Few directors can claim they contributed as much to horror asWes Craven. Starting with his debut film,The Last House on the Left, Craven would go on to build a career defined by experimentation in the medium. His early work tested an audience’s threshold for violence, while his later films would subvert established horror tropes, surprising fans by using their knowledge of the genre against them.
Craven brought an intelligent thoughtfulness to horror, coloring outside the lines to create stories that would inspire future filmmakers to take similar risks. His original ideas would be a shot of adrenaline to horror when public opinion of the genre was at its lowest, and Craven’s name on a poster sold tickets based on his well-earned reputation until the director’s passing in 2015.The following movies are Craven’s masterpieces: films that would ensure his legacy as one of the founding fathers of modern fear.
3’Wes Craven’s New Nightmare' (1994)
One of Craven’s most famous creations would take on a new life inWes Craven’s New Nightmare.The film followsHeather Langenkampplaying a fictionalized version of herself as she attempts to distance herself from the role of Nancy Thompson inA Nightmare on Elm Street. Obsessed fans continue to disrupt Heather’s home life, making it harder to shield her husband, Chase (David Newsom), and young son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), from her horror notoriety. Stalkers become the least of Heather’s worries when Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) transitions from fiction to reality in order to kill his original on-screen nemesis and take a permanent place in the real world.
In a short time, Craven would be presenting slasherhorror through a sardonic meta filter, butWes Craven’s New Nightmarewas the director’s first high-profile attempt to break the fourth wall. The shake-up allowed the franchise to hit the reset button andrevert Freddy from being a comedic figure back to a frightening killerthat was closer to how he was presented in the first movie. Freddy’s kills inWes Craven’s New Nightmareare stripped of the one-liners or playfulness the series had become known for, instead becoming brutal displays of power. The character of Nancy Thompson is one of the most iconic roles in the series, so having Langenkamp reunited with Craven and Englund gave the story a sense of reflection on the franchise’s past while the story moved into uncharted territory.
It’s a bold swing totake an established property in such a drastically different direction, butWes Craven’s New Nightmaremanaged to add a new layer to the lore while honoring the spirit of the original. The film almost didn’t come to pass because, as far as Craven was concerned, the series’ villain had taken his final bow. Freddy had been “killed off” inFreddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, so when Craven was approached by New Line Cinema founderRobert Shayeabout returning to the franchise, it gave the horror director an interesting challenge to continue the story without undoing the already established narrative. The timing was right to find a fresh perspective on the franchise, because after five sequels, audiences needed more than elaborate death scenes to hold their interest. Whether it was due to audience fatigue or marketing that didn’t successfully explain the premise,Wes Craven’s New Nightmarewould open third on its opening weekend and be the lowest-performing movie in the franchise. Regardless of movie-goers' initial indifference to Freddy breaching the real world, the film has gone on to be respected as an underrated and intelligent horror movie that was ahead of its time.
2’Scream' (1996)
One of Craven’s most influential films,Scream, would breathe new life into slashers by deconstructing the subgenre. When high school student Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) and her boyfriend Steve (Kevin Patrick Walls) are brutally murdered at her home, the residents of Woodsboro are shocked. Casey’s classmate Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is unfortunately familiar with this level of violence, as her mom was murdered a year prior. Police believe that the killer is someone who knew Casey, which leaves Sidney and her friends as possible suspects. Sidney can’t believe someone close to her would be responsible for the vicious murders, but after she’s attacked by a masked killer who tries to quiz her about scary movies, it becomes clear that anything is possible. Someone has taken their love of horror movies to the next level, and for Sidney and her friends, this will be one movie they won’t all survive.
Kevin Williamson’s clever and funny script is a thing of beauty, creating a compelling whodunnit in the world of teens who feel invincible in the face of death.The terrifying opening sceneofScreamsets the tone immediately, and the final moments of Casey Becker’s life are some of the most armrest-clenching in movie history.Screamis a movie made for a generation that grew up on horror movies, especially slashers, and plays to the idea that the knowledge of the stories would arm someone with enough information to survive such an encounter. The story is told through a balance of humor and danger that is able to satirize the tired aspects of the genre without undermining the stakes at hand by becoming an outright parody. This is largely accomplished by a cast whose warm and familiar chemistry makes them seem like they have a shared history going back longer than the small talk had in the make-up trailers.
It might sound dramatic to sayScreamsaved horror, but the genre was gasping for air in the 90s, and Craven’s witty slasher movie was the shot of adrenaline desperately needed. If it wasn’t a sequel to a recognizable franchise, likeFreddy’s Dead, it was a premise built on gimmicks, like the world-ending threat of virtual reality inThe Lawnmower Man.Screamkept the story simple and the characters engaging, going back to basics with a loving critique of where horror currently stood. That’s not to say the movie was without twists;Screamwasn’t the first movie to have two killers, but the reveal seemed revolutionary when it was used in the film’s final act. The meta commentary and exciting cast would turnScreaminto a mega-hit, making over $170 million on a $15 million budget,launching a lucrative franchisethat has gone on to make almost a billion dollars over six movies.
1’A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)
As impactful asScreamcontinues to be in modern horror, Craven’s signature creation will always beA Nightmare on Elm Street.The original horror classic introduced the world to Freddy Krueger, the hideously scarred supernatural killer who could kill any victim of his choosing in their dreams. When he appears to teenager Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and her friends in his signature fedora and knife-gloved hand,Freddy is the boogeyman come to life, trapping them in a nightmare of his creation before claiming their lives. With no hope of living a sleep-free existence, Nancy seeks to learn the reason behind Freddy’s attacks, uncovering a secret that the parents of Elm Street have protected for years.
A Nightmare on Elm Streetis remembered for the scene-stealing villain, but what also makes the original so unnerving is how it removes any sense of safety from the characters, who are doomed to fall asleep eventually. The film also explores the complicated emotions of being a teenager; the frustration that comes from being on the cusp of adulthood and still adhering to the inflexible control of an authority figure. For the Elm Street kids, the parents they rely on for protection are powerless to help and deny that a problem exists, even though the parents are the reason the teens are being hunted by Freddy. Nancy can’t trust her mother and father, and then she can’t trust her own eyes becausethe transition from the waking world to the dream world is seamless until Freddy shatters the illusion. As for Freddy, he’s an ever-present source of dread even though he’s not on-screen for the majority of the runtime. Englund will get more screentime in future installments, but the less-is-more approach gives the killer a terrifying shroud of mystery that makes him scary as hell.
While his directorial work onScreamwas instrumental in its success,A Nightmare on Elm Streetwas fully the creation of Craven, who also wrote the script.The restraint and complexity ofA Nightmare on Elm Streetreflect the development of the director’s ability as a storyteller,and the film stands as a departure from the gratuitous violence of Craven’s earlier works inLast House on the LeftandThe Hills Have Eyes.A Nightmare on Elm Streetwould turn Freddy into a pop-culture sensation, and his mainstream success helped demystify horror to middle America, who may not have watched the movies, but knew who he was. Popularity invited over-saturation, especially for Freddy, who would star inaseries of moviesthat became annual events in the late 80s. When Craven madeA Nightmare on Elm Street, he did more than just create one of the most iconic figures in horror; he took the established concept of a slasher and reinvented it with a creative masterstroke that would leave an indelible mark on the genre.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
NEXT: John Carpenter Made a Lot of Important Movies, but These 3 Are His Undisputed Masterpieces
