Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American composer of film and television scores.[1]
Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including Hellraiser, Species, Urban Legend, The Grudge, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Drag Me to Hell, Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil and Pet Sematary. Other works include Rapid Fire, Copycat, Set It Off, Entrapment, The Hurricane, Swordfish, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man 3, and The Shipping News, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
Young was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2008 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[2]
Early life and education
Young was born in Red Bank, New Jersey.[3] He graduated from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts in music, and then completed his post-graduate work at the University of North Texas.
Career
In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles. Originally a jazz drummer, when he heard some of Bernard Herrmann's works he decided to become a film composer. He studied at the UCLA Film School under David Raksin. He teaches at the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California.[4]
Works as composer
Film
1980s
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | The Minstrel’s Song | Chris Hopkins | Short film |
| 1982 | The Dorm That Dripped Blood | Stephen Carpenter Jeffrey Obrow |
— |
| Highpoint | Peter Carter | Replacement score | |
| 1983 | Robby | Ralph C. Bluemke | Replacement score – Music for the 1983 VHS release (original release: 1968) |
| 1984 | The Power | Stephen Carpenter Jeffrey Obrow |
— |
| The Oasis | Sparky Greene | — | |
| 1985 | Avenging Angel | Robert Vincent O'Neil | — |
| Def-Con 4 | Paul Donovan | Replacement score | |
| Barbarian Queen | Héctor Olivera | Tracked music – Credit shared with James Horner | |
| Wizards of the Lost Kingdom | Héctor Olivera | Tracked music – Credit shared with James Horner | |
| Godzilla 1985 | R.J. Kizer Koji Hashimoto |
Tracked music (US release); part of Young's score from Def-Con 4 appears in several scenes, including Godzilla's attack on the Soviet submarine, the scene where the SDF armored division arrives in Tokyo Bay, and Okumura's near-death experience during the helicopter extraction in Tokyo.[citation needed] | |
| Wheels of Fire | Cirio H. Santiago | — | |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | Jack Sholder | — | |
| 1986 | Getting Even | Dwight H. Little | — |
| Torment | Samson Aslanian John Hopkins |
— | |
| Invaders from Mars | Tobe Hooper | — | |
| Trick or Treat | Charles Martin Smith | — | |
| 1987 | Hellraiser | Clive Barker | — |
| Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans | Jim Wynorski | Additional music – Tracked music | |
| Flowers in the Attic | Jeffrey Bloom | — | |
| U-Boats: The Wolfpack | Patrick Griffin Richard Jones |
Short films – “Rommel” / “Secret Weapons of WW2” / “U Boats: The Wolf Pack” / “B17 The Flying Fortress” / “Luftwaffe – The Air Weapon” – Tracked music | |
| 1988 | The Telephone | Rip Torn | — |
| Bat*21 | Peter Markle | — | |
| Haunted Summer | Ivan Passer | — | |
| Hellbound: Hellraiser II | Tony Randel | — | |
| 1989 | The Fly II | Chris Walas | — |
| Hider in the House | Matthew Patrick | — |
1990s
2000s
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | Curtis Hanson | — |
| Bless the Child | Chuck Russell | — | |
| The Gift | Sam Raimi | — | |
| 2001 | Madison | William Bindley | Themes only – Score by Kevin Kiner |
| Sweet November | Pat O'Connor | Replacement score | |
| Swordfish | Dominic Sena | — | |
| Scenes of the Crime | Dominique Forma | — | |
| The Glass House | Daniel Sackheim | — | |
| Bandits | Barry Levinson | — | |
| The Shipping News | Lasse Hallström | — | |
| 2002 | Dragonfly | Tom Shadyac | Incomplete unused score |
| The Country Bears | Peter Hastings | — | |
| The Tower | E. Gedney Webb Jim Elliott |
Short film | |
| 2003 | The Core | Jon Amiel | — |
| Shade | Damian Nieman | European release only | |
| Runaway Jury | Gary Fleder | — | |
| Something’s Gotta Give | Nancy Meyers | Additional music | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | Sam Raimi | Additional music |
| The Grudge | Takashi Shimizu | — | |
| 2005 | Hide and Seek | John Polson | Incomplete unused score |
| Beauty Shop | Bille Woodruff | — | |
| Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous | John Pasquin | Additional music – Tracked music | |
| The Exorcism of Emily Rose | Scott Derrickson | — | |
| An Unfinished Life | Lasse Hallström | Unused | |
| 2006 | Ask the Dust | Robert Towne | Incomplete unused score |
| The Grudge 2 | Takashi Shimizu | — | |
| Dark Ride | Craig Singer | Themes only – Score by Kostas Christides | |
| 2007 | Ghost Rider | Mark Steven Johnson | — |
| Spider-Man 3 | Sam Raimi | Also appears in a cameo role (“Music director”); Themes by Danny Elfman | |
| Lucky You | Curtis Hanson | — | |
| Shortcut to Happiness | Alec Baldwin (credited as "Harry Kirkpatrick") | Co-composed with Ramin Djawadi | |
| 2008 | Untraceable | Gregory Hoblit | — |
| Sleepwalking | William Maher | Replacement score | |
| The Informers | Gregor Jordan | Replacement score | |
| 2009 | The Uninvited | The Guard Brothers | — |
| Drag Me to Hell | Sam Raimi | Also appears in a cameo role (“Pedestrian with cupcake”) | |
| Creation | Jon Amiel | — | |
| Love Happens | Brandon Camp | — |
2010s
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | When in Rome | Mark Steven Johnson | — |
| Gone with the Pope | Duke Mitchell | Additional music | |
| The Black Tulip | Sonia Nassery Cole | — | |
| 2011 | Priest | Scott Stewart | — |
| The Rum Diary | Bruce Robinson | — | |
| Faces in the Crowd | Julien Magnat | Themes only – Score by John McCarthy | |
| 2012 | Sinister | Scott Derrickson | — |
| The Tall Man | Pascal Laugier | Themes only – Score by Todd Bryanton | |
| Box of Shadows | Mauro Borrelli | Themes only – Score by José J. Herring | |
| The Baytown Outlaws | Barry Battles | — | |
| Scary or Die | Bob Badway | Segment "Re-Membered" | |
| 2013 | Saving Norman | Hanneke Schutte | Short film produced by Kevin Spacey |
| The Smile Man | Anton Lanshakov | Short film produced by Kevin Spacey | |
| Love’s Routine | Shirlyn Wong | Short film produced by Kevin Spacey | |
| Killing Season | Mark Steven Johnson | — | |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Marc Turtletaub | Unreleased film | |
| A Madea Christmas | Tyler Perry | — | |
| 2014 | The Monkey King | Cheang Pou-soi | — |
| The Single Moms Club | Tyler Perry | — | |
| Deliver Us from Evil | Scott Derrickson | — | |
| 2016 | The Monkey King 2 | Cheang Pou-soi | — |
| 2018 | One by One | Jeffrey Obrow | — |
| Tales from the Hood 2 | Rusty Cundieff Darin Scott |
Themes only – Score by Frederik Wiedmann | |
| 2019 | Pet Sematary | Kevin Kölsch Dennis Widmyer |
— |
| Fanboy | Gillian Greene | Short film |
2020s
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Empty Man | David Prior | — |
| 2022 | The Offering | Oliver Park | — |
| 2023 | Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror | Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau | New score (original release: 1922) |
| The Piper | Erlingur Thoroddsen | — | |
| Pursued | Jeffrey Obrow | Themes only – Score by Max Blomgren and Jung J Lee | |
| Bentobox | Olivia Owyeung | Short film – Themes only – Score by Matthew Rosales |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | The Twilight Zone | Sheldon Larry Claudia Weill |
S1 E15 (“A Small Talent for War” / “A Matter of Minutes”) |
| 1987 | American Harvest | Dick Lowry | TV film |
| Vietnam War Story | Georg Stanford Brown David Burton Morris |
TV series – Unknown episodes; probably S1 E1 (“The Mine”) and S1 E5 (“R & R”) | |
| 1989 | Vietnam War Story: The Last Days | Luis Soto David Burton Morris |
TV film – Segments: “The Last Outpost” / “Dirty Work” |
| 1990 | Max and Helen | Philip Saville | TV film |
| Last Flight Out | Larry Elikann | TV film | |
| 1994 | Judicial Consent | William Bindley | TV film |
| 1996 | Norma Jean & Marilyn | Tim Fywell | TV film |
| 2001 | The Warden | Stephen Gyllenhaal | TV film |
| 2004 | Something the Lord Made | Joseph Sargent | TV film |
| 2014 | Dominion | Scott Stewart | TV series – S1 E0 (“Pilot”) |
| 2020 | 50 States of Fright | Sam Raimi | TV series – S1 E1-2-3 (“The Golden Arm: Michigan”) + Series theme |
| 2022 | Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities | David Prior | TV series – S1 E3 (“The Autopsy”) |
| Echo 3 | Mark Boal Pablo Trapero Claudia Llosa Jeffrey Nachmanoff |
TV series – 10 episodes – Replacement score |
Video games
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Saboteur | Trey Watkins | Themes only – Score by Gabriel Mann and Rebecca Kneubuhl |
| 2017 | Wilson's Heart | Josh Bear | — |
Other work
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | The Philadelphia Experiment | Stewart Raffill | Trailer music |
| 2011 | A Symphony of Hope: The Haiti Project | Brian Weidling | Collaborative composition in aid of the charity “Hands Together” after the Haiti earthquake in 2010. A documentary directed by Brian Weidling, which captured the recording session, was released in 2017. |
| Susan Graham: A Documentary | — | Music for a documentary commemorating the retirement of Susan Graham, president of the Connecticut prep school “The Gunnery” | |
| 2016 | Chevrolet TV-Spot | Sam Raimi | Commercial |
| 2018 | The Lost Children of Planet X | — | Concept album developed from unused cues originally composed for the film Lucky You |
| Three Bernard Herrmann “Melodramas” | — | Narration of three poems – “Cynara” by Ernest Dowson, “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “The City of Brass” – scored by Bernard Herrmann and performed by the Hollywood Studio Orchestra, conducted by Michael McGehee | |
| 2022 | Scream Warriors | — | Interludes and arrangements for the Halloween rock record by LVCRFT |
References
- ^ "Christopher Young : The New York Times review". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
- ^ "BMI Film & Television Awards Tout Composers of Year's Top Film and Television Music". Bmi.com. 22 May 2008. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ^ "Bio". OfficialChristopherYoung.com. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "Christopher Young". Music.usc.edu. March 20, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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