Wes Craven is an influential American film director known for pioneering horror films. He earned degrees in psychology and philosophy which influenced his interest in exploring human fears and the conscious/unconscious mind through narrative films. Some of his most famous works that revolutionized the horror genre include Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. Craven likes to base his films on real-life fears and events to create a more realistic type of horror. He believes horror films can help audiences face and process their fears in a "manageable" way.

1. Film director case study
WES CRAVEN

2. IMDb quote
• “Wes Craven has become synonymous with
genre bending and innovative
horror, challenging audiences with his bold
visions since the release of his first feature
film”

3. Quote from Wes Craven
• “On horror movies: "It's like boot camp for
the psyche. In real life, human beings are
packaged in the flimsiest of
packages, threatened by real and sometimes
horrifying dangers, events like Columbine.
But the narrative form puts these fears into a
manageable series of events. It gives us a
way of thinking rationally about our fears."

4. Wes Craven Bio
• He was born August 2nd, 1939 in
Cleveland, Ohio. He had a very strict Baptist
upbringing.
• He earned an undergraduate degree in both
psychology and English, and then a masters
degree in Philosophy.
• His first job within the film industry was being a
sound editor.
• Whilst learning his directing skills, Wes Craven
underwent directing many ‘X-Rated’ films.
• His first feature film, was released in 1972 and
called ‘The last house on the left’

5. His career
• His films tend to focus on the nature of
reality, for example, ‘A Nightmare On Elm
Street’ focused on the effect of dreams in real
life.
• He revolutionized Slasher movies with the
release of ‘Scream’ in which the characters
featured refer to real life situations as being
similar to those in other movies.
• He is very well known for directing horror
movies.
• It seems that in a lot of his movies, he likes to
present a battle of insanity, and battles
between the conscious and unconscious mind.

6. “Quotes”
“I like to address the fears of my culture. I believe it's
good to face the enemy, for the enemy is fear.”
“Certainly the deepest horror, as far as I'm concerned, is
what happens to your body at your own hands and
others.”
“Horror films don't create fear. They release it.”
“If I were interested in reality, I'd be making
documentaries.”

7. Craven’s cinematic style
• “I believe the cinema is one of our principal
forms of art. It is an incredibly powerful way to
tell uplifting stories that can move people to
cry with joy and inspire them to reach for the
stars.”
• Craven is a huge fan of playing with fears
which people already fear, and releasing it
within his own films.

8. Craven’s cinematic style
• It’s not what’s ‘out there’ that we should worry
about, but it’s the ‘unknown familiar’ which can be
explained by his character of ‘Freddy Kruger’ who
wears a striped jumper, much like Dennis the
menace...
• He likes to focus on real life events. Freddy Kruger
was based on a high school bully, Scream was based
on a high school shooting etc. It creates a much more
real type of horror.

9. Famous scene – Cinematic style
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtozIdb-
jzg
• This scene very well demonstrates Craven’s
cinematic style, it features the insanity side to
a realistic situation. It creates empathy for the
characters, and makes us jump at the end.