Wes Craven's Greatest Films?
 

There's few who would deny that Wes Craven is one of the most well-known directors in all of horror, and taking a look at his films, it's easy to see why. With the upcoming release of Deadly Blessing, what perfect time to have the ultimate Cult Labs' Wes Craven poll.

What are your favourite films Craven has directed? It'll be interesting to see where Deadly Blessing stands in this poll. Vote for your favs and let us know why. Are you even a fan of his work.


Deadly Blessing is out on the 28th November and can be ordered here.

I voted for A Nightmare On Elm Street as I found it a really imaginative horror movie.

would say the original Nightmare On Elm St,People Under The Stairs & Deadly Blessings for me though most of his films are quite entertaining.Always thought Scream was overrated though.

Easily The People Under the Stairs.

I'm not a big fan of Craven, but he nails it in this. The Serpent and the Rainbow is also very good.

I forgot Serpent was by Wes, good film that, from what I can remember. Been a few years.

Not seen People Under the Stairs yet. I guess I'll put that high priority on Lovefilm now

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TPUTS is a great film, Ant. I'm sure you'll really enjoy it!

I can take or leave Craven really, but he has done a few very good films.

Of his more recent output i gave a vote to Red Eye.

Its a short frenetically paced B-movie which entertains throughout.

It didn't have the greatest reception but I thought it was really good too. Guess I'm biased for loving both Cillian and Rachel though

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Not much of a Craven fan, I'm going with Last House, just cuz it sticks in my memory more than the others (not a Freddy fan either) . . .

LHOTL is my favourite though I remember being incredibly impressed with NOES on it's original cinema run. "The People Under the Stairs" is great as are "Serpent and the Rainbow" and "The Hills Have Eyes".

Wes Craven's New Nightmare by far. His masterpiece.


I also went for The Hills Have Eyes for old time's sake

"Music of the Heart" is Mrs MTDS' fave.

Oh yeah, Red Eye was Craven. Decent little flick that.

Ha, The Fireworks Woman! Good ol' Abe Snake!

A Nightmare On Elm Street is my personal fave, I also enjoyed The People Under The Stairs, The Last House On The Left and The Hills Have Eyes (although I prefer Alexandre Aja's remake to Craven's original).

I must be the only one who didn't like Red Eye. :lol:

I felt sorry for Cillian Murphy as he stumbled through what must be one of the worst scripts every written.

The anti-climactic ending was the final nail in the coffin of this dull and forgettable film.

Love People Under the Stairs & Serpent & The Rainbow. For anyone interested Scream 4 Blu Ray is only £4.99 on play.com as deal of the day. Not seen it yet and suspect it is rubbish but for £5 can't complain.

SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is easily my favourite Craven film. Its a genuinely freaky horror film with Zakes Mokae acting seriously evil. The best voodoo-based horror movie ever. I doubt Bill Pullman is able to have babies anymore.

I voted for THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, THE HILLS HAVE EYES and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET too. I remember SHOCKER being good for a laugh n all :p Haven't seen DEADLY BLESSING, sounds interesting that one.

I'm not a big fan of Wes Craven, but I'm no hater either. Last House was a powerhouse of a brutal movie, at the time. Hills Have Eyes was an interesting take on similar material. I actually prefer the remake. I found Deadly Blessing, deadly dull but could see what he was attempting in a couple of scenes. The original Nightmare was an innovative way to make a splatter movie. People forget that the original wasn't quite as jokey as the rest. Craven's attempt at reinventing the slasher, through the Scream series has to be admired and it led on to a new wave of horror; pity it was mainly PG-13.

For me, his stand out movie is The Serpent and The Rainbow. By the time I saw it I was already a big zombie film fan and liked the more realistic approach. The idea of voodoo using blowfish toxin as a method for "reanimating" the dead was well known and had been used in a Miami Vice episode. So, I was familiar with some of the background, but never got around to reading the book that the movie was based upon, if there was one?

I did sit a little uncomfortably during one of the scenes.;)

Its based on the factual book by Wade Davis, a Harvard ethnobotany student. He really did go to Haiti and delve into the mysteries surrounding 'vodoun' and the constituents & pharmacology of the zombie powder they use. Check his book out its a great read! He's a real life Indiana Jones. Works as a photographer for National Geographic now and is a bit of a cult legend amongst the biology students that know of him :p

He hated, HATED, what Wes Craven did with his book btw... Guess he's not a fan of the horror movie :p

The Serpent and the Rainbow: Amazon.co.uk: Davis: Books

I guess I'd call myself a Craven fan, though not all of his films float my boat and he's not the most visual director around.:nod:

I'm probably one of the few who actually prefers Craven's '77 "Hills" over the (otherwise also great) Aja remake. :rockon:

With a filmography which contains such landmark titles as "Last House", "Hills", "Elm Street" and (for me anyway :p) "Scream" he's certainly more than rightfully earned his place in horror history though some are not willing to forgive him for voicing his wish to also work outside the genre from time to time combined with the mainstream appeal of some of his creations which does ring all the wrong bells with a certain fraction of the horror fanbase....;)

Faves? "Last House", "Hills", "Elm Street", "People under the Stairs", "New Nightmare" and "Scream".:)

I never knew he directed Vampire in Brooklyn... That's a pretty awful film :p

Thanks for jogging my memory. Must get around to reading it. Pity it's not on Kindle:(

I really like NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS and SCREAM.

HILLS HAVE EYES, SHOCKER, THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, NEW NIGHTMARE and SCREAM 2 are ok.

LAST HOUSE, VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN, HILLS HAVE EYES 2 are poor imo.

Wes Craven is hit and miss but his filmography is littered with interesting if not great movies... Personally my favourite Craven is A Nightmare on Elm Street, which is a masterpiece... I watched all the Elm Street films a few months ago back to back (in preparation for the Never Sleep Again doc) and I really enjoyed 'em... add about 20 years to 'em and they're strangely charming, old school fx, and dopey hair metal songs an' all...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t6Z8S5Dgz2...sandfreddy.jpg

I voted for quite a few but my favourite has be either A Nightmare on Elm St or The Serpent & The Rainbow, both classics in my book

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen The People Under the Stairs, might check that one out . . .

Great film, well worth the couple of quid it probably is these days

People Under the Stairs is good but it should have been much more - it has a great subversive idea and could have been a real eerie, disturbing film but Craven's commercial sensibilities have got the better of him again...

Agreed and consistency of quality has never been Craven's strong point imo. Tbh i much prefer Carpenter and Romero.

I'm more or less of the same opinion and the only Craven contributions i've any true time for are TLHOTL, ANOES, THHE and Deadly Friend (Yeah, you heard that right!). Who could forget the gloriously gory 'death-by-basketball' scene in the latter? And besides, i had a crush on Kristy Swanson at the time!

I recall catching ITH back in the '80s and was unimpressed with the movie. Far too tame in line with TV network restrictions. Initially, i enjoyed the first two Scream entries but soon became tired of these films trying to be more hip than horrific. Shocker actually wasn't too bad imo but still some way from Craven's envelope-pushing heyday.:)

Yours truly may be wrong but didn't Craven also direct the '78 TV effort Summer Of Fear starring Linda Blair and issued on pre-cert VHS by Brent Walker video?:)

The central idea was a very good one, but a script needs more than just a good idea, it has to hold the attention for 90+ minutes. Many films have good ideas that are poorly written.

I decided to cast a sympathy vote for hills have eyes 2 as i don't think there's a lot of love for it out there. watched it as a kid, before the original, and loved it! but i can understand why people haven't taken to it. loved the original vhs artwork. almost voted for chiller as it's a fave too but was surprised no-one picked it! only seen it twice but really enjoyed it! loved nightmare on elm street, last house, people under the stairs, scream 1 & 4 too, though!

My top 3

NOES
Deadly Blessing - underrated in my opinion. Love some of the imagery in this one.
People Under The Stairs

I Believe that Summer of Fear was AKA Stranger in Our House.

I Voted for Stranger in Our House, Deadly Friend, Nightmare on Elm St, Cursed, Red Eye and Hills have Eyes part 2. - i too prefer the original movies... :pop2:

I Really didn't care for Deadly Blessing at all when i watched it... maybe i wasn't in the right mood for it at the time, - the same goes for Serpent and the Rainbow... don't think i even finished that one... maybe i should try again sometime. i did enjoy The People Under The Stairs, however.

I'm quite a fan of craven, i watched Last House on The Left (original) the other night and enjoyed it, but it's not one of my favorites... i know they really shouldn't be compared... (but i can't help it).... i found I Spit On Your Grave to be a superior movie... the comedy aspect of Last House didn't appeal to me at all. Still a great movie tho... :nod:

JL

Totally agree about that. I also find it oddly jarring and even if this is the intention it's to the detriment to the film.

I watched I Walked With a Zombie recently and I wanted to see Serpent and the Rainbow again - anyone know if the UK Universal DVD is worth a shot ?

That's the one I have, bought it years ago for a few quid so I expect it to be really cheap nowadays, nothing in way of extras mind but the print looks good to me

i concur with Rik,according to Rewind theirs a minor cut

That's good enough for me Rik, thanks ! I always find Bill Pullman a bit of a damp squib but I remember really enjoying Craven's film. That whole subject of voodoo is fascinating...

Thank for that Vic, this is one cut I could live with, you've seen one cockfight, you've seen 'em all...