Hot Press was saddened to learn that Wes Craven, the man behind such influential slasher franchises as A Nightmare On Elm Street and Scream, passed away over the weekend.
He died in his LA home on Sunday at the age of 76, after a battle with brain cancer.
Craven reinvented the horror genre in the '80s with his five Nightmare On Elm Street films and gave the world the iconic Freddy Krueger. He then managed to reinvent it all over again the following decade with his Scream series.
He also scored hits with his debut feature The Last House On The Left, which he wrote, directed and edited himself, and the likes of The Hills Have Eyes and 2005 thriller Red Eye, which starred Cillian Murphy.
Tributes have been flooding in since the news broke...

Today the world lost a great man, my friend and mentor, Wes Craven. My heart goes out to his family. x

— Courteney Cox (@CourteneyCox) August 31, 2015

Devastated to hear the news. Wes was a great friend, fine director and good man. Giant loss. Much too soon. http://t.co/3XnIn8UNIF

— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) August 31, 2015

I've always had the deepest respect for @WesCraven and his ability to take his fans on a thrilling ride. Warmest regards to his loved ones.

— Roland Emmerich (@rolandemmerich) August 31, 2015

Shedding tears now. A giant has left us. #wescraven #always #liveon pic.twitter.com/t3ituQLgV1

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) August 31, 2015

RIP Wes Craven @wescraven pic.twitter.com/hBO24wWwOI

— Happy Days Intl. f.c (@happydaysfc) August 31, 2015

The hills have 2 less eyes. #RIPWesCraven

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 31, 2015

RIP #WesCraven a truly GREAT film maker. Much sadness in this house. Thanks for all the shocks, Wes.

— Jonathan Ross (@wossy) August 31, 2015

"Horror films don't create fear, they RELEASE fear". The ever insightful Wes Craven in the 1990 doc Fear in the Dark.

— Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie) August 31, 2015

The Evil Dead flicks had several homages to Master Wes Craven (Freddie's glove in this case). He showed us the way. pic.twitter.com/JqNK0WHOkv

— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) August 31, 2015

He directed me in Scream3 and I directed him in J&SB. Fare thee well horror-Gretzky WES CRAVEN. Talented, good guy. http://t.co/LZB0EGzxfV

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) August 31, 2015

Clive and Wes on the Dr. Ruth show. RIP Wes Craven. http://t.co/nSS12ydijZ

— Clive Barker (@RealCliveBarker) August 31, 2015