The man who blurred the lines between nightmare and reality with creations such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream has died aged 76.
Wes Craven became a household name in the horror genre when he brought the slasher icon Freddy Krueger to screens in 1984 and then turned terror into dollars again with the highly-successful Scream franchise.
He died of brain cancer at his Los Angeles home on Sunday, surrounded by family.
A statement from them read: “It is with deep sadness we inform you that Wes Craven passed away. Our hearts are broken.”
Craven, who was born in Cleveland, had a master’s degree in philosophy and writing from John Hopkins University and was a college professor in Pennsylvania and New York before turning his hand to film-making.
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He started in pornography, where he worked under a pseudonym, and made his real-name debut with The Last House on the Left, a 1972 film that was banned or censored in numerous countries for its extreme and graphic violence. It was made for about £50,000 but went on to make millions at the box office and was praised by critics, with Roger Ebert describing it as “about four times as good as you’d expect”.
It was A Nightmare on Elm Street that made Craven an icon of the teen slasher. The first film, starring a then unknown Johnny Depp, was hot on the heels of Halloween and Friday the 13th in redefining box office horror and there were eight films in total, plus a remake of the original, grossing about £300 million worldwide.
Craven came back with more popular scares with the Scream franchise, the first of which in 1996 was a huge success, grossing more than £100 million at box offices around the world. After three sequels the franchise had grossed £380 million and confirmed Craven’s status as one of the biggest horror directors, writers and producers of all time.
Courteney Cox, who starred in all four Scream films, said on Twitter: “Today the world lost a great man, my friend and mentor, Wes Craven. My heart goes out to his family.”
He had been suffering from ill health for the past three years but had still been working on projects, including a new Scream series for MTV and a graphic horror novel series. He was awarded lifetime achievement awards by the New York City Horror Film Festival and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
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He is survived by wife Iya Labunka, his son, daughter and stepdaughter.