Wes Craven, the mastermind of such classic horror films as Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream, has died after a long battle with brain cancer. He will be remembered for his mastery of the horror film genre and as one of the leaders of the modernization of the genre, breathing new life into the slasher sub-genre with the 1984 classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Few may know, however, that the master of horror, along with Friday the 13th creator Sean S. Cunningham, got his start in the production side of the porn film industry.
Both Craven and Cunningham wanted to break out of the porn industry and into more mainstream cinema. That would come in 1972 with the low budget horror film, The Last House on the Left. The film followed in the mold of the 1968 indie horror classic, Night of the Living Dead and did more with less. Biography.com says, "The movie mined human cruelty to fuel the horrific tale of teenage girls abducted by deranged prisoners." It would help to put into place a template that is still in use today. The Gothic horror film that was popular in the 1930, and given a new lease on life by Hammer Studios on the 1950s, albeit briefly, was now dead and Jason Voorhees, Cunningham's creation, and Freddy Krueger, Craven's brainchild, were preparing to unleash a new kind of terror, less constrained by censorship, onto audiences."
Wes Craven confounded people's expectation when they met him in person. His films like Last House and the equal gritty 1977 follow up, The Hills Have Eyes, were complete contrasts to the individual Craven presented to the world. Like its predecessor, Hills didn't shy away from its presentation of violence. In fact, like Last House, The Hills Have Eyes freely wallowed in its crassness. The Wes Craven that made those films was quite a different person. On his website, CinemaDope interviewer Glenn Lovell noted, "It never fails. When people meet Wesley Earl Craven of Cleveland, they comment on his 'professorial' demeanor, his gentle, reassuring manner of speech and his conservative tweeds and button-down collar style of dress. Obviously Craven teaches Latin or the humanities at some posh prep school, right?"
The 1982 film, Swamp Thing, based off a DC character and starring Adrienne Barbeau and French actor Louis Jourdan, marked the beginning of more mainstream success for the director and sparked a prolific creative period starting two years later with the seminal 1980s horror film that would start a franchise, A Nightmare on Elm Street. This made Craven a household name and launched a franchise that altered the horror film landscape yet again. Craven told CNN, "For three years I was unable to sell it. I basically went broke. So when the film got made and was a financial success, my career went from the basement through the roof. It was a wonderful feeling."
With the help of a just right hammy performance from actor Robert Englund, the film became a horror classic and a box office smash, earning $28 million on a $1.5 million dollar budget. Craven directed three of the sequels and ventured off in various other projects. He found another box office smash with the 1996 horror comedy, Scream. Craven's love of playing with the concept of reality came to its fullest fruition, all in the guise of a mainstream, albeit extremely violent film. In the film, the characters were acutely aware of the conventions of a horror film and how their lives were beginning to mirror it. Violence and the blurring of the line between the conscious and unconscious reality went on to become constant touchstones throughout his career. Three more Scream films followed, all directed by Wes Craven.
He might have been quiet and soft spoken in real life but, in truth, no one was better at making us scream.
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