Wes Craven Passes, A Heart Bleeds with Sorrow

Written by: Wesley Thomas

My heart bleeds with sorrow at the passing of such an iconic, revolutionary and creative director leaving this world. Which I am sure he would like (the bleeding that is).

Wes Craven brought something few directors can offer: originality and true terror. His legacy of movies are so well-known and internationally adored, that decades later production companies are fighting over the remake rights. And even though us horror addicts love to moan about remakes, and that no one will replace Robert Englund as ‘Freddy’, I feel great to know that his horror will scare generations to come.

My first ever Wes Craven movie was ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’, at only eight years old, possibly too young. You know the one. Freddy Kruger? Knives for fingers? Char-grilled flesh? Scary as hell? Robert Englund? Can you imagine horror without his terrifying, classic horror flick? I sure as hell can’t.

But let’s not forget his other movies. ‘The Last House On The Left’ was one of the most tense, edge-of-your-seat thriller/horrors I’ve ever watched. And kudos on the acting, which was believable and impressive, especially in the rape scene, which was so disturbing and powerful, it will forever remain embedded in my mind.

Then we have ‘The Hills Have Eyes’, cannibalistic, deformed people ravage a family on vacation. Again this opens up a new level of breathless suspense, with creepy monsters and of course, an abundance of bloodshed.

Some movies you may have missed of his, which are well worth a look, are ‘The Breed’ and ‘Feast’. Another is ‘Red Eye’ starring Rachel McAdams. One for the nail-biting collection!

Every movie he made turned to horror gold, gaining the respect of horror fans worldwide, who are no doubt mourning the death of such a phenomenally talented man. Stars have spoke out about his death. Neve Campbell is ‘devastated’ by his death, others include Courtney Cox, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan, Elise Neal and so on. All saddened but thankful to have worked with the talented individual, and letting people know he was more than a superb director. He was a funny man, with a wicked sense of humor.

I know I speak for all horror fans when I say horror movies won’t be the same. There are other gifted directors, actors and performers, but Wes Craven truly stood out from the crowd.

I will be celebrating his life and legacy by watching all his movies over the coming days. He made horror what is it, and for that, all horrorbuffs owe him a great deal of respect.

R.I.P Wes, hope you’re raising hell up there!