Remember Freddy Kruger??  Scared the CRAP outta me as a kid!!  This guy is probably THE most unlikely of people to be a horror master.. MmBut ey??  Here we are!!  He is referred to as, 'the Maestro of Horror' (affectionately, o'course).. & in the 80's & early 90s - his crown glory days had cometh!!  Solidifying him as a bonafide TRUE Hollywood Legend!!  I was/still am.. A HUGE fan!!  I've (kinda maybe sorta more or less) rooted for the villain.. As a kid more than now..  I LOVED FRED KRUGER!!  Even though he scared the shat outta me - I couldn't resist watching on HBO (whom was ALL over it) in the 80s.  I think everyone enjoyed his wit mix with sarcasm & animated attitude.. I think 'THAT' is what set Freddy apart from other ghouls.  My friend, Bobby Morrison (RIP buddy), growing up was more a fan of Jason Vorhees & Michael Myers - but we'd always get into these debates over who'd win in a fight between Freddy & 'Jason'.. So when they finally did a film on it??? (Spoiler alert) JASON was pegged as the winner!! I was disappointed with the ending.. To say the least!!  GREAT film though!!  VERRY nice, (albeit creepo) opening!!  Indeed!  My FAVE scene in ALL the 'Nightmare' films, was where Fred kills the druggie girl - with needles (to replace the blades in the gloves), & quips - 'Whudda RUUSSHHH!' 👍  AhHahh - I lova dove it - I sho'll DO!!  Without further ado - here is Wes' story...

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He was born Wesley Earl Craven, in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 2, 1939... Into a STRICT CHRISTIAN FAMILY!!  Young Wes was in the families Baptist Church, EVERY Sunday, for Sunday School!!  Not an option!!  He was in church, MOST, Wednesday nights!!  Apparently, optional ~MOST~ Wednesday nights! 😉  

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What went WRONG??  His family might ask??  

& the JURY IS STILL OUT 😋

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Young Wes had a vivid & 'out there,' imagination, as a child - & as a teen, even wrote a few 'non-horror 😋' plays.. (a couple he was actually 'in!') - for his church... Video or photos of that??  Anyone??  'Contact me & lets make a deal, Lucille!'  😉  So he'd found a channel/outlet for his creativity @ an early age!!  

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Upon graduating high school - he entered this college.. (Wheaton College) Earning an undergrad major in English & Psychology (NO DOUBT, aiding in the overall thinking & mentality of the future, Freddy Krueger).. He then entered John Hopkins U, earning a masters in Philosophy & Writing... (Just setting himself up for something special!!)😉 (wink, wink!)

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Wes briefly taught English @ Westminster College - & worked on staff at Clarkston U - before getting a nudge from fate!! 😋

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That 'nudge,' led him to the Big Apple, where he worked as a sound editor, living here..  There, he also met a a fellow employee involved in the porn industry!!

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NEXT THING he knew.. THERE HE WAS.. Headlong ((quite literally)) in the business of porn.. In the documentary Inside Deep Throat, Craven says on camera he made "many hardcore X-rated films" under pseudonyms. While his role in 'Deep Throat' is uncredited, most of his early known work involved writing, film editing, or both..  I have never understood the 'writing' process of porn.  Try as they may, to create a storied line..  With the viewer ~ it is lost!!  As wanting a 'story' isn't what the viewer is wanting to see.. it is the 'stimulation' of the intercourse that the viewer wants to see.  I'm amongst prolly the few.. Who doesn't partake in the viewing of pron.. I just don't find it stimulating AT ALL watching 2 defunct humans getting (& going) down on each other..  I think that kinda shat should stay behind a private cam-free bedroom door!! MmmBut ANYWAY.. Moving on..

 

Craven's first feature film as director was The Last House on the Left, which was released in 1972. Craven expected the film to be shown at only a few theaters, which according to him "gave me a freedom to be outrageous, and to go into areas that normally I wouldn't have gone into, and not worry about my family hearing about it, or being crushed."  That freedom idea was crushed when the film was screened much more widely than he assumed.  SHAAAAATT!!  So - after the negative experience of The Last House, Craven attempted to move out of the horror genre, and began writing non-horror films with his partner Sean S. Cunningham, none of which attracted any financial backing.  Finally, based on advice from a friend about the ease of filming in the Nevada deserts, Craven began to write a new horror film based on that locale. The resulting film, The Hills Have Eyes, cemented Craven as a "horror film director" with Craven noting "It soon became clear that I wasn't going to do anything else unless it was scary".  In Craven's debut feature, he returned to The Last House on the Left, and it played a pivotal role, Cunningham served as producer.

 

They pooled all of their resources and came up with $90,000, and that led to backing from the newest branch of Warner Bros, New Line Cinema..  With a meager 90k.. And a lil re-writing, The Last House, became Nightmare on Elm Street.  Thus, also helping a struggling actor named Johnny Depp; make a name for himself,launching his career.  Wala; the rest is HIStory!! 

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Though he made most of his career on the 'Elm Street' film empire..  Merchandise OUT THE WAAZOOO!!  He has ventured out to other films like 'Scream', (where he made a cameo as a Fred Kruger janitor), prolly to show folks that, aside from the horror ratio, he does have a great sense of humor.. Before the release of Scream.. It was a well known rumor the film contained a gest to an urban legend about Richard Gere and a sex act involving a hamster.  Craven stated in interviews that he received calls from agents telling him that if he left that scene in, he would never work again.. But he, & we, KNEW better..

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On August 30, 2015, 4 weeks after his 76th birthday, and after a LONG battle with brain cancer.. Craven died of his cancer here, at his Los Angeles home.  Death bed?  Pool? Living Room?  Library? Vieeww? See his trash can and mailbox??

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The death brought a comment out from his prodege, Freddy Krueger, (aka Robert Englund) said Craven was "a brilliant, kind, gentle and very funny man."  Johnnny Depp said, ""Wes Craven was the guy who gave me my start, from my perspective, for almost no reason in particular. I read scenes with his daughter when I auditioned for the part. At the time, I was a musician. I wasn't really acting. It was not anything very near to my brain or my heart, which is pretty much how it remains to this day. But Wes Craven was brave enough to give me the gig based on his daughter's opinion, I guess she had read with a bunch of actors, and after the casting sessions, she said, 'No, that's the guy.' I always think of her for putting me in this mess, and certainly Wes Craven for being very brave to give me this gig. But he was a good man — so rest in peace, old Wes."  AGREED!!  And hope he is!!  Really do!! Though, doubt it!  Especially since Craven stated publicly that he was an atheist, once telling FANGORIA magazine that "Formally, I don't believe in God" and that "I believe religions have done much more harm than they've done good."  I really have NEVER understood HOW in the HELL someone could EVER, say they are an atheist.   I agree that religion has done more harm than good!!  Jesus even stated that in, (I believe) Luke..  But to say your an ATHEIST??   Eternity is a LONG TIME to be wrong on that matter.  But there it is!!  AT LEAST put religion aside and TRY a personal relationship with Jesus!!  You'll find it to be much more a comforting feeling than religion.  RELIGION is rules, GOD (JESUS) is freedom!!  Just my 2 cents!!  I hope that 'at least a little sense' from what he learned from church as a child popped into his head before he died.. WoW!

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Wes was planted, within the family plot at Lambert's Cove Cemetery, in West Tisbury, Massachusetts. Leave your non-wilting flowers & forever comments at Wes' virtual gravesite, by clicking right here.

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TRIVIA

Craven designed the Halloween 2008 logo for Google..

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