Horror movies are now legit, says Wes Craven

The horror genre has now become more legitimately recognised within the film industry and is seen as fun and adventurous, director Wes Craven has claimed.

Although his recent contributions include Red Eye, Cursed and The Scream trilogy, Craven began his career when horror movies may not have been considered such entertaining gore-fests enjoyed by many film fans today.

"It's all changed so much," he told the Guardian. "These days, people say [adopts singsong, church-lady voice], 'Oh you make those films, that's interesting'."

His original cut of 1977's The Hills Have Eyes is believed to be no longer in existence, the Internet Movie Database claims, as it was considered too violent and shocking for audiences to see.

In addition, his debut film The Last House on the Left was banned for a number of years in the UK, due to its gore and theme of sadistic murder.

However, Craven brought an ironic twist to his films in the 1990s, using the characters in Scream to comically reference horror movie traditions and use this as a basis of thrills and jump-out-of-the-seat moments.

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