Wes Craven is arguably the master of suspense as he defined and shaped the horror genre during three different decades. In the ’70s he brought us the unbearably realistic horror of The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes and in the ’80s he gave us the stuff of nightmares with A Nightmare On Elm Street. By the ’90s he was making us laugh and shriek in horror when he brought Ghostface into our lives to ask us about our favorite scary movies, in Scream.
Perhaps his two most iconic and terrifying killers come from those latter two efforts. A Nightmare on Elm Street introduces us to the instantly terrifying Freddy Krueger, a man hunting down suburban teens as they sleep in what should be the safety of their dreams. There is probably nothing more terrifying than a man that, when he kills you in your sleep, you die for real. Not even Wes Craven could contain the monster that was Freddy Krueger as he exploded across numerous sequels to begin a franchise that has continued to be loved by horror fans.
In the’90s, Wes Craven gave us a very different, albeit more realistic killer, that toyed with his victims through mind games of the horror genre. The 1996 meta-horror movie Scream turns genre tropes on their heads with intelligence and respect. This is a film that redefined the genre and reignited interest from studios in the horror genre after it hit a considerable slump during the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Both movies changed the horror landscape forever in their own unique way, but which of these brilliant creations deserves the slasher crown? There’s only one way to find out: FACE OFF! Check out previous episodes below: