Wes Craven, Creator of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and SCREAM, Dies at the Age of 76

[HugeFanSmallBod]

Damn

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

[Yt]AaWg50QG5dM[/MEDIA]

Though the quality of his work was mixed, he was very articulate in his interviews, to the point of even having a certain genius over the horror genre.

His story about how he conceived Freddy Krueger was very interesting. Something along the lines of: as a child, he was looking out the window on an upper floor of a building, and saw a hobo on the sidewalk wearing a striped sweater. Out of nowhere, the hobo looked up into the window and caught him staring. He immediately turned away, waited some time, and then peeked out the window again, and the hobo was still there staring back at him.

 

[emelianenkoNog]

Holy shit that's terrible. I don't typically worry too much about celeb deaths but this one hits hard

 

[Gambitpool]

He was a true horror legend. No horror icon affected me more then he did. No joke, I haven't watched A Nightmare on Elm Street in 10 years because I'm still terrified of it. That's how incredible Wes Craven was at his mastercraft.

I also obsessed over the Scream series when I started watching horror. It was the series responsible for me coming up with theories, analyzing scenes, and writing my own fan scripts.

So yeah, this news hits me. RIP Wes. You terrifying genius.

 

[scrubido]

Weak.

 

[Thrawn33]

Damn. RIP

 

[KillerElite]

passed away at the age of 76 due to brain cancer. Was also responsible for creating the hills have eyes, the last house on the left, and wishmaster film series.

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[76Knockout]

A nightmare on elm st (original only)

Scream (original only)

Love those movies, horror classics imo.

RIP

 

[SpladleKing]

Damn, grew up with Scream and the franchise. farewell.

 

[sleepwalk]

Damn. Not a huge horror fan, especially as exploitative sequels get machines out, but Wes had a gift for storytelling and character creation. Some of the best known examples of his genre.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

Though the quality of his work was mixed, he was very articulate in his interviews, to the point of even having a certain genius over the horror genre.

His story about how he conceived Freddy Krueger was very interesting. Something along the lines of: as a child, he was looking out the window on an upper floor of a building, and saw a hobo on the sidewalk wearing a striped sweater. Out of nowhere, the hobo looked up into the window and caught him staring. He immediately turned away, waited some time, and then peeked out the window again, and the hobo was still there staring back at him.

I agree about his interviews. The scope of his intentions within the genre may be unmatched. When he had creative control he was probably the best director in the genre, or at least top 3. The psychological aspects of his best films truly made them more memorable. It's a shame that later in life he was left producing remakes of his old films and directing or producing schlock that he shouldn't have had any part in making.

I've heard Freddy came from a combination of sources. First, the story you told. Second, the name he took from a kid who used to bully him when he was young. The third source is the most interesting:

A Nightmare on Elm Street contains many biographical elements, taking inspiration from director Wes Craven's childhood. The basis of the film was inspired by several newspaper articles printed in the LA Times in the 1970s on a group of Khmer refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States from the results of American bombing in Cambodia, were suffering disturbing nightmares, after which they refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after. Medical authorities called the phenomenon Asian Death Syndrome. The condition itself afflicted only men between the ages of 19 and 57 and is believed to be sudden unexplained death syndrome or Brugada syndrome, or both.

That's just creepy, but intriguing at the same time.

 

[VinceArch]

Wow, how unexpected.. RIP Craven thank you for giving us Freddy and Ghostface.

 

[prod2821]

it's too bad he didn't get to do Superman IV, Christopher Reeve gave him the elite treatment after seeing Last House on the Left, I think, so the studio said no to Craven

 

[dissolved]

Too bad . . . Didn't even know he was ill. This sucks.

 

[Dizzy]

Don't know that the horror genre could have lost a bigger legend.

RIP

ANoES marathon is in order.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

RIP

awful news

 

[Frank23]

Damn. He made some great movies.

 

[RedFoxOne]

He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered! He was a pioneer in the horror genre and his movies will live on forever!

RIP Wes Craven

 

[theskza]

He was incredibly creative and changed the genre multiple times throughout his career.

I love his last two films, My Soul to Take and Scream 4. Highly entertaining.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

I've heard Freddy came from a combination of sources. First, the story you told. Second, the name he took from a kid who used to bully him when he was young. The third source is the most interesting:

That's just creepy, but intriguing at the same time.

Wow; very interesting. To even use a real-life unexplained mystery as a basis for a horror film concept is pretty smart.

As a character, Freddie Krueger ended up making the most amount of sense out of the typical slasher villains, even though his concept requires the most amount of suspension of disbelief.

Both Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees become zombie-like as their films progressed, whereas Krueger has his own unique environment (dreams), where it makes sense that he's invincible and can make his own rules as he pleases.