VENICE WATCH: Film festival adds horror to lineup in tribute to director Wes Craven

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Paolo Baratta, President of the Biennale and Venice Festival director Alberto Barbera pose for photographers during the jury photo call at 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. The 72nd edition of the festival runs until Sept. 12. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

VENICE, Italy – The Venice Film Festival is adding a dose of horror to its high-toned lineup, in tribute to the late director Wes Craven.

The festival will hold a free midnight screening of bloody 1984 classic “A Nightmare on Elm Street” Saturday to honour Craven, who died Sunday aged 76.

It may seem far from the usual festival fare, but many directors and film fans have a high regard for Craven, who defined teen-slasher horror in the 1980s and then spoofed it a decade later in the “Scream” series.

Festival director Alberto Barbera said Wednesday that Craven was “an auteur who has managed to innovate a genre — horror — which is among the most loved, particularly among the young.”

The 72nd Venice festival runs to Sept. 12.

—By Jill Lawless, http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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