Christopher Young

This article is about the American composer. For other persons named Christopher Young, see Christopher Young (disambiguation).

Christopher Young
Christopher Young in May 2007
Background information
Born	(1958-04-28) April 28, 1958 Red Bank, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Film score
Occupation	Composer
Instrument	Orchestra
Years active	1982–present
Website	officialchristopheryoung.com

Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American music composer for both film and television.

Many of his music compositions are for horror films, including Hellraiser, Tales from the Hood, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, Urban Legend, and Drag Me to Hell. Other works include Lucky You and Spider-Man 3, for which he received the Film & TV Music Award for Best Score for a Dramatic Feature Film. He also made three cameo appearances in Spider-Man 3.

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.

Life and career

Young was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. He graduated from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts in music, and then completed his post-graduate work at North Texas State University. 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.

Discography

Film

1980s

• The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)
• Highpoint (1982)
• The Oasis (1984)
• The Power (1984)
• Avenging Angel (1985)
• Def-Con 4 (1985)
• Wheels of Fire (1985)
• Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
• Barbarian Queen (1985)
• Getting Even (1986)

• Torment (1986)
• Invaders from Mars (1986)
• Trick or Treat (1986)
• Hellraiser (1987)
• Flowers in the Attic (1987)
• U-Boats, The Wolf Pack (Video Documentary Short) (1987)
• Robby (1988)
• The Telephone (1988)
• Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
• Bat*21 (1988)

• Haunted Summer (1988)
• Vietnam War Story: The Last Days (1989) (Segments "The Last Outpost" and "Dirty Work")
• The Fly II (1989)
• Hider in the House (1989)

1990s

• Bright Angel (1990)
• Max and Helen (TV Movie) (1992)
• The Vagrant (1992)
• Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back (1992)
• Rapid Fire (1992)
• Jennifer 8 (1992)
• The Dark Half (1993)
• Dream Lover (1993)
• Judicial Consent (1994)
• Murder in the First (1995)
• Tales From the Hood (1995)

• Species (1995)
• Virtuosity (1995)
• Copycat (1995)
• Unforgettable (1996)
• Set It Off (1996)
• Head Above Water (1996)
• Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996)
• Murder at 1600 (1997)
• The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
• Hard Rain (1998)
• Hush (1998)

• Rounders (1998)
• Judas Kiss (1998)
• Urban Legend (1998)
• Entrapment (1999)
• In Too Deep (1999)
• The Big Kahuna (1999)
• The Hurricane (1999)

2000s

• Wonder Boys (2000)
• Bless the Child (2000)
• The Gift (2000)
• Sweet November (2001)
• Swordfish (2001)
• Scenes of the Crime (2001)
• The Glass House (2001)
• Bandits (2001)
• The Shipping News (2001)
• The Tower (2002)
• The Country Bears (2002) (co-wrote)

• The Core (2003)
• Shade (2003)(co-wrote)
• Runaway Jury (2003)
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (2004) (Shortcut to Happiness)
• Something the Lord Made (2004)
• The Grudge (2004)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) (additional music)
  • Spider-Man 2·1 (2007) (additional music)
• Beauty Shop (2005)
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
• An Unfinished Life (2005) (additional music)
• The Grudge 2 (2006)
• Ghost Rider (2007)
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• Lucky You (2007)

• Untraceable (2008)
• Sleepwalking (2008)
• The Informers (2008)
• The Uninvited (2009)
• Drag Me to Hell (2009)
• Creation (2009)
• Love Happens (2009)

2010s

• The Black Tulip (2010)
• When in Rome (2010)
• Gone with the Pope (2010) (co-wrote)
• Priest (2011)
• Box of Shadows (2011) (theme only)
• The Rum Diary (2011)
• Sinister (2012)
• Scary or Die (2012)
• The Baytown Outlaws (2012)
• Killing Season (2013)
• Gods Behaving Badly (2013)
• A Madea Christmas (2013)
• The Monkey King (2014)
• The Single Moms Club (2014)
• Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
• The Monkey King 2 (2016)

Records

• Cinema Septet (Album) (1993)
• Dream Lover (OST) (1994)
• Madison (Original Themes) (2006)
• Haunted or Humored (Album) (2011)

References

External links

• Official website
• Christopher Young at IMDb
• Interview with Christopher Young at FilmMusicSite