Wes Craven

Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and editor.

Amongst his prolific filmography, Craven was best known for his pioneering work in the horror genre, particularly slasher films, where he mixed horror cliches with humor and satire.

Craven has commonly been recognized as one of the greatest masters of the horror genre due to the cultural impact and influence of his work.

From 1957 to 1963 Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois.

During his senior year, he developed Guillain-Barré Syndrome which delayed his graduation by a few months.

After his recovery, Craven went on to get his master's degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University.

In 1964–65, Craven taught English at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College of Technology (later named Clarkson University) in Potsdam, New York.

He also taught at Madrid-Waddington High School in Madrid, New York.

During this time, he purchased a used 16 mm film camera and began making short movies.

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.

His first creative job in the film industry was as a sound editor.

Craven had a letter published in the July 19, 1968, edition of Life praising the periodical's coverage of contemporary rock music and offbeat performers such as Frank Zappa.

Craven left the academic world for the more lucrative role of pornographic film director.

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.

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).

Craven's first feature film as director was The Last House on the Left, which was released in 1972.

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."

Ultimately the movie was screened much more widely than he assumed, leaving him ostracized due to the content of the film.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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 received several accolades across his career, which includes a Scream Award, a Sitges Film Festival Award, a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, and nominations for a Saturn Award and several other film festivals.

Craven created the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984–present), specifically writing and directing the first film, co-writing and producing the third, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and writing and directing the seventh, Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994).

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.

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.

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 afterwards 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).

In 1995, he was honored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films with the Life Career Award, for his accomplishments in the horror genre.

He additionally directed the first four films in the Scream franchise (1996–2011).

Elm Street villain Freddy Krueger appeared with Cunningham's Jason Voorhees in the 2003 slasher film Freddy vs. Jason, produced by Cunningham with screenwriter Victor Miller credited as "Character Creator".

In 2012, the New York City Horror Film Festival awarded Craven the Lifetime Achievement Award.

On August 30, 2015, aged 76, Craven died of a brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles.

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Caroline (née Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven.

He was of English, Scottish, and German descent.

He was raised in a strict Baptist family.