It is with a heavy heart that I report that Wes Craven has passed away after a battle with brain cancer.
Words and pictures can't really convey what I feel right now. His movies scared me and thrilled me and he created one of the most iconic horror villains ever. He was more than just a director. He was a hero.
A hero to all of the horror fans that were validated when Freddy became a household name and a boogeyman for the ages. A hero to those who thought the slasher was getting stale and was revived with Scream. A hero to those who disagreed with Roger Ebert who claimed that The Last House on the Left had no redeeming social value (edit: A hero to those who got LHotL confused with I Spit on Your Grave... do the research, Bob). A hero to the folks that said, "I'm going to make monsters because Wes did it and the world thought it was cool."
Craven was a visionary and his dark visions both terrify and comfort us as horror fans. They are familiar terrors and they are remembered with a fearful love.
Rest in peace, Wes Craven.
Gonna pick a nit here...Though he was sharply critical of later iterations of the story, Ebert gave Craven's 'Last House on the Left' 3.5 stars out of 4 in 1972.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/last-house-on-the-left-1972
You're right. I got that confused with I Spit on Your Grave...
DeleteGonna pick a nit here...Though he was sharply critical of later iterations of the story, Ebert gave Craven's 'Last House on the Left' 3.5 stars out of 4 in 1972.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/last-house-on-the-left-1972