Wes Craven

Wes Craven
Craven in 2010
Born	Wesley Earl Craven (1939-08-02)August 2, 1939 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.
Died	August 30, 2015(2015-08-30) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Nationality	American
Other names	Abe Snake Guru of Gore Master of Horror Sultan of Shock
Alma mater	Wheaton College Johns Hopkins University
Occupation	Film director screenwriter producer actor editor
Years active	1968–2015
Known for	A Nightmare on Elm Street Scream The People Under the Stairs The Hills Have Eyes The Last House on the Left Red Eye
Spouse(s)	Bonnie Broecker ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1969)​ Mimi Craven ​ ​ (m. 1984; div. 1987)​ Iya Labunka ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2, including Jonathan
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Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor. He was primarily known for creating the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984-2010) and directing the first four films in the Scream franchise (1996-2011). He also directed cult classics The Last House on the Left (1972) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977), the horror comedy The People Under the Stairs (1991), and psychological thriller Red Eye (2005). His other notable films include Swamp Thing (1982), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), and Music of the Heart (1999).

Craven was known for his pioneering work in the horror genre, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor and satire.^[1][2][3] The cultural impact and influence of his work have often led him to be referred to as a “Master of Horror”.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} In 1995, Craven was awarded the Life Career Award for his accomplishments in the horror genre by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.

Early life[]

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Caroline (née Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven.^[9][10] He was raised in a strict Baptist family.^[11] Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master's degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University.^[12]

Craven briefly taught English at Westminster College and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College of Technology (later named Clarkson University) in Potsdam, New York.^[13] He additionally taught at Madrid-Waddington High School in Madrid, New York.^[14] During this time, he purchased a used 16 mm film camera and began making short movies. When his friend Steve Chapin informed him of a messenger position at a New York City film production co, where his brother, future folk-rock star Harry Chapin worked. Craven moved into the building where his friend Steve Chapin lived at 136 Hicks St. in Brooklyn Heights.^[14] His first creative job in the film industry was as a sound editor.^[13]

Recalling his early training, Craven said in 1994, "Harry was a fantastic film editor and producer of industrials. He taught me the Chapin method [of editing]: 'Nuts and bolts! Nuts and bolts! Get rid of the shit!'" Craven afterward became the firm's assistant manager, and broke into film editing with You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat (1971).^[14]

Career[]

Craven left the academic world for the more lucrative role of pornographic film director.^[15] In the documentary Inside Deep Throat, Craven says on camera he made "many hardcore X-rated films" under pseudonyms. While his role in Deep Throat is undisclosed, most of his early known work involved writing, film editing, or both.^[15] Craven's first feature film as director was The Last House on the Left, which was released in 1972.^[13] Craven expected the film to be shown at only a few theaters, which according to him "gave me a freedom to be outrageous, and to go into areas that normally I wouldn't have gone into, and not worry about my family hearing about it, or being crushed."^[16] Ultimately the movie was screened much more widely than he assumed, leaving him ostracized due to the content of the film.^[16]

After the negative experience of Last House, Craven attempted to move out of the horror genre, and began writing non-horror films with his partner Sean S. Cunningham, none of which attracted any financial backing.^[17] Finally, based on advice from a friend about the ease of filming in the Nevada deserts, Craven began to write a new horror film based on that locale.^[17] The resulting film, The Hills Have Eyes, cemented Craven as a "horror film director" with Craven noting "It soon became clear that I wasn't going to do anything else unless it was scary".^[17]

Craven frequently collaborated with Sean S. Cunningham. In Craven's debut feature, The Last House on the Left, Cunningham served as producer. They pooled all of their resources and came up with $90,000.^{[citation needed]} Later, in Craven's best-known film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Cunningham directed one of the chase scenes, although he was not credited.^[13] Their characters, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, appeared together in the slasher film Freddy vs. Jason (2003) with Cunningham acting as producer, while screenwriter Victor Miller is credited as "Character Creator". Later, in The Last House on the Left remake (2009), Cunningham and Craven share production credits.^[18]

Craven had a hand in launching actor Johnny Depp's career by casting him in A Nightmare on Elm Street, Depp's first major film role.^[19]

Although known for directing horror/thriller films, he had worked on two films which are outside this genre: Music of the Heart (1999), and as one of the 22 directors responsible for Paris, je t'aime (2006).^[15]

Craven created Coming of Rage, a five-issue comic book series, with 30 Days of Night writer Steve Niles.^[20] The series was released in digital form in 2014 by Liquid Comics with a print edition scheduled for an October 2015 debut.^[20]

Filmmaking[]

Influences[]

Craven has cited filmmakers Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, Jean Cocteau, and Francois Truffaut as among his major influences.^[21][22] Craven's first film, The Last House on the Left, was conceived as a remake of Bergman's The Virgin Spring (1960).^[23] The goat in the dream sequence at the beginning of A Nightmare on Elm Street was included by Craven as a homage to Buñuel.^[24]

Style and themes[]

Craven's works tend to explore family dynamics, the nature of dreams and reality, and often feature black humor and satirical elements.^[22] The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes present ostensibly civilized families who are exposed to perilous situations and forced to exercise violence.^[12] A Nightmare on Elm Street, Shocker, and the Scream films explore the process of addressing family trauma.^[12]

Several of Craven's films are characterized by abusive familial relationships such as The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs, and others. Families in denial are a common thread throughout his movies, an idea Craven openly discussed:

The family is the best microcosm to work with… It’s very much where most of our strong emotions or gut feelings come from… I grew up in a white working class family that was very religious. There was an enormous amount of secrecy in the general commerce of our getting along… If there was an argument, it was immediately denied. If there was a feeling, it was repressed… I began to see that as a nation we were doing the same things.^[26]

A Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, dealt with the consequences of dreams in real life.^[27] New Nightmare has actress Heather Langenkamp play herself as she is haunted by the villain of the film in which she once starred.^[28] At one point in the film, the audience sees on Wes Craven's word processor a script he has written, which includes the conversation he just had with Heather—as if the script were being written as the action unfolds. The Serpent and the Rainbow and Shocker portray protagonists who cannot distinguish between nightmarish visions and reality.^[28]

In Scream, the characters frequently reference horror films similar to their situations, and at one point, Billy Loomis tells his girlfriend that life is just a big movie. This concept was emphasized in the sequels, as copycat stalkers re-enact the events of a new film about the Woodsboro killings (Woodsboro being the fictional town where Scream is set) occurring in Scream.^[13]

Collaborators[]

Marianne Maddalena served as a producer on twelve of Craven's films.^[29] After working on Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Patrick Lussier became an editor on all of his features up to Red Eye.^[30] Craven tended to employ cinematographers Peter Deming, Mark Irwin and Jacques Haitkin on his films.^[31][32][33] With the exception of Music of the Heart, composer Marco Beltrami worked on all of Craven's films from Scream to Scream 4.^[34] Although he usually wrote his own films, Craven worked with screenwriter Kevin Williamson regularly after Scream.^[35] Craven often used a number of the same actors on his projects including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Robert Englund, Michael Berryman, Heather Langenkamp, and Davis Hess.

Other work[]

Craven designed the Halloween 2008 logo for Google^[36] and was the second celebrity personality to take over the YouTube homepage on Halloween.^[37]

Craven had a letter published in the July 19, 1968 edition of Life, praising that periodical's coverage of contemporary rock music, in particular Frank Zappa's.^[38]

Personal life[]

Craven's first marriage, to Bonnie Broecker, produced two children: Jonathan Craven (born 1965) and Jessica Craven (born 1968). Jonathan is a writer and director.^[13] Jessica was a singer-songwriter in the group the Chapin Sisters. The marriage ended in 1970.

In 1982, Craven married a woman who became known professionally as actress Mimi Craven. The two later divorced, with Wes Craven stating in interviews that the marriage dissolved after he discovered it "was no longer anything but a sham."^[39] In 2004, Craven married Iya Labunka; she frequently worked as a producer on Craven's films.^[40]

Craven was a birder; in 2010, he joined Audubon California's Board of Directors.^[40] His favorite films included Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Virgin Spring (1960) and Red River (1948).^[41] Craven was an atheist.^{[42][43] [44]}

Death and legacy[]

Craven died of a brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles on August 30, 2015, four weeks after his 76th birthday.^[28][45] Many actors and fellow directors paid tribute to him, including David Arquette,^[46] Adrienne Barbeau,^[47] Angela Bassett,^[46] Bruce Campbell,^[48] Neve Campbell,^[49] John Carpenter,^[48] Courteney Cox,^[46][47][50] Joe Dante,^[48] Johnny Depp,^[51] Robert Englund,^[46][47] Sarah Michelle Gellar,^[46][50] Lloyd Kaufman,^[48] Jamie Kennedy,^[50] Rose McGowan,^[47][50] Kristy Swanson,^[46] Edgar Wright,^[48] and Amanda Wyss.^[49] The tenth episode of the horror series Scream was dedicated in his memory.^[52]

Filmography[]

Bibliography[]

Awards and nominations[]

Throughout his career, Craven was nominated for and won numerous awards, including multiple Saturn Awards and several film festival honors.^[55]

In 1977, Craven won the critics award at the Sitges Film Festival for his horror film The Hills Have Eyes.^[56] In 1997, the Gérardmer Film Festival granted him the Grand Prize for the slasher film Scream.^[57] In 2012, the New York City Horror Film Festival awarded Craven the Lifetime Achievement Award.^[58]

References[]

External links[]

• Wes Craven at IMDb