The American director rose to fame as a horror filmmaker. As a producer, too, he set new standards in this genre and made it accessible to a wider audience. When Wes Craven created the horror character “Freddy Krueger” in 1984, he celebrated his international breakthrough. As a result, “Freddy Krueger” in a green and red shirt with a floppy hat and scissor hands became one of the most famous horror characters in cinema. In 1996, Craven succeeded with “Scream – Schrei!” to breathe new life into the slasher genre. The murderer in the Munch mask then developed into a pop icon. In terms of content, he repeatedly dealt with the story of a group that mostly innocently fell into the clutches of brutal murderers…
Wes Craven was born on August 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Wes Craven, real name Wesley Earl Craven, was raised strictly Baptist. After leaving school he studied psychology and philosophy. He then worked as a lecturer in social studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. It was there that he first came into contact with filmmaking. He became interested in it and then moved to New York, where he attended a documentary film school. However, it wasn’t documentaries that appealed to him, but the horror genre. Together with colleague and friend Sean S. Cunningham, Craven subsequently revolutionized horror films and set new standards with his shockers. Their first joint work was the porn film “Together” in 1971, which served as a source of money for the film “The Last House on the Left”. This low-budget film was Wes Craven’s directorial debut and uncompromisingly portrayed the violent nature of the average Joe.
The strip was Indexed and was Craven’s last film for the next five years. In his next film, entitled Bloody Eyes Hill in 1977, the director pointed to the potential for cruelty that can exist in any family. The work can be compared to Tobe Hooper’s cinematic blood spectacle “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. When Wes Craven created the horror character “Freddy Krueger” in 1984, he celebrated his international breakthrough and became the star of the genre. The film entitled “Nighmare – Murderous Dreams” made Freddy a pop phenomenon and was so successful that six sequels to the gruesome spectacle were filmed. Craven has also directed a number of TV films and series, including portions of “The Twilight Zone”, “Shatterday”, “A Little Peace And Quiet”, “Wordplay”, “Chameleon”, “Dealer’s Choice” and others.
In the episode “Children’s Zoo” he even stood in front of the camera himself. “Freddy Krueger” was also brought to life by Craven for some parts of the TV series of the same name. In 1996, Wes Craven brought another milestone in his career to the cinemas. He created the goose bumps spectacle
“Scream – scream!” and thus put the film fans in fear, horror and rapture. The completion of the trilogy followed with the strips “Scream 2” and “Scream 3”. His late projects include the 2000 horror film Dracula, which he served as executive producer, and the comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which starred Wes Craven and was released in German cinemas in 2002 . In his films, Wes Craven often tore up the ideal world of the typical American conception of a suburban family, drawing the wrath of moral guardians and the Motion Pictures Association of America on several occasions.
Filmography
1971 – Together
1972 – The Last House Left
1977 – Hill of Bloody Eyes
1978 – TV: A Deadly Menace
1981 – Deadly Blessing
1982 – The Swamp Thing
1984 – TV: Exit
1984 – Nightmare – Murderous Dreams
1985 – In the death valley of the wolves
1986 – The Deadly Friend
1986 – TV: The Super Detectives
1986-1987 – TV Series: The Twilight Zone
1987 – Flowers of the Night
1987 – Nightmare 3 – Freddy Krueger lives
1988 – The Serpent in the Rainbow
1989 – Shockers
1990 – TV: Wes Craven’s Night Visions
1991 – The House of the Forgotten
1991-1992 – TV Series: Nightmare Cafe
1993 – Body Bags
1994 – Freddy”s New Nightmare
1995 – Vampires in Brooklyn
1996 – Scream – Scream!
1997 – Scream 2
1999 – Music Of The Heart
2000 – Scream 3
2000 – Dracula
2001 – Jay and Silent Bob strike back
2005 – Red Eye
What is Wes Craven known for?
Craven created the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984–2010), specifically writing and directing the first film, co-writing and producing the third, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and writing and directing the seventh, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994).
How did Wes Craven start his career?
He also spent a year teaching high school before taking his first film-industry job as a messenger in New York City. Craven eventually worked his way up the ranks, performing sound editing among other jobs before he began directing films.
