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Gay Scream Screenwriter Kevin Williamson Remembers Wes Craven

Gay Scream Screenwriter Kevin Williamson Remembers Wes Craven

Kevin Williamson

'He gave me a master class in building tension,' Williams writes in a beautiful tribute to the late director of horror classics.

With the death of Wes Craven, man behind some of the industries greatest horror films, last week at the age of 76 from brain cancer, many were caught off-guard. Since his career spanned decades -- beginning with 1972 The Last Houseon the Left, and spanning such classics as Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Scream series (which has been adapted to a TV show)-- it seemed as if he'd always be with us.

The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news on Sunday, has a followed up with a series of tributes from some of those he impacted, including actress Neve Campbell, Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson, co-founder of New Line Cinema Bob Shaye, and the head of Dimension Films, Bob Weinstein.

Williamson, who is openly gay, recounts how even as a novice he was welcomed onto the set of Scream, where the director he so admired treated him to a master class. "Scream changed my life forever," he explains. "Knowing Wes Craven changed my life forever. I am grateful. I am blessed. And I know the impact of his work will be with us forever. As the Master of Horror, he has made his mark in cinema."

Fans of Scream will also be interested about his remembrances of the first day of shooting:

"It was raining and freezing," Williamson recalls. We were huddled in a video village outside a remote house in Northern California while Drew Barrymore was answering a phone inside.... He [Craven] pulled me aside and explained: "First ring. Everything is in its proper place. But with the second ring it's time to give the audience their first moment of dread -- with a slight shift in perspective. They shouldn't notice it. It needs to be subconscious at this point." So, here is the director of the movie, in the middle of his stressful, busy first day giving this novice kid from Goose Creek a master class in building tension."

Read the full story here.

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