Hellraiser
Released in 1987 by Cinedisc
14 Tracks, with a total running time of 43:08 min.
Music composed by Christopher Young.

There are some contemporary scores that resonate with fans just as much as the themes from Jaws, The Omen, or even The Exorcist. They may not be as familiar with the normal public, but if you play a few seconds of Christopher Young’s score from Hellraiser, they will know what it is. Maybe because the film itself is pretty iconic and well known, but what Young has done here is make something special, and lasting.

Being one of my favorite film scores of all time, Young creates an audible world where we find dark things waiting for us in the shadows. The word ‘haunting’ is a perfect way to describe this beautiful piece of music that is at times almost operatic, and other times giving off a eerie gothic feel, with that quiet, echoing piano and strings blending together so well. Then you add in those chimes! Just amazing.

While watching the movie, the score enhances the emotions we’re witnessing, the pain, the anguish, the wanting for something… more. It’s all there in the music. Then listening to it on its own, you can still feel those feelings seeping into you. That is the mark of an amazing score, when it can move past the visuals and still make that impact. His re-occurring theme is throughout the score, not only making it recognizable, packs a punch each and every time.

If you don’t have a copy of this in your soundtrack collection, what you waiting for?