Before focusing on my own writing, I was part of a now‑defunct arts and entertainment website where our small team interviewed filmmakers, musicians, authors, and other artists. It was an unpaid gig — something I would strongly recommend against, even if you’re trying to “break in” or pad a résumé.
One genuine highlight from that period was a Q&A with director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream). I coordinated the interview through his assistant, who asked that we include questions about the then‑upcoming remake of The Last House on the Left. The questions were developed collaboratively, and I wrote the introduction and assembled the final piece. It ended up being the only interview on the site that ever received a comment.
I’m sharing it here so it doesn’t disappear now that the original site is gone.
The interview:
When you hear the name Wes Craven, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is “a horror film director who made ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and the ‘Scream’ trilogy”. Other than those films, the Ohio native directed other scary films including “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977) and “The People Under the Stairs” (1991).
Q: Where did your passion for horror films come from?
A: Discovered them by accident. Discovered I was good at it. Discovered that they were fun. All by accident.
Q: People usually get inspired to become film directors from other films. What films inspired you to become a director?
A: Jean Cocteau’s ‘Beauty and The Beast,’ Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Virgin Spring,’ and Roman Polanski’s ‘Repulsion.’ Plus many others from the great European filmmakers of the late 60’s like Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut and more.
Q: Have you ever considered acting instead of directing?
A: Yes. I have no talent for it.
Q: Directing horror calls on a great deal of creativity. You need to come up with things that the audience is not expecting and has not experienced before. As more horror movies are created it becomes harder and harder to surprise and frighten the audience. How are you able to continually come up with terror inspiring ideas?
A: I’m a genius.
Q: Horror often leans heavily on a psychopathic entity as a protagonist. Is it difficult to formulate such a character in your mind without crossing your own ethical barriers? Do you ever fear that the terror you create is a reflection of your own subconscious?
A: I think we’re all psychopaths. We’re all a bit mad inside. Most people keep it contained. Psychopaths kill. A few of us make horror films.
Q: Throughout a horror film a great deal of the angst is driven by the careful flow of information. If the audience knows too much too soon they are not surprised and can predict the outcome, if they don’t have enough information there is not enough emotional investment to create terror. Do you have any tricks that you use to ensure that audience is always in the perfect frame of mind?
A: No. There are very few tricks involved in making a horror film. There is a great deal of cleverness, and that’s usually not helped by any sort of formula. You just have to be smarter than your audience, and at the same time, like them. Storytelling, especially in horror films, is always about telling just enough, but not enough that they know what will happen next. Sometimes you just lie to them, but in a fun way. It’s called misdirection.
Q: When watching your own movies do you ever experience the adrenalin rush of terror that the film is designed to invoke?
A: Yes, I think you have to be able to recognize it when you’re making it, that’s how you know a scene is working. I frequently jump at my own scares in the editing room.
Q: There are always obstacles you must overcome while filming a movie. Some of these obstacles are difficult to overcome but not impossible. What is one those obstacles and how do you overcome it?
A: There is never enough time. You overcome it by careful planning, realistic shot lists, rehearsals, working with the best people, which amounts to fewer takes and not sleeping.
If a director gets more than three hours of sleep a night, he or she is loafing.
Q: Of all the projects you have worked on through your career, do you have a particular favorite?
A: No, they’re all my children. I love them all equally, but some more equally than others.
Q: You wrote, directed and edited “The Last House on the Left” back in 1972. What inspired you to remake it?
A: The ownership returned to Sean [Cunningham] and me. It was a combination of a business opportunity, and an artistic adventure to find a talented filmmaker to make it again with his own vision of it. It was a matter of separating the original story from the film and saying go do your version of the story, don’t worry about doing my version.
Q: You’ve mentioned that your film “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was inspired by a true story. Please tell us a little more about that.
A: There was a boy who told his parents someone was hunting him in his dreams. He vowed to never sleep again. He managed to stay awake for four days. The night he finally fell asleep, he died in his sleep. No medical reason for this was ever discovered.
Q: Your 1988 film “The Serpent and the Rainbow”, about an anthropologist’s experiences with voodoo in Haiti, was based on a book by Wade Davis. How do you feel overall about adapting books into movies?
A: The trick is to pick out the most interesting elements out of many interesting elements a novel has. If you try to make a movie version of an entire novel, you’ll fail. If you pick out the one part that fascinated you the most, you have a fighting chance at making a good movie.
Q: “Red Eye”, starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, is classified as a thriller rather than horror. In the future, do you hope to make more thrillers? Why or why not?
A: Yes. Bigger audience. Easier to get the best actors. Less censorship. Better coffee on the set.
Q: Having written and directed so many horror films, do you find it hard to switch gears when dealing with romance or action movies?
A: No. In fact, there are many similarities. The elements of pace and timing are of great importance not only in horror films, but also in thrillers, comedies, and even dramas. The key element of all is good storytelling.
Q: You almost passed on directing the famous horror film “Scream”. What made you decide to pass on it at first and then change your mind later on?
A: It’s true. I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with doing hardcore violence, and the opening of the script made me wonder if I should be doing such depictions once again, so I passed. Some weeks later, a kid came up to me at a comic book convention and asked, “When are you going to do a real kick ass movie again?” The next day I called Bob Weinstein and said, “I’ll do it.”
Q: Last year, there were rumors of a return to the ‘Scream’ franchise. Can you confirm or deny talk of your involvement?
A: I believe the first step has been taken. A script is in the works. I’ll let you know about step two after I read it.
Q: On average, how long is the post-production process for a film?
A: Every film is different. Depends on how many VFX, if a release date has already been set, etc. With a film without those factors, roughly five months.
Q: You have won numerous awards over the years for your work. Do any of these awards mean more to you than others?
A: They’re all taken as a compliment and with gratitude. Perhaps the one that was most exciting was for Meryl Streep’s Oscar nomination for Best Actress for ‘Music of the Heart.’
Q: Do you have any interests that are not related to the film industry? If so, do you ever have time to pursue them?
A: Yes, guitar playing, woodworking, bird watching, travel. Rarely, but when I do, it’s delicious.
Q: What is one mistake aspiring filmmakers seem to make?
A: Making versions of their favorite movies from the past. Any young filmmaker should ask themselves these questions:
Have you seen a film like this before?
If you answered yes, start thinking of something else. If you answered no, go on to the next question.
Would you go out of your way to see it yourself?
If the answer is yes, then you’re on the right track.
Now, go write it. Good luck.
Q: What advice can you give to aspiring filmmakers?
A: Read and travel widely. Avoid drugs and girlfriends or boyfriends that want to be actors. Study the work of other artists in all art forms and of all eras. It’s important to get outside of your own head and your own crowd.
Hope you enjoyed the interview. If I come across any of the other ones I worked on, I’ll be sure to post them.
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