A cursory glance over Wes Craven's filmography might indicate that his more family-audience-orientated Music of the Heart (1999) stands out as an unusual diversion in a plethora of acclaimed horror motion pictures. In addition, it is the only one of his films to be nominated for an Academy Award. Other elements, for instance its lack of gothic trappings, have resulted in the film being singled out as a notable exception from Craven's more familiar horror templates by academic writers on the form. Nonetheless, the purpose of this chapter is to argue that Music of the Heart—which is based on a true story and a later documentary—actually has thematic similarity to several other Craven projects, including even his blockbuster Scream (1996), which preceded its production and (for a short while) provided the filmmaker with an A-list brand. This argument will also use the text as a prism through which to note that the director, although not innocent of presenting a “white savior” narrative, at least indicated an occasional dedication to racial diversity throughout his catalogue of work—an aspect that was frequently lacking in the resume of some of Craven's contemporaries. Finally, this chapter concludes that Music of the Heart should be reconsidered within wider concerns that have surfaced in the director's most notable achievements, from as far back as his debut with The Last House on the Left (1972). Writing in 1985, for instance, Christopher Sharett, treating the director as an auteur figure, acknowledges “The equation of horror with pervasive social crisis—the chief characteristic of Craven's films.” It is also this social crisis that is addressed and discussed in Music of the Heart.

Perhaps the best way to begin this chapter is to clarify where Craven's reputation stood in 1999. While the success of Scream gained him his biggest audience to date, his previous work was still the subject of considerable controversy. Writing about the filmmaker in 1992, for instance, Robert Shaye—the Chairman of New Line Cinema, which had produced A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)—would state that Craven was a “problematic” director, adding “I had seen The Last House on the Left and was frankly appalled. It was beyond horrific. It was brutal.”