Wes Craven: A Sell-Out On Elm Street

[Loomis99]

I can't imagine I'm going to be too popular in stating this, but it is a sad fact that Wes Craven is the biggest sell-out in recent film history. What exactly happened to this guy? "The Last House On The Left" was incredible, filled with rage and post-vietnam poison, with "The Hills Have Eyes" he still showed what talent and raw energy he had in the early years of his career. Then along came the farce that was "A Nightmare On Elm Street" - A film that single-handedly managed to turn the genre into a living joke - Introducing latex special fx, comic amounts of blood, crappy one-liners and other elements that has precisely fuck-all to do with good horror. Anything else he has touched since then has been equally dissapointing. What about "Scream" you ask? What about a brilliant script job from Kevin Williamson? He's surely hit rock bottom now - Credited on some of the worst bargain basement stuff about - Producer on "Wishmaster 10: Please End It Now" and make-up assistant (or something) on "They". Whatever happened to my heroes? John Carpenter looks like he's lost it forever, Sam Raimi has moved on to other genres. Eli Roth looks like he's the only one with enough balls to remind us of how great the Americans once where at making horror movies. Christ, even we had "Hammer Horror" once!

[slasher]

I am going to have to agree with except for the very first Nightmare I have to say that wasn't that bad and the idea alone warrants him some credit even if you didn't like the movie. The rest though I have to agree with you. When came out I remember that so many people said it was sooo scary and the voice on the phone was soooo scary, when I finally saw it the only good part was the how the killer asked the horror question at the beginning to decide if he was going to kill the girl's boyfriend or not. After that I was bored. To tangent a little I also cannot stand when a killer is introduced in the beginning of a movie with a particular way of doing things like in scream he asked the horror questions and then the next time they kill someone they change how they do it and it is not used again. It pisses me off when there is no consistency to the movie.

[avenger00soul]

Hell yeah Loomis. I may not agree with you but it takes balls to come on here and argue your point. I will say that Craven hasn't made a film that has been as important to the genre as his early efforts. But here's to hoping.

[Loomis99]

So if we have to bid farewell to Craven, Carpenter, Hooper and Raimi (?) The guy has to finish the Evil Dead Trilogy, has to - What does the future look like for the horror film in America? I've already mentioned Eli Roth, please tell me there are a few more pioneers out there... I really wish I could say there were some shining examples in the UK. There are some huge english directors in Hollywood right now: Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes, Anthony Minghella, Ridley Scott, but none that have touched the horror genre. The only thing horrific about the industry right now is the involvement of random people like Michael Bay (flashy, fast-cut, MTV friendly) and those endless hacks churning out wretched shit like "Jason vs The Rest Of The World". This is going to sound harsh - But to get rid of all this fairground shit you need a world that reflects real horror. You watch any number of examples from the 1970s and early '80s - Emotions of fear, hatred, anger, shame - A country shellshocked by the Vietnam War - These are the breeding grounds for the film director. In this era of global terrorism we are seeing another roll-around for the genre. They may not all be first-class examples, but the belief is back, the monster has returned to the closet.

[Tony]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Craven's last great film was Wes Craven's New Nightmare. The film definitely did wonders for the NIghtmare series without bothering with any continuity.

[avenger00soul]

As far as new filmmakers go, I'm also expecting wonders from Eli Roth, as well as Lucky McKee, Richard Kelly (for a different kind of horror), and actor-turned writer/director William Butler. Don't forget that we still have some oldies but goodies. Coscarelli is still working miracles from what I hear and Stuart Gordon has not lost his touch. That man only gets better with age.

[Loomis99]

OK, I'm filled with a little more hope - I had neglected Stuart Gordon - "Reanimator" certainly had bite to it and blended humour very well with visceral gore. Would I be right in thinking that Richard Kelly is the guy behind Donnie Darko? I believe both he and Eli Roth are setting up a studio together with the express aim of getting low-budget, creative horror films "out there". I'll step out on a limb here and say that another real auteur, David Lynch, has dabbled with staples of the genre in alot of his features - Though I haven't seen it, apparently "Eraserhead" has some very dark stuff in it, "Fire Come Walk With Me" has got a great horror icon in "Bob" and some of the imagery in "Wild At Heart" is just off the scale. Now, if someone could tempt Sam Raimi back to the game after wrapping on "Spiderman 2"....

[avenger00soul]

Originally posted by Loomis99
Would I be right in thinking that Richard Kelly is the guy behind Donnie Darko? I believe both he and Eli Roth are setting up a studio together with the express aim of getting low-budget, creative horror films "out there". Now, if someone could tempt Sam Raimi back to the game after wrapping on "Spiderman 2"....

Yes, Richard Kelly was behind the genius that was Donnie Darko. I have heard that he and Eli Roth are writing a movie together based upon a Richard Matheson story. Raimi, along with Rob Tapert, has also started a production company targeting the low budget horror scene. I don't know if he plans on getting involved himself or not though.

[AUSTIN316426808]

I TOTALLY AGREE EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST NIGHTMARE. AS FAR AS ANY OTHER FILM SINCE THEN I AGREE THAT HE HAS SOLD OUT. EVERYTHING FROM FREDDY'S REVENGE HAS BEEN SUBPAR. I WAS GOING TO MENTION SCREAM BUT YOU CLEARED THAT UP I HONESTLY DIDN'T KNOW THAT SOMEONE ELSE WROTE THAT. AND AS FOR CARPENTER THIS IS MY OPINION AND I MIGHT GET ALOT OF BAD AFTERMATH FOR THIS BUT BESIDES HALLOWEEN HE'S NEVER DONE ANYTHING TO IMPRESS ME.BUT BACK TO THE NIGHTMARE FILMS I TOTALLY AGREE THAT AFTER THE FIRST ONE HE BEGAN TO SELL OUT THE GENRE BY MAKING THE ELM STREET SERIES INTO AN ALL OUT COMEDY.PEOPLE GETTING TIED TO BEDS WITH TONGUES,THOSE LAME JOKES,AND THOSE HORRIBLE FX. NOW I HAVE TO ADMIT AS A COMEDY THIS IS A GOLDEN GLOBE WORTHY FILM,BUT AS FAR AS HORROR GOES ITS A DISGRACE.

[avenger00soul]

Originally posted by AUSTIN316426808
I TOTALLY AGREE EXCEPT FOR THE FIRST NIGHTMARE. AS FAR AS ANY OTHER FILM SINCE THEN I AGREE THAT HE HAS SOLD OUT. EVERYTHING FROM FREDDY'S REVENGE HAS BEEN SUBPAR. I TOTALLY AGREE THAT AFTER THE FIRST ONE HE BEGAN TO SELL OUT THE GENRE BY MAKING THE ELM STREET SERIES INTO AN ALL OUT COMEDY.PEOPLE GETTING TIED TO BEDS WITH TONGUES,THOSE LAME JOKES,AND THOSE HORRIBLE FX.

Craven didn't have anything to do with Freddy's Revenge. Craven directed the first and last Elm Street films and co-wrote the third one (and IMO the only films in the series worth watching). He had nothing to do with the other films in that series. However, Vampire in Brooklyn is an unforgivable sin.