Following a career that began directing x-rated films, Wes Craven decided to make the move into bigger features while combing the deepest, darkest parts of his psyche. He wrote and directed “The Last House on the Left” and “The Hills Have Eyes” — a pair of gruesome horror films that terrified audiences but also managed to essentially ostracize Craven because of the extreme content in his movies. 

Realizing that horror was going to be the only genre that would have him, Craven was inspired by a story he read in the LA Times about a group of Cambodians, who had suffered through disturbing nightmares with many mysteriously dying in their sleep. That idea sparked a creative fire inside Craven as he transformed that story into a script where people were being killed by their dreams.. 

He named his villain after a schoolyard bully who had beaten him up as a child and after finding a producer in Robert Shaye and his upstart studio New Line Cinema, Craven had his next film ready to go. The story centered around a group of teenagers being stalked and tormented by a scarred up dream demon seeking vengeance against the children of the parents who killed him…

To celebrate the 100th episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we are launching our special series on the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series starting with the 1984 classic from director Wes Craven....

Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

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