The Warriors soundtrack which has loads of dialogue as well as a few loops which are perfect as a dj tool. Can see how it pisses off some people though.