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•	1989 Album

•	2012 Album

•	1989 Album

With the more variable and powerful soundscape in Hellbound: Hellraiser II comes relentless force in the horror passages that may be too challenging for some listeners, especially given the somewhat lighter touch with which Young approached those scenes in the previous work. The middle portion of this score is a brutally overwhelming cacophony of symphonic explosions, most of it organically generated and often featuring the heavily metallic tint. Young has a bit more fun in this score, too, using his horns to form the Morse code of the word "god" for the Leviathan concept here. While brass and percussion still hammer away on key at the outset of measures with even more reckless abandon in Hellbound: Hellraiser II, the choir is where Young achieves his greatest advancement in the concept. Very high violins defined the mysterious haze of suspense in the first score, and while that group still performs that role in the sequel, it hands over some of those duties to flutes and high female voices. Mixed choir, meanwhile, handles their new presence with absolute zeal, providing immense religious power on top of throaty brass performances to yield one of the most flamboyantly gothic tones of the era. Thematically, Young's two Hellraiser scores don't form as tight a narrative as they could have, but the composer does provide a handful of sometimes obtuse references back to the first score in his sequel. The main franchise theme doubling for the puzzle box is mutated by Young in this score to become a new identity, but he does reference the prior identity's three-note phrasing in a pyramid formation a few times. These instances occur in a cameo at 5:42 into "Hellbound/Second Sight Séance" on massive choir and brass but develop into a more formal appearance for full choir at 6:36 with wild triangle and flute. The idea also returns to bookend the story at 0:28 into "What's Your Pleasure" on pure fantasy choir. The memorable resurrection theme from the first score, an elegant waltz guided by curiously demented, two-note formations, is only briefly alluded to at the end of "Looking Through a Woman" on music box here. The returning sadness theme for yearning, rising, melodramatic string figures provides a warm interlude to the new soft material at 1:18 into "Something to Think About" and struggles through its own shadows on strings at 2:33 into "Obscene Kiss."

The more interesting development of themes in Hellbound: Hellraiser II occupies the villains. While Young had provided an identity for the antagonists in the first score, it never really congealed. In the sequel, the idea evolves into a very effective tool of menace, dominating throughout "Skin Her Alive" and tickling in the middle and end of "Obscene Kiss." It becomes grandiose at 3:40 into "Headless Wizard" for an extended performance. This theme stands apart from the more general Cenobite material that consisted of massive washes of dissonance and prickly percussion in the first score and teases in lighter shades during "Stringing the Puppet" in this one. Any consternation caused by Young's diminishment of the previous work's themes will likely be assuaged by his dedicated development of all-new themes built from the same exact DNA. He graces Hellbound: Hellraiser II with a reworked franchise and puzzle box theme that inverts some of the three-note figures from the prior theme for the same emotional impact. It switches the high violin tones for flutes as the lead and previews the forthcoming Species main theme at times. This character idea debuts with great sensitivity at 2:06 into "Hellbound/Second Sight Séance" and returns at 6:07 after extending out of the previous score's version of the main theme. It opens "Something to Think About" with familiar flutes dominating over violin washes and blends with elements of the prior sadness theme to explore new territory. Deconstructed to a nearly unrecognizable form early in "Obscene Kiss," it receives a brass rendition at 0:06 into "Headless Wizard" takes the place of the fanfare at full ensemble size but returns to soft beauty on female voices at 1:00. Before yielding to prior score's main theme in "What's Your Pleasure," the idea offers echoes of the ongoing saga on solo horn. More singularly spectacular is Young's homage to Jerry Goldsmith's climactic action music from Poltergeist to form a theme of alluringly fabulous malice for the rise of Dr. Channard in this tale. With undulating bass lines over melodramatic, tonal chord shifts, this theme is guided by solo cello at 4:13 into "Hellbound/Second Sight Séance," its vocal counterpoint following familiar three-note phrasing at times, and momentum builds to a massive brass statement of majesty that formally shifts to the three-note phrases like most else in these scores. This theme of wonderment reprises its glory at 1:51 into "Headless Wizard" with more crackling percussive effects.

The new main theme of Hellbound: Hellraiser II is the score's slashed heart, however, outrageously gothic with full orchestral and choral force. Split into two parts, the A phrase is the over-the-top fanfare at the start of "Hellbound" and reprised at 1:30 into that cue. The B phrase is the actual theme of the film, heard at 0:18 in "Hellbound" and repeating a few times immediately thereafter. The B phrase opens "Looking Through a Woman" over shades of dissonance before the fanfare erupts at 1:28 before yielding to primary theme in full form at 1:49; the A phrase then becomes badly distorted with only elements of the fanfare and its timpani lines intact. The B phrase mingles with new menace motif in the first minute of "Dead or Living," and the A phrase very slightly informs the climax of the cue. That fanfare is twisted badly for effect at the start of "Sketch With Fire," though the B phrase consolidates on brass only at 0:18 in a nice shift. The chords of both phrases guide meandering suspense early in "Obscene Kiss," and the fanfare interrupts the villain theme at 4:57 into "Headless Wizard" before heading onto a new tonal path. The aforementioned new menace motif consists of cyclical, rising four notes that can accompany other themes in the bass. It can be heard at 5:59 into "Hellbound/Second Sight Séance" and takes the spotlight on huge brass at 6:53. It also provides brutal suspense against the main "Hellbound" theme in "Dead or Living." While enthusiasts of the franchise know that the sound of a music box is critical to the mystery of the Lament Configuration, Young adds a carnivalesque calliope motif to his sequel that is challenging to absorb. It opens and closes "Hall of Mirrors" while shifting in the stereo soundscape maddeningly, and it occupies the second half of "What's Your Pleasure" to ruin the otherwise deceptively restful closing of the score. On the whole, Hellbound: Hellraiser II may not be as tight a musical narrative nor as fully listenable on album as Hellraiser, but there is no question that the 20 minutes of hugely gothic highlights from the sequel score easily outflank the predecessor. When Young's horror music is referenced by history, this score's highlights remain the pinnacle of such achievements. The new themes even managed to force their way to represent Doc Ock in 2004's Spider-Man 2 with Young's assistance. On album, the score's presentation has remained the same throughout the years, though a 1989 GNP Crescendo album appended selections from Young's attractive score for 1982's Highpoint to its end. Regardless of album, the massive fantasy cues from this score remain the gold standard for Halloween enjoyment.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Christopher Young reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.48 (in 27 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.17 (in 10,916 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.