It's hard to believe that five years have already eclipsed since Wes Craven passed away. The legendary horror filmmaker responsible for such venerated genre classics as Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, and others leaves behind a lasting legacy unlike many before him. Simply put, Craven is one of the best horror directors of all time.
But not every Craven title went on to spawn a franchise in the wake of positive critical and commercial buzz. Some of his movies flopped hard, others while others came and went without much fanfare to speak of.
Chiller (1985)
Coming off the massive success of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven curiously followed up by helming the little-known made-for-TV-movie Chiller, in which a man that's been cryogenically frozen is thawed out missing one key possession: a soul!
Upon his death, corporate magnate Miles Creighton (Michael Beck) mandates that his body be cryogenically frozen so that he can continue to live in the future. A decade after the procedure proves successful, Miles awakes without a soul to define him as human. Wes' wife at the time, Mimi Craven, plays Nurse Cooper in the film.
Summer Of Fear (1978)
Following the success of The Hills Have Eyes one year prior, Craven helmed another chilling made-for-TV horror flick starring Linda Blair called Summer of Fear.
Originally aired on October 31, 1978, the film almost certainly got buried by John Carpenter's theatrical smash Halloween released four days earlier. Even so, Summer of Fear concerns Rachel Bryant (Blair), whose peaceful life is upended with the arrival of her cousin Julie (Lee Purcell), a practitioner of macabre witchcraft.
Shocker (1989)
Peter Berg gives a spirited turn in Craven's Shocker, in which he fends off the vengeful ghost of a recently executed convict running roughshod over an undermanned prison.
More specifically, Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi) is a serial killer who vows revenge on the football player (Berg) that turned him into the authorities. Once electrocuted, Pinker channels electricity to resurrect himself, inhabit the bodies of others, and continue his hyper-violent reign of terror. The only way for John (Berg) to stop the killer is to cut off his power supply.
Deadly Friend (1986)
Craven's first post-Elm Street theatrical release belonged to Deadly Friend, a genuinely creepy tale about a benevolent robot that turns murderously malevolent.
The original Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) stars as Samantha Pringle, the neighbor of a new family moving in next door. When robot genius Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux) introduces himself along with his "pet" robot BB (Charles Fleischer), all seems fine and dandy. However, when a fatal accident occurs, Paul attempts to revive Samantha by implanting BB's CPU into her brain. Little does Paul know that BB harbors intentions to kill.
Deadly Blessing (1981)
The third horror movie of Craven's then-nascent career was Deadly Blessing, a menacing religious horror movie involving an Amish-like community with sinister motives.
Set on a rural farm called "Our Blessing," ranchers Jim and Martha are surrounded by an extremely grave sect of religious folks called The Hittites. When Jim is murdered with his own tractor, which is deemed an accident, the zealous Hittites begin to blame Martha as the incubus. As more murders occur, it becomes clear that the religious community has more involvement than they lead on.
Swamp Thing (1982)
Adapted from the classic Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson comic book, people often forget that Craven helmed the 1982 big-screen version of Swamp Thing.
Starring John Carpenter's then-wife Adrienne Barbeau, Swamp Thing was released two years prior to A Nightmare on Elm Street. The story finds Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise), a scientist out to create a human/plant hybrid that can sustain itself in inclement conditions. When the experiment backfires, Holland is morphed into a green monstrosity that the evil Arcane corporation seeks to exploit.
Red Eye (2005)
Despite garnering decent reviews from critics, Craven outdid himself in the directorial job for hire he steered via Red Eye. For a movie he neither wrote nor produced, much less one that never spawned a lucrative franchise, people tend to forget about Craven's involvement in the film.
The taut thriller revolves around Lisa (Rachel McAdams), a single young woman who strikes a bond with a dashing stranger named Jackson (Cillian Murphy) at the airport. Upon boarding the red-eye flight, Jackson kidnaps Lisa and tells her she must assassinate a politician or else her father will be killed. A wicked cat and mouse game of wits ensues.
The People Under The Stairs (1991)
Sandwiched in between a pair of forgettable TV projects, Craven released The People Under the Stairs to very little fanfare in 1991. When it failed to resonate, he went back to Elm Street three years later.
Written and directed by Craven, the story concerns Fool (Brandon Adams), a 13-year-old kid from the ghetto who, with his two friends, plots to rob his evil landlord's house. Upon entry, the trio gets trapped inside the macabre walls of the moldering abode, where they discover kidnapped children dwelling inside the walls of the place.
The Serpent Under The Rainbow (1988)
While the Elm Street franchise soared to the height of its popularity in 1988-89, Craven fled the country to film an unnerving tale of Voodoo in Haiti. Despite the critical plaudits, The Serpent Under the Rainbow remains one of Craven's most underrated horror titles.
Bill Pullman stars as Dennis Alan, an anthropologist who ventures to Haiti after hearing of a local voodoo elixir that reanimates corpses back to life. Upon arrival, Alan gets sucked into a terrifying subculture of black magic and ancient rituals that shake him to his core.
Music Of The Heart (1999)
By far, Craven's biggest thematic departure of his career belongs to the heartfelt drama Music of the Heart, in which the iconic horror filmmaker directed Meryl Streep in yet another stellar performance.
Produced in between Scream 2 and 3, Craven forewent his comfort zone to push the limits of his filmmaking ability. Music of the Heart follows a dedicated music teacher (Streep) and the ups and downs she navigates while teaching violin to a class of underprivileged Harlem kids.