Iconic Horror Director Wes Craven Dies Aged 76

Film director Wes Craven, has died of brain cancer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 76.

Craven who directed the original A Nightmare on Elm Street and all four of the Scream films..

Freddy Krueger, played by actor Robert Englund in eight films and on television between 1984 and 2003, was recognisable by his burned face, red-and-green striped sweater, dirty brown fedora and razor claw.

Craven directed Scream in 1996 from a script by Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson. The postmodern film became a totem of self-referential slasher fare in which the characters discuss the "rules" of surviving a horror film - all the while breaking them as they are hacked to bits by a killer wearing a ghost-face mask.

Craven's final film as director was Scream 4 in 2011.

NZ Herald / Washington Post