"HELLRAISER", Clive Barker's
enormously successful tale of love, lust and demonic
dealings has proven to be one of the most successful
horror films released over the past decade, garnering
a cluster of awards, including the prestigious Grand
Prix De La Section Peur at the 16th Avoriaz Fantasy Film
Festival in France in 1988.
Now, "HELLBOUND:
HELLRAISER II" takes up where "HELLRAISER"
left off with Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Lawrence) now confined
to a mental hospital with the events of 55 Lodovico Street
still fresh in her fevered memory. Here, she is under
the care of Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham), a man at
the peak of his profession. But behind his veneer of
cool proficiency he conceals deep, dark secrets. Kirsty
tries to make friends with another young patient, Tiffany
(Imogen Boorman), an enigmatic mute with an uncanny ability
to solve more and more complex puzzles, a talent Dr.
Channard hopes to use in opening the ornate puzzle box
which is the key to unlocking the thresholds that lead
to the outer darkness.
But while
Tiffany is used by Dr. Channard and the newly revived
Julia (Glare Higgins) to solve the mystery of the puzzle
box, in Kirsty's hospital room a vision of her skinned
father manifests itself in a pool of blood, which he
uses to write a message on the wall, entreating her to
help. Once again, Kirsty must venture between the dimensions
and into the stygian passageways where she must confront
the awesome powers of the Cenobites and their master,
Leviathan while attempting to rescue Tiffany from the
manipulation of Dr. Channard and her stepmother and to
release her father from eternal damnation.
HIGHPOINT The plot of this 1984 Comedy/Adventure
concerned the madcap cross-country chase for millions
of dollars stolen from both the Mafia and C.I.A. The
film starred Christopher Plummer, Beverly DeAngelo and
Richard Harris. When approached to do this film, Composer
Christopher Young was asked to write his score for large
orchestra and treat the film like a modern version of
the Alfred Hitchcock classic "NORTH BY NORTHWEST.''
The Suite
presented here features the main highlights of this effort,
which include for the first time anywhere a recording
of the enchanting Love Theme, which features a wonderful
solo by acclaimed guitarist Gregg Nestor.
Since scoring his first feature while still a student
al UCLA. CHRISTOPHER YOUNG has scored over 20 films in
the past six years, including the original HELLRAISER.
His latest projects--BAT-21,
HAUNTED SUMMER, and HELLBOUND:
HELLRAISER II--were scored back to back over a very short
period of time. HELLBOUND, the last and biggest score
of the lot, was Young's first opportunity to write a
sequel to his own work, making it his most challenging
project.
Director Tony
Randel had meant for HELLBOUND to be a "celebration
of horror" rather than an obvious, conventional
illustration of it. He also wanted the music to respond
operatically to the film's mayhem. Thus, the score is
sweeping, and combines a large orchestra (which utilizes
8 French Horns as opposed to the usual 4) and choir to
evoke a Gothic texture. Tonal and Atonal material are
mixed to complement the respective obsessive and chaotic
elements in the film.
Several of
HELLRAISER's themes were reintegrated
into portions of HELLBOUND's score, the rest being all-new
material. There are many unusual moments in the score,
particularly in the HALL OF MIRRORS cue. Here, traditional
band organ music is mutated by non-related, textural
material such as disjointed snare drum figures, clustered
voices, and a collage of other themes in various tempos.
A "carnival in Hell" results. In the LEVIATHAN
cue, the evil that permeates Hell is counterbalanced:
the "Devil's Horn" enters at the tri-tone interval
(the "Devil in music") against a bass chanting,
which, in one of the most bizarre uses of Morse Code
ever, spells out G-O-D!
There are
a few quiet moments in the score, such as Second Sight
Seance, which provides unexpected innocence and beauty
through a delicate arrangement of strings. Deceptively
quiet is the music for Something to Think About. It suggests,
through a variation on the Main Title, a seductive quality
to the evil throughout the film. Through these contrasts
and unique instrumentations, Young's score ultimately
makes us aware of what it might be like to be ... HELLBOUND.
