Tobe Hooper, best known for having directed the 1974 motion picture The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (widely considered the greatest horror film ever made), has passed away Saturday in Sherman Oaks, California at age 74 according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. The cause of death is currently unknown.
His film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre became an instant classic for the horror genre; and grew to become one of the most successful independent films of the 1970s.
Hooper followed it up in 1986 with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, which took a more comedic route. Even still the sequel is now considered a cult classic and a prime example of mixing humor with horror.
Tobe Hooper is also credited with directing the classic Steven Spielberg-produced Poltergeist from 1982. He also directed ‘Salem’s Lot; a TV miniseries based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.
His work also included the films Lifeforce, Invaders From Mars, and the pilot episode for the series Freddy’s Nightmares which functioned as a prequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street. He continued to direct television episodes and feature films until Djinn in 2013, his last movie.
Without Tobe Hooper’s work on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the horror genre and cinema itself would be a very different place today. And because of how much of an impact he made, his filmography will continue to be remembered by fans and influence filmmakers for decades to come. In fact, a prequel to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre entitled Leatherface was recently finished and premiered at Fright Fest the day before Hooper’s death.
And so although Hooper may no longer be with us, his work will continue to live on.
Source: Variety