Horror film master Wes Craven, who redefined the genre in the 1980s with "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and again in the 1990s with "Scream," has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76. Craven died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, "surrounded by love, in the presence of his family," a statement said. Craven was the mastermind of 1984's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," which gave moviegoers Freddy Krueger, the terrifying scarred villain with the razor-blade glove, a rumpled fedora and an arsenal of one-liners as he killed.
A decade later, he gave the world "Scream" - reintroducing himself to a new generation of teens with a classic slasher film that spoofed the genre and reinvented it. He went on to direct all three sequels. Both franchises spawned multiple sequels. The "Scream" franchise even led to the series of successful "Scary Movie" parodies. They also launched careers. The first "Nightmare" film featured a then-unknown actor - Johnny Depp. Craven's eye for young talent also saw him cast Sharon Stone and Bruce Willis in their first major roles - Stone in the 1981 horror flick "Deadly Blessing" and Willis in a 1985 episode of "The Twilight Zone" revival, which Craven directed.
Actor Robert Englund - whose career has been defined by his portrayal of Krueger, a child murderer burned to death by angry parents whose spirit then stalks his victims in their dreams - hailed Craven as a "true Gentleman." "RIP Wes Craven, my director, my friend. A brilliant, kind, gentle and very funny man. A sad day on Elm St and everywhere. I'll miss him," Englund tweeted.
Richard Potter, a movie writer and producer who worked with Craven on the "Scream" franchise, told AFP: "He made nightmares seem real - the things that scare you in your subconscious can harm you, get to you." The first "Scream" movie featured Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette and Drew Barrymore, and told the story of a US high school targeted by a cloaked killer called Ghostface, who wears a ghoulish mask based on "The Scream" painting by Edvard Munch.
Comments
Comments are closed.