Wes Craven has directed a slew of horror films including Nightmare on Elm Street, all three Scream films, and Last House on the Left. It is hard to believe, but Craven didn’t see a single movie until college. He was raised in a very strict Baptist family who forbade it. In college, Craven received a degree in psychology and Education from Wheaton College in Illinois and his Masters in Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University.
He taught humanities for a few years and then realized he was bored stiff. He got a job as a taxi driver and then as a sound editor in a New York film post-production shop. Then, he and a friend co-directed an X-rated film and used its proceeds to fund their first horror film, Last House on the Left.
The film was so grotesque and shocking that it was banned from the UK, New Zealand, and West Germany. It was a “revenge for rape” plot. From there, he went on to direct more horror films, for which he is well known.