ROTTEN TOMATOES: Five Favourite Films with Wes Craven Comments

Five Favourite Films with Wes Craven

by Orlando Parfitt | June 12, 2009

Summary

No director in recent history has made their particular genre as much their own as Wes Craven. The legendary helmer virtually redefined the horror movies with the likes of The Hills Have Eyes and The Nightmare on Elm Street. His very first film was the horrifically violent box-office smash The Last House on the Left. Unlike Elm Street - which is being reinvented without any input from Craven - Last House is being remade with the director's blessing, under the stewardship of Dennis Iliadis, and hits UK screens this Friday. RT had some time with Craven, and with the scaremongering legend on the other end of our phone, we just couldn't resist asking him for his five favourite films. Back to Article

(1-27 of 27 posts) | Reply

mightysourdough writes:
on Jun 12 2009 08:19 AM

LALALALALALALA One of these things is not like the others one of these things do not belong (in sing song)

(Reply to this)

RedRing writes:
on Jun 12 2009 08:24 AM

In reply to this comment (#2512647)
-_- why don't you just tell us what it is.

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Single-Serving Friend writes:
on Jun 12 2009 09:20 AM

Fabulous insight Wes,

And so surprising too!

BTW, where did you get the idea for Last House on the Left?

(Reply to this)

Single-Serving Friend writes:
on Jun 12 2009 09:27 AM

Fabulous insight Wes,

And so surprising too!

BTW, where did you get the idea for Last House on the Left?

(Reply to this)

IndianaSchwartz writes:
on Jun 12 2009 09:53 AM

So... did Wes Craven just claim that Howard Hawkes directed "The Treasure of Sierra Madre"?

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Mysterious F. writes:
on Jun 12 2009 10:47 AM

He did claim that! It was John Huston, you idiot!!!!!

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Dave J. writes:
on Jun 12 2009 12:16 PM

This is the most thought out and insightful list in quite some time by Rottentomatoes and it's about time too. Having seen almost all of Wes Craven's films I can see the similarities and especially the influence those films contributed much to his movie career. Virgin Spring was his base for 'The Last House' On 'The Left and the Hills Have Eyes' with similarities from Texas Chainsaw. To Kill A Mockingbird inspired Wes's "People under the Stairs".

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De4ective Detectiv3 writes:
on Jun 12 2009 01:08 PM

A lot of people just don't realize how talented a filmmaker Wes Craven is, I just think he makes poor decisions regarding what type of films he chooses.

@ Mightysourdough

LMAO

You sir have just unwittingly stumbled on a great idea for the next Wes Craven feature...Nightmare on Sesame Street.

(Reply to this)

therereturn writes:
on Jun 12 2009 01:12 PM

Very interesting.

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rle4lunch writes:
on Jun 12 2009 01:21 PM

don't you love how the author of this article uses the word 'realise' instead of 'realize'? either he's european, which makes it understandable, or just a dude who wants to sound like he has a large venacular. in either case, it looks dumb.

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Joe Utichi writes:
on Jun 12 2009 01:41 PM

rle4lunch: The piece comes out of the UK office of RT, hence the British spelling.

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jun 12 2009 01:42 PM

Let me know the last time Wes Craven made a good film. For me, it's that Nightmare on Elm Street that pretended to be a documentary of sorts...

I used to like him, now he makes me vomit. He produces some of the worst films imaginable.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Jun 12 2009 03:02 PM

Yeah it's been a while since this guy's actually worked hard. Different and interesting list though.

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De4ective Detectiv3 writes:
on Jun 12 2009 03:09 PM

Some of my favorite Wes Craven movies:

Swamp Thing
The Serpent and the Rainbow
People Under The Stairs
New Nightmare

Honorable mention goes to Red Eye

C'mon, how can you guys not love the director of Vampire in Brooklyn, talk about your Mystery Science Theatre bait.

(Reply to this)

mEn@Ce! writes:
on Jun 12 2009 03:57 PM

I'm pretty sure The Treasure of Sierra Madre was directed by John Huston, not Howard Hawks....

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steve s. writes:
on Jun 12 2009 05:23 PM

five favorite films needs a vacation......6 months seems right

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TheCaptain of TeamLoyalty writes:
on Jun 12 2009 11:26 PM

What are these worst films tom? Are they the horror classics like Nightmare on Elm Street? Or Scream? Or Last House on the Left? Remember it has been awhile since he actually DIRECTED a movie, he has produced a lot of movies.

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Bigbrother writes:
on Jun 13 2009 08:54 AM

In reply to this comment (#2512782)
Easy mistake to make since both men famously worked with Humphrey Bogart.

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jesusthejedi writes:
on Jun 13 2009 09:52 AM

In reply to this comment (#2512766)
who are you to say whether or not wes cravens been working hard? im a huge horrorhound though i dont care much for the man and have nothing good to say about any of his remakes. even still, the mans got a lot on his plate and for you to trivialize his effort just because you dont like the movies is ridiculous.

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moviephiliac writes:
on Jun 13 2009 10:25 AM

I thought Red Eye was pretty good, why are people making it seem like it has been ages since he made a good movie?

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Jun 13 2009 10:44 AM

Scream was just a rip-off of the vastly superior STUDENT BODIES!

In the past 15 years, the only film I like of his is NEW NIGHTMARE, though some may argue for SCREAM.

However, it was just a rip-off of STUDENT BODIES!

STUDENT BODIES RULES! I AM MALVERT!

(Reply to this)

Bigbrother writes:
on Jun 13 2009 12:45 PM

In reply to this comment (#2512886)
My friend, be serious. Student Bodies was an obvious spoof of the horror genre with little subtlety sorta a mix between Meet the Spartans and Sorority House Massacre. As such it scored a whopping 17% on the tomatometer and blessed the world with such big stars as Richard Belzer and well...no one else. Whereas Scream was an excellent commentary on the horror genre done with subtlety and wit and revived a fading genre. While it does share a similar plot there is no comparison in quality and the films minutea. It's like comparing Mobsters and The Godfather because they both deal with the Mob. Student Bodies has more in common with the less than laughable Scream if You Know What I Did Last Summer or whatever that Tom Arnold/Tiffany Amber Thiessen abortion was called.

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TheCaptain of TeamLoyalty writes:
on Jun 13 2009 02:37 PM

Student Bodies better than Scream? You are insane.

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Angel C. writes:
on Jun 15 2009 10:08 PM

He does have a nice resume but it has been a while since he made something worth watching. I agree with Mockingbird but the other do not have a chance of holding my interest at all (which should be his ultimate goal).

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Daniel M. writes:
on Jun 17 2009 06:38 PM

In reply to this comment (#2512664)
Wes got the idea of "Last House on the Left" coincidentally from one of his favorite movies "The Virgin Spring". If you watch the two movies the story is almost exactly the same except "Virgin Spring" does not try to gross you out or appeal with shock value. Either way the story is probably old and dates back like a folk tale.

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Ashron writes:
on Jun 17 2009 06:51 PM

In reply to this comment (#2512915)
Gosh Captain, for once I actually agree with you.

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moviestalk R. writes:
on Sep 16 2009 10:32 AM

He has made many good movies in his career and just like any director that prodominately makes horror films he is going to have some terrible ones (see Tobe Hooper). He knows how to make a good one its just such a hard genre to continually churn out new good movies. He is clearly one of the best

(Reply to this)

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