Line #18 Creator/WesCraven


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Craven02_66.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:The man at work.]]
3
4	[floatboxright: Genres:
5	+ {{Horror}}, {{Thriller}}, Drama
6	]
7
8	->''"Horror films don't create fear. They release it."''
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10	Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven (August 2, 1939 - August 30, 2015) was an American film director, producer, and writer, and was the creator of many iconic and genre-defining horror films. He was probably best known for his creation of Freddy Krueger, the dream-haunting villain introduced in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', but also found great success a decade later with the movie ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'', a {{deconstruction}} of the [[SlasherMovie slasher sub-genre]] that led to [[FollowTheLeader a slew of horror films in the late '90s imitating it]].
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12	Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Craven was raised by a Baptist family and was reportedly a target for bullies (including one with the same name as his most famous creation). After leaving home, he gained an education in English literature, psychology, and writing; he then married and started a family. His marriage ended after five years, and his children left with his ex-wife. He moved to New York, and eventually directed ''Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft'', followed five years later by ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977''. The success of these movies made him a seminal name in horror cinema.
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14	He additionally directed a number of episodes of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'' as well as the Creator/MerylStreep-starring {{biopic}} ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart'' (his only PG-rated movie) -- from which he joked that he went "from violence to violins" -- and wrote one novel, ''Fountain Society'', which deals with scientists doing brain transplants.
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16	Wes Craven died of brain cancer on August 30, 2015. He was 76.
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18	Craven's personal website is located [[http://www.wescraven.com/ here]].
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21	!!Films directed by Wes Craven include:
22	[[index]]
23	* ''Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft'' (1972)
24	* ''[[Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977 The Hills Have Eyes]]'' (1977)
25	* ''Film/DeadlyBlessing'' (1981)
26	* ''Film/SwampThing'' (1982)
27	* ''Film/InvitationToHell'' (1984)
28	* ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' (1984)
29	* ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyesPartII'' (1984)
30	* ''Film/{{Chiller}}'' (1985)
31	* ''Film/DeadlyFriend'' (1986)
32	* ''Film/TheSerpentAndTheRainbow'' (1988)
33	* ''Film/{{Shocker}}'' (1989)
34	* ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'' (1991)
35	* ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' (1994)
36	* ''Film/VampireInBrooklyn'' (1995)
37	* ''[[Film/{{Scream 1996}} Scream]]'' (1996)
38	* ''Film/{{Scream 2}}'' (1997)
39	* ''Film/MusicOfTheHeart'' (1999)
40	* ''Film/{{Scream 3}}'' (2000)
41	* ''Film/{{Cursed\|2005}}'' (2005)
42	* ''Film/RedEye'' (2005)
43	* ''Film/MySoulToTake'' (2010)
44	* ''Film/{{Scream 4}}'' (2011)
45	[[/index]]
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48	!!Common tropes in Wes Craven's work include:
49	* ActionGirl: Nancy Thompson and Sidney Prescott being the most notable examples.
50	* AdultsAreUseless: Either that or the adults are a serious part of the problem.
51	* {{Deconstruction}}: ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'' was so successful that it made [[TheEighties the 80s]] [[SlasherMovie slasher]] [[GenreKiller impossible to take seriously anymore]]. It did however lead to a resurgence of slasher movies in the late 1990s and the 2000s, typically self-aware or at least lampshading several genre tropes.
52	* DecoyProtagonist: Most of his films start out with a character who is set up to become the protagonist, only to die so that the focus can be shifted to someone else for the remainder of the story.
53	* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Virtually all of his movies.
54	* FinalGirl: In most films, although ''Film/{{Shocker}}'' features a Final Guy.
55	* {{Gorn}}: ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', in particular.
56	* NiceGuy: Craven appeared to be a shy and kind person during his life that a lot of people respected.
57	* NowILayMeDownToSleep: On ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'' and ''Film/MySoulToTake''.
58	* PoliceAreUseless: Cops are usually incompetent, though well-meaning. Oftentimes they're a complete hindrance to the main characters.
59	* PostModernism: ''Film/WesCravensNewNightmare'' and the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' movies take this up to eleven.
60	* PracticallyJoker: Most of his EvilIsHammy SlasherMovie villains are this, best examples are Freddy Krueger and anyone who is LaughablyEvil as a Ghostface.
61	* RapeAsDrama: His characters tended to either be raped, are implied to be raped, are raped as a backstory, or are rapists themselves.
62	* ShoutOut:
63	** ''Film/TheLastHouseOnTheLeft'' is a loose retelling (with a SettingUpdate) of Creator/IngmarBergman's ''Film/TheVirginSpring''.
64	** In one scene during ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', Creator/SamRaimi's ''[[Film/TheEvilDead1981 The Evil Dead]]'' is playing on a TV in the background, which itself is a ShoutOut to Sam Raimi putting a poster of Craven's ''The Hills Have Eyes'' in the background of ''The Evil Dead''.
65	* SlasherMovie: Two of the most famous examples, too.
66	* TakeThat: One of the working titles for ''The Last House on the Left'' was ''Krug & Company.'' That title and the name "Freddy Krueger" were both taken from a bully from Craven's childhood.
67	----
68	-->[-The first monster you have to scare the audience with is yourself.-]

Context Creator / WesCraven