Wes Craven
Wes Craven was a writer, director and producer best known for helming the first Nightmare on Elm Street film and the first four Scream movies.
Craven said he found inspiration for the famed Elm Street series when he lived next to a cemetery on a street of the same name. The horrific and iconic lead character, Freddy Krueger character (played by Robert Englund), would go on to scare audiences in five films, released from 1984 to ’89. Additionally, from ’88 to ’90 the Krueger character hosted a horror anthology television series of short tales about the citizens of the fictional town of Springwood.
Craven’s other box-office smash franchise was Scream, a series of four films (released in '96, '97, '00 and '11) that followed the character Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who becomes the target of a string of murderers who all don the mask of "Ghostface." The series regularly spoofed the youth horror genre and referenced other horror movies. Following a new cast of characters, Scream was adapted for television in 2015, though Craven’s involvement in the MTV project was minimal.
Craven’s first film came in 1972 when he wrote, directed and edited the disturbing revenge feature The Last House on the Left, which was remade in 2009 starring Garret Dillahunt and Monica Potter. In 1977 he wrote and directed The Hills Have Eyes; followed up in ’84 with The Hills Have Eyes Part II. Both films were remade in 2006 and ’07, respectively; he produced the updates.
Wes Craven was a writer, director and producer best known for helming the first Nightmare on Elm Street film and the first four Scream movies.
Craven said he found inspiration for the famed Elm Street series when he lived next to a cemetery on a street of the same name. The horrific and iconic lead character, Freddy Krueger character (played by Robert Englund), would go on to scare audiences in five films, released from 1984 to ’89. Additionally, from ’88 to ’90 the Krueger character hosted a horror anthology television series of short tales about the citizens of the fictional town of Springwood.
Craven’s other box-office smash franchise was Scream, a series of four films (released in '96, '97, '00 and '11) that followed the character Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who becomes the target of a string of murderers who all don the mask of "Ghostface." The series regularly spoofed the youth horror genre and referenced other horror movies. Following a new cast of characters, Scream was adapted for television in 2015, though Craven’s involvement in the MTV project was minimal.
Craven’s first film came in 1972 when he wrote, directed and edited the disturbing revenge feature The Last House on the Left, which was remade in 2009 starring Garret Dillahunt and Monica Potter. In 1977 he wrote and directed The Hills Have Eyes; followed up in ’84 with The Hills Have Eyes Part II. Both films were remade in 2006 and ’07, respectively; he produced the updates.
Craven departed from the horror genre most notably with the 1999 film Music of the Heart, a dramatic feature about a teacher in Harlem. The film earned Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination for best actress, as well as a nom for Diane Warren for best original song. Craven also deviated from horror with the psychological thriller Red Eye and a romantic-comedy segment in the French production Paris Je T’aime.
In addition, he helmed the films Invitation to Hell, Swamp Thing, Deadly Blessing, Deadly Friend, Shocker, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under the Stairs, Vampire in Brooklyn, New Nightmare, Cursed and My Soul to Take. He also produced Carnival of Souls, Wishmaster, Mind Ripper, Dracula 2000, Feast and The Breed.
His work in television included the movies Stranger in the House, Chiller, Night Visions, Laurel Canyon, Don’t Look Down and Hollyweird. His TV series credits included Nightmare Café, The People Next Door and five episodes of the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone.
Craven graduated from Wheaton College with degrees in English and psychology, then earned a master's in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins. He briefly taught English at Westminster College and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College, where he also DJ'd for the campus radio station. A longtime nature lover, he wrote a monthly column, “Wes Craven’s The Birds,” for Martha’s Vineyard Magazine. He also wrote a novel, The Fountain Society, a thriller about human cloning.
Craven died August 30, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was 76.
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