Remembering Wes Craven

There will be no shortage of voices, more esteemed and far reaching than my own, who will be offering up their respect and tributes to the late Wes Craven. It goes without saying that so many should take note, for an artist that had such a profound impact on the cultural landscape. There is nothing really I can say that won’t have been said already, but as somewhat of an, albeit feeble voice in this industry, I feel like it is at least somewhat incumbent on myself to share some thoughts and to show my appreciation for the incredible body of work which we all now have to enjoy.

Everyone knows about Nightmare on Elm Street, but his earlier films for me was where he really shone as a director. You won’t find many films that are able to evoke such emotions in the viewer with having, seemingly, so little to work with. In particular, Last House On The Left to this day stands as one of the most hard-hitting films I have ever had the pleasure to watch. The feel of the movie is so raw and so intense that at times, you almost forget that you’re watching a movie. I think that one of the most important aspects of the horror genre is in having the fortitude to lift up the covers and shine a bright light on the darker aspects of our humanity, keeping it there and making the viewer live in that space for a brief period of time. This is a movie that takes hold of you, pulls you in closer to watch and doesn’t let you go, even when the movie is over. This isn’t a movie that relies on gimmicks, visual or auditory effects. It puts you into the middle of the worst visceral experience you could likely imagine and then, when the credits roll, at least you get to stand up and walk away, a changed person.

My first experience with Craven was naturally, Nightmare On Elm Street. Of all the major horror franchises that were born during this era, my preference has always leaned towards this one. Go out and ask anyone to name their favorite horror movie villains and Freddy Krueger will likely be one of the most frequent names you will hear. People who have never watched a horror movie in their lives often will have heard of Freddy. For me, the greatest part of these movies was in his ability to combine such great elements of horror and comedy. There was a lot of humor and camp, but more importantly, these films were scary, more so than any of the others for me. Just the concept is frightening, the idea of something being able to hunt you in your dreams. With other horror films, you at least feel like the situation in the film is one that you could avoid but everyone has to sleep. This isn’t to suggest that Friday the 13th wasn’t scary, but there reaches a point where you have thoughts along the lines of, “why don’t you just leave?” or “why do you spend your spring break in the middle of the fucking woods?” Nightmare on Elm Street scared me before I had even seen any of them.

I can confidently say that these movies played a big part in sparking my love of the horror genre. There was a strange relationship where the movies scared the crap out of me but I still felt so compelled to go back and do it, all over again. It was the only kind of movie that had this kind of effect on me. There were few other film types that had me thinking about them for months after seeing it. Horror films embedded themselves into my very being, from top to bottom and rapidly became something that I wanted to do and be a part of. If Wes Craven had never been there, my path would likely have been a lot different. In any artistic or creative endeavor, you have to have a strong background of experience with those who really understand how to do it.

In 1996, Craven reached out and struck gold again with the release of Scream. On the surface, a movie like this might not seem like that big of a deal but there were a number of things about the movie that I loved. At the time, based on where the horror film industry was, Scream felt to me like a great throwback to some of the other great horror movies that I had loved so much but, at the same time, there was the clear fact that the movie had no intention of taking itself too seriously. I saw another essay about Craven after his death that brought up a point relating to Scream that I really agreed with, that Craven was incredibly brave and generous for allowing his genre to be spoofed and made fun of. It’s not often that you will see a horror movie that has the ability to scare you while, at the same time pointing out all of the overused tropes of the genre.

There were plenty of films in Craven’s catalog that I never got the chance to see. Maybe I will someday but, regardless of that, I can still feel the weight of the great movies I did get the chance to see. There are few things in the world anymore that are completely, 100% original. We all came from somewhere and our artistic sensibilities inherently have to be brined in someone else’s work and creativity. Great artists inspire, they lay down the groundwork and pave the road that is now laid out in front of you. We likely would not be here, were it not for those who came before us and if anything was made clear by Wes Craven’s passing, it’s that it is constantly incumbent upon us to show our appreciation for peeling back our eyes and setting off a bomb within the confines of our creative experience.

I know that I owe Wes Craven a lot, and I can only hope that he has found peace.

All I can say is thank you.