Wes Craven, man behind 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and 'Scream,' dies at 76

Wes Craven, man behind 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and 'Scream,' dies at 76, Wes Craven, the famed writer-director of horror films known for the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream movies, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76.

Craven, whose iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, died at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced.

Craven claimed to have gotten the idea for Elm Street when living next to a cemetery on a street of that name when growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland. His five Nightmare on Elm Street films were released from 1984-89.

Similarly, Craven's Scream series was a box-office sensation. In those scare-'em-ups, he spoofed the teen horror genre. The movies frequently referenced other horror movies.

Craven’s first feature film was The Last House of the Left, which he wrote, directed and edited in 1972.

Here invented the youth horror genre again in 1984 with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, which he wrote and directed.

He conceived and co-wrote Elm Street III as well, and then after not being involved with the three more sequels, deconstructed the genre a decade after the original, writing and directing Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, which was nominated as best feature at the 1995 Spirit Awards. His own Nightmare players, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon, played themselves in the film.
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