so much of what i look for in horror films can be traced back to my first viewings of films by Wes Craven. from Last House on the Left through People Under The Stairs, he approached subject matter he referred to as "reliably upsetting" and made it something so much more singular and layered, imbuing it with raw staying power that never dulls from repeated viewings or watered down cash grabbing retreads. from Krug Stillo to Papa Jupiter & his baby boys to Mommy & Daddy to the Count Dracula of the MTV Generation Freddy Krueger, Craven took what in the hands of your typical middle-of-the-dirt-road non-auteur schlocker would've been jute-box standard one-dimensional slasheroids and breathed color, dimension, allegory, and symbolism into their personas and acts, rising above the frequently reductive milieu of his incidental peers. even his misfires (My Soul To Take, Hills Have Eyes Part 2) have enough bizarre energy and unique ideas to hold the viewer's attentions.
truly the end of an era.
AICN Horror Remembers WES CRAVEN
