Wes Craven

Interviews

Shannon Blake Skelton

• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781496826107, 9781496825964
• eBook ISBN: 9781496826114
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

With a career spanning four decades, Wes Craven (1939–2015) bridged independent exploitation cinema and Hollywood big-budget horror. A pioneer of the modern horror cinema, Craven directed such landmark films as The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream —considered not only classics of the genre, but examples of masterful filmmaking. Producing an impressive oeuvre that mixed intellectual concerns and political ideas, Craven utilized high-tension suspense, devastating visual brutality, and dark humor to evoke a unique brand of fear. Moreover, his films draw attention to the horror of American society—namely racism, classism, and the traumas often associated with family. This collection of twenty-nine interviews—spanning from 1980 until his final interview in 2015—traces Craven's life and career, from his upbringing in a strict religious family and his life as an academic to his years toiling in exploitation cinema. The volume also chronicles Craven's ascendancy as an independent director, his work within the studio system, and his eventual triumph in mainstream cinema. Within the interviews gathered here, including three previously unpublished pieces, Craven reflects on failed projects and the challenges of working with studios while offering thoughtful meditations on the dynamics and appeal of horror. Wes Craven: Interviews cements Craven's legacy as a master of horror who left an indelible mark on the genre by forever altering expectations of—and approaches to—the cinema of fear.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chronology
• Filmography
• Wes Craven: An Interview
• Wes Craven … Who’s Made Nightmares Comes True
• Wes Craven
• Wes Craven’s Deadly Doubleheader
• Wes Craven, Director of Nightmares
• Interview on Elm Street
• Shock-Waves: Toxic Interviews Wes Craven
• Craven Images
• Wes Craven’s Parental Guidance
• Vampire in Brooklyn Is No Laughing Matter
• American Film Institute: The Directors
• Interview with Wes Craven
• Last Housemates
• The Cursed Is Over?
• Fangoria Screamography: Wes Craven
• Red Eye—Wes Craven Interview
• Wes Craven Q&A
• A Chat with Wes Craven
• Wes Craven Talks to Capone
• Interview: Wes Craven
• Sins of the Fathers
• Scream 4 Director Wes Craven on Keeping the Franchise Alive
• Director Wes Craven: Interview
• The Legendary Wes Craven Talks Scream 4 with Mr. Beaks!
• Wes Craven Screams Anew
• Wes Craven Talks YEAH TV, Nightmare on Elm Street, and His Future
• Father of Freddy
• R.A. Interviews Wes Craven (R.I.P.)
• Wes Craven: One Last Scream
• Additional Resources
• About the Editor