Horror Theorists
Wes Craven
Born August 7 1939, Wes Craven was an American film director and also, writer, producer and actor who primarily focused on directing and making horror films in the 'Slasher' sub-genre. Due to the success of Wes' hit film franchise 'Nightmare on Elm Street' Wes' influence to the 'Slasher' horror sub-genre has been considered a great influence and success. His many awards and certifications from his work on directing has earned him the title of 'Master of Horror'.
'Nightmare on Elm Street' the most popular of Wes Cravens horror film franchises and most well known, debuted the hit and iconic character of 'Freddy Krueger'. 'Freddy Krueger' since the debut of 'Nightmare on Elm Street' has become one of the most iconic horror characters ever created. 'Freddy' in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' film is the antagonist traditionally armed with a clawed glove who attacks protagonist 'Nancy' when she is asleep and dreaming. 'Freddy' would be able to cause strange happenings in the real world from the dream world he resides in. 'Nightmare on Elm Street' was extremely well received and was a big hit at the box office with $25.5 million generated.
Another film Wes Craven is famous for is the film franchise 'Scream'. 'Scream' is a 1986 American Slasher film where he was the director. 'Scream' was the debut of the famous Slasher character of Ghost-face and has since become another iconic Horror icon. Ghost-face is the main antagonist who is a masked killer that aims to kill the main character Casey Becker after killing her boyfriend. At the box office, the original 'Scream' film generated $173 million worldwide.
Wes Craven in his career of directing different films, Wes Craven has earned many nominations and awards. Wes Craven has earned a huge list of achievements and awards including the 'Saturn Award' and the 'Lifetime Achievement' award in 2012.
Wes Craven in 2015 unfortunately died from a long battle and struggle against brain cancer. Despite Wes Cravens passing he has left a tremendous legacy upon the horror genre and even the film industry as a whole. The final film Wes Craven worked on before his death was another movie in a franchise of his creation 'Scream' with the making of 'Scream 4'. The Netflix 'Scream' TV series dedicated an episode to Wes Craven in respect of his memory and legacy. One of Wes Craven's main ideas used within his Horror film titles was the idea of a lack of authority surrounding the main characters. This absence of authority means the main character is isolated and has to get out of their situation with their own wits and cunning.
'Nightmare on Elm Street' the most popular of Wes Cravens horror film franchises and most well known, debuted the hit and iconic character of 'Freddy Krueger'. 'Freddy Krueger' since the debut of 'Nightmare on Elm Street' has become one of the most iconic horror characters ever created. 'Freddy' in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' film is the antagonist traditionally armed with a clawed glove who attacks protagonist 'Nancy' when she is asleep and dreaming. 'Freddy' would be able to cause strange happenings in the real world from the dream world he resides in. 'Nightmare on Elm Street' was extremely well received and was a big hit at the box office with $25.5 million generated.
Another film Wes Craven is famous for is the film franchise 'Scream'. 'Scream' is a 1986 American Slasher film where he was the director. 'Scream' was the debut of the famous Slasher character of Ghost-face and has since become another iconic Horror icon. Ghost-face is the main antagonist who is a masked killer that aims to kill the main character Casey Becker after killing her boyfriend. At the box office, the original 'Scream' film generated $173 million worldwide.
Wes Craven in his career of directing different films, Wes Craven has earned many nominations and awards. Wes Craven has earned a huge list of achievements and awards including the 'Saturn Award' and the 'Lifetime Achievement' award in 2012.
Wes Craven in 2015 unfortunately died from a long battle and struggle against brain cancer. Despite Wes Cravens passing he has left a tremendous legacy upon the horror genre and even the film industry as a whole. The final film Wes Craven worked on before his death was another movie in a franchise of his creation 'Scream' with the making of 'Scream 4'. The Netflix 'Scream' TV series dedicated an episode to Wes Craven in respect of his memory and legacy. One of Wes Craven's main ideas used within his Horror film titles was the idea of a lack of authority surrounding the main characters. This absence of authority means the main character is isolated and has to get out of their situation with their own wits and cunning.
Wheeler Winston dixon
Born March 12th 1950, Wheeler Winston Dixon was an American Filmmaker who mainly specialised in film theory and criticism. His scholarship has particular emphasis on Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and the American experimental cinema and Horror films. Wheeler Winston Dixon is an expert on the history of films, the processes behind making them and how these processes have changed over the many years of film making. Wheeler Winston Dixon has written many books on the history of the film industry, some of which are, 'A short History of Film' and 'A History of Horror'. Wheeler Winston Dixon is considered a top reviewer of films and also known as an experimental film maker with a few films made over the past few decades. Some of the films Wheeler Winston Dixon has worked on throughout the decades are, Serial Metaphysics, An Evening with Chris Jangaard and London Clouds. Serial Metaphysics was a film completely made up of American television commercials as an experimental film. An Evening with Chris Jangaard was a film about a man explaining the decline and fall of 1960s Britain that at random intervals would cut to vintage footage of the band The Beatles as an experimental film. One of Wheeler Winston Dixons ideas on Horror was the sites of activity. Sites of activity refers the the beginning of a film where the characters at the beginning may not actually be in the rest of the film for whatever reason but set up the events of the film and capture the attention of the audience.
Stephen king
Stephen King born in September 21st 1947 and is an American Horror Book Author and Film Director. Mainly focusing on contemporary and supernatural horror fiction, Stephen King's books, of which 54 have been published have sold over 350 million copies. Stephen King has won many awards over the years, some of the awards he has been given are, the Bram Stoker award, World Fantasy award and the British Fantasy Society Award. Some of Stephen King's most notable work includes, The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining and Carrie. Stephen King film adaptations from his original novels are common with some of the adaptations like The Shining being critically acclaimed films of the Horror genre as well as being regarded as classics. The Shining (directed by Stanley Kubrick), a psychological horror film adapted from the original novel in 1980 was received with mixed reviews compared to the book, however the film is a classic and while it had a slow start at the box office when released it did gain momentum and ended up being a commercial success with Warner Bros being able to net a profit. The Shining has been re-evaluated more recently by critics and has since gained more favourable review scores. The Shawshank Redemption (Directed by Frank Darabont) was adapted from its original novel in 1994 and was met with critical acclaim with the film being featured on many critics best films of all time lists. While at the Box Office the film generated $58 million, alone already surpassing the $25 million budget allocated to the film. Stephen King is one of the most known names of all of Horror based fiction and for good reason, he continues to work to this day with his latest work being End of Watch released in June 2016 with another book on the way for October 2017. One idea that Stephen King used a lot within his novels and also translated into his movie adaptations was the idea of irony. Stephen King used more realistic threats in his Horror based movies that could be explained as a cause and effect of the characters actions throughout the film rather than an unrealistic unexplainable phenomenon like the supernatural or situations presented in films like Final Destination. The idea of irony in his novels and film adaptations is also combined with his idea of using human conditioning with stress and fear to create a more realistic and grounded Horror title.