Quentin Tarantino Had No Problem Calling Out Wes Craven Sparking A Fiery Feud Between The Filmmakers
Highlights
- Quentin Tarantino called out Wes Craven for walking out of a screening of "Reservoir Dogs," suggesting that his own movie was too intense for the director of "The Last House on the Left."
- Tarantino has strong opinions about movies and openly criticized Craven's directing of "Scream," believing it held the film back from becoming a masterpiece.
- It is unclear whether Tarantino's remarks were motivated by personal animosity or simply his blunt expression of opinion, but his comments have raised questions about his relationship with Craven.
Throughout pop culture history, there have been some feuds that likely didn't surprise anyone. For example, the fact that Rob Zombie once called out Britney Spears for being a sellout may not be well known, but it also isn't overly surprising.
On the other hand, fans likely wouldn't expect Quentin Tarantino to have repeatedly called out a legendary director, writer, and producer. Despite that, Tarantino has taken shots at Wes Craven on several occasions as part of what appeared to be a strange one-sided feud.
Did Quentin Tarantino Feel Insulted By Wes Craven?
When Quentin Tarantino sits down for interviews, it never takes long before the man's passion for movies and TV shows comes through. Seemingly blessed with an encyclopedic knowledge of entertainment history, Tarantino often talks about forgotten movies like they are masterpieces.
Similarly, when Tarantino talks about the actors he has worked with, his admiration for their skills quickly becomes obvious. Tarantino even goes out of his way to praise a lot of actors he hasn't worked with. Even though Tarantino has spoken about why he has never worked with Jennifer Lawrence, for example, he has also sung her praises as an actor.
During Wes Craven's lengthy Hollywood career, he made several movies that had a gigantic impact on cinema and pop culture. For example, Craven was the person behind The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and the first four Scream movies.
Before making those films, Craven made his directorial debut when he helmed a movie titled The Last House on the Left. A revenge movie that definitely isn't for everyone, The Last House on the Left features scenes that are so violent and unflinching that they could repulse many people who adore horror movies.
Given that Craven made The Last House on the Left, it certainly seems like he should have had a strong stomach for violence in films. Despite that, Tarantino has said that his first widely released movie was so intense that Craven walked out on it.
In 1992, the movie Reservoir Dogs was released and put Tarantino on the map. While Reservoir Dogs is an intriguing movie that leaves first-time viewers guessing throughout most of its runtime, many people didn't focus on the film's story upon its release.
Instead, a lot of the coverage about Reservoir Dogs focused on a scene in which Michael Madsen's character Mr. Blonde did terrible things to a police officer. Roughly 25 years after Reservoir Dogs was released, Tarantino attended a Tribeca Film Festival event celebrating the movie.
Since The Hollywood Reporter was there to report on what was said at that event, it is known that Tarantino spoke about people walking out of the early Reservoir Dogs screening. Tarantino then said that when he screened the movie at a horror film festival, he assumed he'd finally found an audience that could handle the ear scene.
“I thought, ‘Finally I’ve got an audience that won’t walk out’ and I even joked about it while introducing the film.” Tarantino then revealed that even at the horror film festival, people still couldn't take the ear scene, and he mentioned one person by name who walked out, Wes Craven.
“Five people walk out of that audience, including Wes Craven! The f**king guy who did The Last House on the Left walked out?! My movie was too tough for him.”
Knowing that Tarantino told the world that Craven walked out on Reservoir Dogs, there are two several to look at that. First off, it is certainly possible that Tarantino took pride in his movie being too intense for Craven. Alternatively, Tarantino could have been calling Craven out for some level of hypocrisy and ridiculousness. Perhaps Tarantino simply found the situation funny.
No matter what Tarantino's motivations were, there is one thing that isn't up for debate. Craven walking out on Reservoir Dogs was such a big deal in Tarantino's mind that it stuck with him enough for him to bring it up 25 years later. That says a lot.
Why Did Quentin Tarantino Call Out One Of Wes Craven's Most Famous Movies?
Looking back at Wes Craven's filmography, you have to respect the fact that he tried different things during his career. A perfect example of that is the fact that Craven directed the comedy Vampire in Brooklyn and the Meryl Streep biopic drama Music of the Heart.
While Craven was willing to try different things, the fact remains that he will go down in history for making two movies. First off, Craven wrote and directed 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street, and then he helmed the film that revitalized the horror movie scene during the '90s, 1996's Scream.
The reason why A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream have gone down in history is simple, both are considered to be fantastic. In fact, both films have been included in conversations about the greatest horror movies ever made.
In 2015, Quentin Tarantino was interviewed by Vulture. During the resulting conversation, Tarantino was asked if there are any franchise movies he would be interested in directing. In response, Tarantino revealed that he could have seen himself directing one of Craven's most famous films.
"I could have imagined doing the first Scream. The Weinsteins were trying to get Robert Rodriguez to do it. I don’t even think they thought I would be interested." Based on the fact that Tarantino would have considered helming Scream, clearly he respected the film's story.
Tarantino would then continue to talk about Scream in a way that makes it seem like he thought the movie was pretty close to being a masterpiece. Amazingly enough, however, Tarantino volunteered his opinion that the thing that holds Scream back is Craven's directing.
"I actually didn’t care for Wes Craven’s direction of it. I thought he was the iron chain attached to its ankle that kept it earthbound and stopped it from going to the moon."
It has always been pretty clear that Tarantino has strong opinions, and he is very blunt about them. As such, Tarantino's comments about Craven's work on Scream easily could have simply been him expressing his pure opinion of the film.
On the other hand, after learning that Tarantino has publicly called Craven out twice, it becomes hard to not suspect there could be some personal animosity.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiorp2eqbavedOaqZqmpJ67sHnCmqOlnZRivLbAjLCcrGWTp663sc1mnZ6tlGK%2FprjAraCopqOdtrF5zaiuaA%3D%3D