Sad news this morning for horror movie fans. Wes Craven, legendary director of the Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream franchises, has passed away at the age of 76. A statement released by his family revealed that Craven died at home on Sunday after a long struggle with brain cancer.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Craven, whose iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, died at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced. Survivors include his wife, producer and former Disney Studios vice president Iya Labunka.
Craven was a longtime summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard, where he moved permanently three years ago before returning to L.A. for work and health reasons.
Craven claimed to have gotten the idea for Elm Street from living next to a cemetery on a street of that name in the suburbs of Cleveland. The five Nightmare on Elm Street films were released from 1984-89 and drew big crowds.
I grew up being scared shitless by both Freddy Krueger and the Scream movies (though the latter was more hilarious than frightening), so I definitely appreciated his work. There aren’t a lot of great scary movies out there these days, so to lose an industry stalwart like this is really, really sad. RIP.
He was a master. RIP