Yesterday, at the age 76 and after fighting against cancer of the brain, a true king of horror movies and the master of the slasher movie Wes Craven died. He was with his family in his Los Angeles home when he passed.
Wes Craven's 40 year career as one of the most recognised and respected writers and directors of horror movies began with his 1972 directorial debut The Last House on the Left, which was followed five years later by explotation classic The Hills have Eyes; both are recognised to this day as classic horror movies. But it was in the 1980's through to the 1990's that Wes Craven would become the master of the slasher movie; metaphorically and literally slicing through competition from the likes of Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers and Pinhead himself, with his most recognised creation, first realised on the big screen in 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street by actor Robert Englund; Freddy Krueger. The character of Freddy Krueger has since appeared in nine movies; one of which was a crossover pitting Krueger against Friday the 13th antagonist Jason Vorhees, his own TV series, and in countless comic books and video games. The character, his fedora and green/brown striped jumper costume and his bladed leather glove have all become cultural icons.
Rare BTS photograph of Wes Craven and Robert Englund from 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Not content with having created one of horror movies most recognisable and iconic characters, Wes Craven then went on to create the Scream franchise; another slasher series which played with the stereotypes and cliches of the genre and created another cultural icon in Ghostface. Unfortunately Craven's attempt to re-define and modernize Bram Stoker's legendary Dracula with Dracula 2000 and its subsequent sequels, starring a young Gerard Butler in the title role was less well recieved. Throughout his career and through other movies such as The Serpent and the Rainbow Wes Craven often explored the fragile nature of reality as well as the terror and loss of control experienced during personal invasions, as exemplified in his directorial debut, The Last House on the Left.
Wes Craven enjoyed some behind the scenes laughter with Scream co-stars Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox.
Despite being an avid birder (bird watcher), it seems Wes Craven never entertained the notion of remaking Alfred Hitchcocks The Birds. Throughout his career Wes Craven often collaborated with his friend Sean S. Cunningham, most notably on the original and remake of The Last house on the Left and in the titular crossover phenomenon Freddy vs Jason.
Wes Craven is survived by his sister Carol Buhrow, his third wife Iya Labunka (a producer on many of his movies), his son Jonathan (a recognized movie producer in the horror genre), his daughter Jessica (formerly a singer/songwriter for the folk group the Chapin Sisters) and step-daughter Nina Tarnawksy. The Scified team, our members and our fans offer their deepest condolences to Wes Craven's family and friends. May the architect of nightmares forever sleep in peace.
Wes Craven
08-02-1939 - 08-30-2015
