Christopher Young Christopher Young

Born: 28 April 1957, Redbanks, New Jersey.

Biography:
Horror has proved to be the perfect genre for the musical talents of Christopher Young, whose music tends to edge towards the rather macabre in style. Young studied at the Manhattan School of Music, the North Texas State University and UCLA and scored his first film, "Pranks" in 1981. After scratching around composing for low budget horror thrillers, he became internationally noticed in 1987, with his score for Clive Barker's "Hellraiser". Since then, Young has written some unique and inventive music for many films in a style which has led many people to label Young as one of the most innovative composers working in Hollywood today. He is a major exponent of the innovative style "musique concrète", which works 'sampled' sounds into scores, and incorporates many unusual effects and altered chords into his music. Young has since built up an impressive filmography in the horror, thriller and sci-fi genres, with hits such as "Species" (1995), "Set It Off" (1996), "Murder at 1600" (1997), "Urban Legend" (1998), "Entrapment" (1999), "The Hurricane" (1999), "Swordfish" (2001), "Bandits" (2001), "Sweet November" (2001), "The Core" (2003), “The Grudge (2004), “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” (2005), “Ghost Rider” (2007) and “Spider-Man 3” (2007), as well as critical successes such as "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" (1987), "Jennifer 8" (1992), "Murder in the First" (1995) and "Copycat" (1996) to his name. He was nominated for an Emmy award in 1996 for the music he composed for the TV movie "Norma Jean and Marilyn", and received his first major award nomination - for a Golden Globe - in 2001 for Lasse Hallstrom's "The Shipping News". As well as composing music, Young is a regular lecturer on UCLA's film scoring programme.

Reviews:
Bat-21, The Big Kahuna, Bless the Child, Bright Angel, Copycat, The Core, Creation, Drag Me To Hell, Entrapment, Ghost Rider, The Gift, The Grudge, Hard Rain, Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, Highpoint, The Hurricane, Hush, In Too Deep, The Informers, Jennifer 8, Judas Kiss, Lucky You, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Murder at 1600, Murder in the First, Rounders, Runaway Jury, The Shipping News, Sleepwalking, Species, Spider-Man 3, Swordfish, The Uninvited, Untraceable, Urban Legend (Regular Release), Urban Legend (Promo) and Wonder Boys

Filmography:
Creation (2009), Drag Me To Hell (2009), The Informers (2009), Love Happens (2009), The Uninvited (2009), Sleepwalking (2008), Untraceable (2008), The Devil and Daniel Webster (2007), Ghost Rider (2007), Lucky You (2007), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Grudge 2 (2006), Beauty Shop (2005), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Madison (2005), The Grudge (2004), Shade (2004), Something The Lord Made (2004), The Core (2003), Runaway Jury (2003), The Country Bears (2002), The Tower (2002), Bandits (2001), The Glass House (2001), Scenes of the Crime (2001), The Shipping News (2001), Sweet November (2001), Swordfish (2001), The Warden (2001), Bless The Child (2000), The Gift (2000), Wonder Boys (2000), The Big Kahuna (1999), Entrapment (1999), The Hurricane (1999), In Too Deep (1999), Hard Rain (1998), Hush (1998), Judas Kiss (1998), Playing By Heart (1998), Rounders (1998), Urban Legend (1998), The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997), Murder at 1600 (1997), Head Above Water (1996), Norma Jean and Marilyn (1996), Set It Off (1996), Tales from the Hood (1996), Unforgettable (1996), Copycat (1995), Murder in the First (1995), Species (1995), Virtuosity (1995), Dream Lover (1994), Judicial Consent (1994), U-Boats: The Wolfpack (1994), The Dark Half (1993), Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back (1992), Jennifer 8 (1992), Rapid Fire (1992), The Vagrant (1992), Bright Angel (1991), Last Flight Out (1990), Max and Helen (1990), The Fly II (1989), Hider in the House (1989), Vietnam War Story: The Last Days (1989), Bat 21 (1988), Haunted Summer (1988), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Telephone (1988), American Harvest (1987), Deathstalker II (1987), Flowers in the Attic (1987), Hellraiser (1987), Getting Even (1986), Invaders from Mars (1986), Torment (1986), Trick or Treat (1986), Avenging Angel (1985), Barbarian Queen (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985), Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985), Def-Con 4 (1984), Gojira (1984), Oasis (1984), Wheels of Fire (1984), Robbie (1982), Pranks (1981), Highpoint (1980), The Power (1980).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2008 (adjusted for inflation):
Spider-Man 3 ($352.2m), The Grudge ($128.0m), Entrapment ($124.3m), Ghost Rider ($121.2m), Species ($99.4m), Swordfish ($88.8m), The Exorcism of Emily Rose ($84.3m), The Hurricane ($71.9m), A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge ($60.8m), Set It Off ($59.4m)

Awards:
2001 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - The Shipping News
1996 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini–Series, Movie, or Special – Norma Jean & Marilyn
1990 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini–Series, Movie, or Special – Last Flight Out

Links:
Official Site
The CDs of Christopher Young by Mark Hammon

An Unfinished Life (Rejected) Bandits Bat 21 The Big Kahuna Bless The Child Bright Angel Copycat The Core The Country Bears Creation The Dark Half Def-Con 4/Avenging Angel/Torment/Telephone The Devil and Daniel Webster Drag Me To Hell Dream Lover Entrapment The Exorcism of Emily Rose Flowers in the Attic The Fly II Ghost Rider The Gift The Glass House The Grudge The Grudge 2 Hard Rain Haunted Summer Head Above Water (Promo) Hellbound: Hellraiser II/Highpoint Hellraiser Hider in the House The Hurricane Hush (Promo) In Too Deep The Informers Invaders from Mars/Oasis Jennifer 8 Judas Kiss Judicial Consent Madison The Man Who Knew Too Little Max and Helen Murder at 1600 Murder in the First A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge Norma Jean and Marilyn The Power Pranks Rapid Fire Rounders Runaway Jury Set It Off Shade The Shipping News Sleepwalking Something the Lord Made Species (Promo) Sweet November Swordfish Tales from the Hood (Promo) The Tower U-Boats: The Wolfpack Unforgettable (Promo) The Uninvited Untraceable Urban Legend (Soundtrack) Urban Legend (Score) The Vagrant Virtuosity Wonder Boys Cinema Septet (Compilation inc. American Harvest/Last Flight Out/Trick or Treat/Vietnam War Stories etc.)


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