The world got a little less scary this week, Wes Craven, master of horror died of brain cancer on August 28th, 2015 at the age of 76.
Craven's influence will be seen on modern horror movies for years, and he will be remembered as one of the best. He has had his movies remade over the years, films like The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, neither lived up to Craven's shocking originals. Some of his films spawned franchises that will forever be ingrained in pop culture. The Nightmare on Elm Street series gave a generation a face to see in their nightmares in Freddy Krueger, and gave big name actor Johny Depp his first big role. His Scream franchise deconstructed horror movie tropes and opened up self awareness and satire that paved the way for movies like "The Cabin in the Woods".
The "Nightmare" franchise spawned 4 movies and a reboot, while the "Scream" franchise also spawned 4 movies as well as a TV show that just recently aired on MTV. Craven was never one to take his films too serious, this is most evident in his 2 franchises. Freddy Krueger was never afraid to get off a quick one liner as he killed another helpless teenager, while the "Scream" movies are satire as sharp as Jonathan Swift disguised as horror movies.
Hearing the kids in the scream movies talking about the rules of surviving a horror movie and begging ghost face not to kill them because they "want to be in the sequel" was a refreshing twist on a genre that often times becomes stagnant. The opening to every scream movie is a show in Craven's clever thinking, Scream 4 being the best example.
Craven also wasn't afraid to break "the fourth wall". After the "Nightmare" franchise had become a bit of a joke Craven came back with a vengeance in the form of "Wes Craven's New Nightmare". I believe he added his name to the billing to show that he was back in control of the series, and it shows in the highly original plot.
Craven was not afraid to take on social commentary in his films either, the lesser known "The People Under the Stairs" is an extremely weird, but extremely entertaining movie about a poor boy who gets stuck in a house full of your typical "Middle class family" but with much more gimp suits, shotguns, and prisoners kept under the stairs in the cellar.
Craven's films may have lost some of their luster over the years, but his story telling techniques and penchant for original ideas always shined, and they will affect future film makers, in the horror genre or not, for years to come.
