Christopher Young

Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American composer of film and television scores.

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 H. 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.

Early life and education 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 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.

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 CarpenterJeffrey Obrow Highpoint Peter Carter New score for the new cut of the film that was extensively reshoot and released in 1984. The original cut of the film before reshoots, was composed by John Addison. 1983 Robby Ralph C. Bluemke Replacement score – Music for the 1983 VHS release (original release: 1968) 1984 The Power Stephen CarpenterJeffrey 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 OliveraTracked 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. 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 AslanianJohn 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 GriffinRichard JonesShort 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 Year Title Director Notes 1990 Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back Joe Finley Tracked music – Direct-to-video The Exorcist III William Peter Blatty Incomplete unused replacement score Bright Angel Michael Fields 1991 The Five Heartbeats Robert Townsend Additional music 1992 The Vagrant Chris Walas Jersey Girl David Burton Morris Unused Rapid Fire Dwight H. Little Jennifer 8 Bruce Robinson Replacement score 1993 The Dark Half George A. Romero Sliver Phillip Noyce Additional music Dream Lover Nicholas Kazan 1994 Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale Xavier Koller Incomplete unused score 1995 Murder in the First Marc Rocco Tales from the Hood Rusty Cundieff Species Roger Donaldson Virtuosity Brett Leonard Copycat Jon Amiel 1996 Unforgettable John Dahl Set It Off F. Gary Gray Head Above Water Jim Wilson 1997 Murder at 1600 Dwight H. Little The Man Who Knew Too Little Jon Amiel 1998 Hard Rain Mikael Salomon Hush Jonathan Darby Rounders John Dahl Judas Kiss Sebastian Gutierrez Urban Legend Jamie Blanks Playing by Heart Willard Carroll Additional music 1999 Entrapment Jon Amiel In Too Deep Michael Rymer The Big Kahuna John Swanbeck The Hurricane Norman Jewison

2000s Year Title Director Notes 2000 Wonder Boys Curtis Hanson Bless the Child Chuck Russell The Gift Sam Raimi 2001 MadisonWilliam BindleyThemes 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 WebbJim 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 RaimiAlso 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 2Rusty CundieffDarin Scott Themes only – Score by Frederik Wiedmann 2019 Pet Sematary Kevin KölschDennis Widmyer FanboyGillian 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 PiperErlingur Thoroddsen PursuedJeffrey Obrow Themes only – Score by Max Blomgren and Jung J Lee BentoboxOlivia Owyeung Short film – Themes only – Score by Matthew Rosales 2026 PassengerAndré Øvredal

Television Year Title Director Notes 1986 The Twilight Zone Sheldon LarryClaudia Weill S1 E15 (“A Small Talent for War” / “A Matter of Minutes”) 1987 American Harvest Dick Lowry TV film Vietnam War Story Georg Stanford BrownDavid Burton Morris TV series – Unknown episodes; probably S1 E1 (“The Mine”) and S1 E5 (“R & R”) 1989 Vietnam War Story: The Last Days Luis SotoDavid 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 BoalPablo TraperoClaudia LlosaJeffrey Nachmanoff TV series – 10 episodes – Replacement score

Video games

Other work