Directors, The: The Films of Wes Craven (1999)
*** (out of 4)
This entry in the series takes a look at the career of Wes Craven. Among those interviewed are Craven himself, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Meryl Streep, Kristy Swanson, Bill Pullman and of course Robert Englund. The film starts off with a straight interview with Craven where he discusses his early childhood, what he went to school for and then how he got interested in movies. From this point on we go through the majority of his films where he gives his thoughts on them and sometimes the actors will speak. As is the case with most documentaries likes this, it features mainly the more popular titles like A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and SCREAM. These two along with Craven's pet project MUSIC OF THE HEART get the majority of the spotlight. The director really gets to go into detail on the making of these films but you've heard these stories countless times already. We briefly get to hear about the production issues on SWAMP THING, how he was up for SUPERMAN IV only to have Christopher Reeve refuse to work with him and then we hear about his personal troubles on DEADLY FRIEND. All in all this is a pleasant film that gives one a good idea of Craven's career but if you already know about the man and his films then it's doubtful you're going to learn anything new. There is one funny moment where Campbell talks about why they'll never be a SCREAM 4 yet we all know how that turned out. There's also an error when the narrator names that there were five sequels to A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.
