In Memoriam Wes Craven (1939-2015)

While it is often a goal of creators of horror films to achieve an iconic character meant to enter the pantheon of classic monsters who haunt our flickering screens, few attain this unholy grail. Wes Craven’s Freddy Krueger, who slashed his way through teenagers’ dreams in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) and its sequels, certainly has had staying power. The macabre surrealism employed in the successive NIGHTMARE films made for inventive ways to explore the simmering inner worlds of Freddy’s intended victims, even though the films themselves are of uneven quality. Craven also had a hit with his SCREAM series which mocked slasher film conventions by having characters who are aware of such films, thus guiding their behavior. THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977) remains a vividly haunting tale of survival when a family stumbles into a co-existing feral world, thus shattering their comfortable view of reality. Craven’s first shocker, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972), is a grueling journey of torture and vengeance inspired by Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING that still has the power to disturb.

Craven’s work explored many dark realms, with humor both genuine and mordant. DRACULA 2000 (2000) and VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1995) refracted Stoker’s indelible characters. THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988) dramatized contemporary research into the practices of Voodoo. DEADLY BLESSING (1981) brought us Ernest Borgnine as a rural, anti-technology cult leader. And his adaptation of Wein and Wrightson’s DC comic, SWAMP THING (1982), successfully captured that tortured hero.

Craven’s significant, savvy, and stylish body of work as a producer and director will surely delight horror aficionados for years to come, and his films will inspire future filmmakers to revisit his iconic creations as well as to attempt to stand alongside him as fellow creators of monstrous archetypes.

Hail to thee, Wes Craven! We’ll be seeing you in our darkest dreams.

—Magus Peter H. Gilmore