Director Wes Craven, the “Master of Horror”, has died at the age of 76, leaving behind a legacy of genre-defining films that have shaped and satirised the horror movie.
The prolific filmmaker wrote and directed over 25 movies after rising to fame in 1977 with his first major feature film The Hills Have Eyes, which went on to earn cult classic status.
Craven is best known for A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984, which spawned eight sequels as well as a TV series, and iconic Nineties horror film Scream, whose fourth sequel he directed in 2011.
Take a look at the scenes he will be remembered for:
A Nightmare on Elm Street – 1984
Johnny Depp made his feature film debut in Craven’s slasher movie following a group of high school teenagers who become terrorised by a vengeful ghost called Freddy Krueger. The film was made on just under $2m, earning back its budget during the first week at the box office.
Scream – 1996
This popular Nineties movie satirised the cliché of the horror film, seeing its teenager characters openly discuss horror film tropes that Scream tried to subvert. The slasher film mixed the comedy of a “whodunit” mystery to great effect, spawning a series of three sequels.
The Serpent and the Rainbow – 1988
Craven’s late Eighties film follows an anthropologist on a trip to Haiti after hearing rumours about a drug used by black magic practitioners to turn people into Zombies.
The People Under the Stairs – 1991
A young boy called Fool breaks into the home of his family’s greedy landlord, where he discovers a disturbing scenario involving incestuous adult siblings who have mutilated a number of boys and kept them imprisoned under the stairs.
The Hills Have Eyes – 1977
Craven’s first major feature film saw a family take a road trip to California, where their car breaks down in an area closed to the public and it soon becomes inhabited by violent savages.
