Farewell to Wes – Guest Blog: Darren Lynn Bousman
Debi Moore
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When I was a kid growing up in Kansas, I looked forward to Friday nights. Every Friday my dad would take me to the local video store and let me pick out a horror movie, and we’d go back home, order pizza, and watch it. These movies were picked solely on box art and nothing else. I remember seeing the box for A Nightmare on Elm Street and choosing it. My dad and I sat down and watched it, and I was terrified, fascinated, and utterly in love with the fear I felt watching that film.
The next weekend when we did our ritual of picking out a horror flick, I told my dad I wanted to see something else just like NOES. I can remember my dad asking the clerk for other films by the same director. It was the first time I can remember the director being the selling point of a movie and not the box art. It was this artist Wes Craven and not some VHS box we were seeking out.
While my other friends were playing kickball and watching Masters of the Universe, I was sneaking in the macabre library of Craven into my corruptible little brain.
As I grew older, I found myself always returning to Craven’s films to draw inspiration for the types of movies I wanted to tell. Mother’s Day was absolutely inspired by the way I felt after watching Last House on the Left.
Craven became an inspiration to me as a filmmaker. Constantly experimenting with new types of macabre entertainment.
His death hit me hard… He is the reason for me being here now, making the types of films I make. He is responsible for my childhood aspirations of telling scary stories.
The impact he has had on an entire genre is awe-inspiring.
I look back on my childhood, and the memories I have with my dad, and I realize that Wes Craven’s films have shaped who I am today and the relationship I have with horror.
Thank you, Mr. Craven, for my nightmares… and my undying love for horror.
— Darren Lynn Bousman
With the tragic passing of Wes Craven, literally everyone in the industry has been reeling and expressing love for the man and his work. Several people have been writing in to Dread Central to ask if it would be cool to post their thoughts. So this Farewell to Wes feature will be their opportunity to share their feelings and their thoughts with you, the horror community.
Some will be long, some will be short, but all are important and will be featured with love and caring. It’s our honor to be able to do this for the man who gave us so very much.
Categorized:News
