Wes Craven is one of the most celebrated horror movie directors and, sadly, on Aug. 30, 2015 at 1 p.m. he passed away after battling hard with brain cancer. To celebrate his memory, here is a list of his top ten best films.
10. My Soul to Take (2010)
This is a movie is a group of teens trying to stay alive as the "Riverton Ripper" terrorizes them. They have to figure out who is doing it before it is too late. A supernatural slasher film that unfortunately got less-than-anticipated reviews, but it is still worth the watch.
9. Music of the Heart (1999)
One of the few non-horror films Craven directed, this movie starring Meryl Streep is the true story of Roberta Guaspari, who co-founded the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. Although it was a drama, it did get nominated for an Academy Award.
8. Scream 3 (2000)
The third installment was a disappointment among the movie trio, with it being a repeat of the first one and completely predictable. Although it had the original cast, it had many plot holes and was a let down to whoever followed the movies.
7. The Last House on the Left (1972)
Craven's debut film, which was very low budget and shocked audiences everywhere for being so horrific. This movie is better than the remake, since they had the low budget and had to get creative with how they created the film. The remake has the budget and technology to be the same as every other horror film.
6. Scream 4 (2011)
The last installment of the Scream series released in 2011. Being significantly better than the third, this Scream takes place 10 years later and continues to have the same cast with new characters who are now the victims.
5. Red Eye (2005)
Starring Rachel McAdams, "Red Eye," is more of a suspense movie, rather than a horror movie. Taking place mostly on an airplane, hotel manager, Lisa Reisert (McAdams) is waiting to fly back home for her grandmother's funeral, when she meets charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy). Rippner hopes to assassinate the head of Homeland Security, but to do so, he needs Reisert to reassign the official's room number at her hotel. To make sure Reisert follows through, Rippner kidnaps her father.
4. Scream 2 (1997)
At a movie showing of "Stab," based off of the events in the original "Scream," two college students are killed, sparking horror in the lives of the survivors of the original "Scream" characters. They have to find the new copycat killers before they are all dead.
3. Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Reality and fantasy meet in unsettling ways in this installment of the long-running horror series, which finds director Craven and actors Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund all portraying themselves. Eventually, Langenkamp must confront Freddy's demonic spirit to save the soul of Dylan. Unfortunately, by the time this film came out the audiences were burnt out by "Nightmare" films, this was his seventh in 10 years. Looking back on it now, though, it is one of the best out of the seven.
2. Scream (1996)
The first installment of the "Scream" series begins in Woodsboro with two killings. No one is safe from the killer, he can strike at anytime and anywhere. The first installment of movies is almost always the best.
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The classic horror movie when people think of slasher supernatural films. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) terrorizes local teenagers in their sleep, but what happens in their sleep happens in real life. He has killed a couple of teenagers and Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) must figure out why he is doing this until it is too late for them.
With fall approaching, so is Halloween, so grab some friends, blankets, and popcorn and sit down to a scary movie marathon in honor of Wes Craven this year. Hopefully you'll enjoy these thrillers as much as I do.
