The Soul of Wes Craven
Published by Harker Press, 2024. 460 pages
By Joseph Maddrey

Out of all the directors that were reigning supreme in my formable years, the ‘80s, with names like Romero, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Hooper, Coscarelli, Wes Craven was never in my favorites. There were a few of his films that I still love to this day, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, but for a career as a whole, he’s not high up in my list. But by reading this new book on him, it proved yet once again that by learning more about a subject, really going behind and deep into the person, you cannot help but see things differently. Doesn’t mean it changed my feelings towards some of his work, but it gives one so much more understanding on what you see.

There was a lot about Craven that I knew, such as him being a very intelligent man, that he used to be a teacher at one point, as well as wanting to break free from the genre that he was continually forced to work in. A younger me would state that he just used the genre to get his foot in the door, but never really was a fan. Once you read of his life, being raised in a very fundamental religious background, you realize he is never far away from true horror. And wanting to do something different from just that genre, that he was a very creative person who wanted to show that while he enjoyed working in scary tales, he also could show you something else.

“In Europe, people are much more willing to see the entire person behind the movie. And most American critics don’t take horror seriously. It’s easier to dismiss horror than to try and understand it.”

I feel that the above quote from Craven shows that perfectly.

Maddrey’s book covers Craven’s life from the beginning to the very end. He touches upon so many aspects and parts of Craven’s life, getting input from the people that truly knew him, from his old college friends and colleagues to his family, to a lot of the people that worked with him in the film industry. I guarantee you that you will not finish this book and not think of the man, and his films differently. I know it happened to me.

I am not, nor was I ever a fan of his first film, Last House on the Left (1972). I’ve always found it just way too dark and depressing for me to get any sort of enjoyment out of the film, as a whole. But reading about the way it came about, and what Craven was really trying to say to the audiences, has made me look at it a lot more subjectively. During this time, American audience were seeing photos and footage of the real violence that was happening in Viet Nam at the time. But because it was on TV, it didn’t seem to have the impact it should have. That this was real and true violence that was going on, and that it shouldn’t be allowed to happen to any human being. Craven had stated that, “Because of the war, I felt no hope. Last House was a howl of anger and pain.”

So, he made Last House extremely violent because he wanted to show American how brutal life really is, that it was happening in the world, right now. While I still don’t enjoy the film, I can see a little more of the reasoning behind it, rather than a couple of young filmmakers trying to make a name for themselves with some cheap exploitation type film. Craven was trying to send a message. Unfortunately, most critics and viewers didn’t see the message, just the violence, and missing the whole point.

I also guarantee that you will learn things about Craven that you never knew, such as that he learned editing skills from a guy named Harry, who was the brother of his friend Steve Chapin. Yes, that Harry Chapin, the singer/songwriter, who had started in the film industry. He had actually written and directed Legendary Champions (1968), a documentary on famous boxes, which nabbed him an Oscar nomination. He was a film editor in New York where Craven first got his foot in the door, as a messenger. But he would sit with Chapin and learn what he was doing and why.

You’ll hear about the projects that he was attached to at times, like a possible remake of the 1961 ghost story The Innocents, or Flowers in the Attic adaptation, or Roger Corman’s Frankenstein, or even the ill-fated remake of The Haunting. None of which were made with what he contributed. Makes one wonder what they could have been had he been more involved, doesn’t it?

I know myself, as a younger film fan, if I didn’t like the final product, I figured that what I had watched was a complete vision of its director. Which means if you didn’t like it, it is the director’s fault. But that is so far from the truth that took me years to learn. When you read more about what truly goes on during film productions, such as Craven’s Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), you will see the final product much differently, as far as where any “blame” should fall, if you choose to do so. Or praise. It all depends on who has control of the final edit.

I have learned so much about Craven through this incredible book and urge any fan of the horror genre to do the same. Especially, like me, you were never a fan of most of his work. I know I keep using the word “guarantee”, but I do feel that by going through this journey, through Maddrey’s words, you will come out seeing Craven, and his work, a little different.

And if you get any idea that Craven really didn’t like the horror genre or their fans, but was only forced to work it in, let me leave just part of this quote that ends the book, that I feel speaks volumes about Craven and how he felt.

In speaking to the fans, he states, “I think that you are the proof that everything that people say that don’t like horror movies, everything they say that horror movies do to people is disproved by you – because you turned out to be some of the greatest people I’ve met, and the most gentle souls. You get the humor and everything else in my films too, so thank you. Thank you for all you’ve given.”

Maddrey has written several books on the genre, such as Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film (2004), co-authored Lance Henriksen’s 2011 book Not Bad for a Human (which we reviewed HERE), Beyond Fear (2014), and two volumes of Adapting Stephen King (2021-2022). You can order this book by clicking HERE. And I hope you do.