The Hollywood filmmaker behind "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" movies Wes Craven,dies at 76

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The Hollywood filmmaker behind "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" movies Wes Craven,dies at 76
BHR HollyWood Reports.......Wes Craven the Hollywood filmmaker behind "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" movies,dies at 76

Mr.Craven icked off his career with a film so violent and gory, censors in Britain banned it from theaters. He followed that by creating Freddy Krueger, an unhinged character who still terrorizes audiences.

"A Nightmare on Elm Street" Filmmaker Wes Craven
But the hollywood director long wanted to slowly stop making the horror genre he defined, so when producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein approached him with a three-picture deal, they sweetened the offer by letting him direct 1999's "Music of the Heart," the uplifting story of an East Harlem violin teacher who brings music to scores of underprivileged students.

It starred Meryl Streep, earning her an Oscar nomination.

Craven created some of the genre's most influential films, including 1977's "The Hills Have Eyes," 1984's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and 1996's "Scream." He also gave birth to some of its most terrifying images: a suburban family terrorized by a band of savage cannibals, a killer with razor blades for fingers who stalks teenagers in their dreams.
"Scream" Filmmaker Wes Craven

"He was a consummate filmmaker and his body of work will live on forever," Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co. and Dimension Films, said in a statement Sunday night.

Actress Rose McGowan, who co-starred in "Scream," took to Twitter to call Craven "the kindest man, the gentlest man, and one of the smartest men I've known." Of the day's news, she added: "Please say there's a plot twist."

 The veteran producer-director brought Hollywood headliners into America's living rooms through live television in the 1950s. His creative partnership with Norman Lear produced such films as "Come Blow Your Horn," "Divorce American Style" and groundbreaking television sitcoms such as "All in the Family," "Maude" and "Sanford and Son." He was 89.

 Full obituary Contemporary horror filmmaker Jason Blum, chief executive of Blumhouse Productions, said via email: “The horror community suffered a big blow with the passing of Wes Craven. Talk about a true pioneer.

All of his movies pushed the genre forward because they had something thoughtful to say, whether it was about the Vietnam War, teenage angst, abuse or class warfare. He gave us movies with meaning and big scares.
Night Mare on Street

It is hard to do that once or twice; it’s basically impossible to do it as often as Wes did. He constantly reinvented himself and the genre and left an indelible mark on multiple decades of film and multiple generations of horror fans.

 Thank you for everything and rest in peace.”

"I think the genre goes outside the boundaries of reality in many ways in order to get at some central truths and feelings that aren't served well by very factual states," he told The Times in 2010.

Craven was born in Cleveland on Aug. 2, 1939, and raised by strict Baptist parents who forbade him from watching movies.

Earning a master's degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University, he seemed destined for a quiet life in academia.

But while working as a humanities professor at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., Craven fell in love with film at the local art house theater and his life took a dramatic turn.

Wes Craven's name will forever be linked to horror films. The filmmaker died Sunday at his Los Angeles home after a battle with brain cancer, according to his representative. He was 76.

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