Director Tobe Hooper the man behind The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist died at the age of 74 in Sherman Oaks, California according to the Los Angeles County Coroner. The details around his death are currently unknown.
Before Hooper shot to fame with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, he was a college professor and documentary cameraman who was born in Austin, Texas. Then in 1974, with Kim Henkel he organized a small cast of college teachers and students to bring to life The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Hooper revolutionized the horror industry with his realistic and deranged vision about a group of friends who encounter cannibals on their way to visit a homestead. He shot the entire movie for less than $300,000.
After his success with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, he went on to work on Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist in 1982 making the movie the eighth-highest grossing film that year. The movie became an instant classic horror film through its extremely haunting depiction of a family plagued by unruly ghosts.
However, before Poltergeist he also adapted Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot into a miniseries for CBS in 1979. The show became a classic with its combination of a nighttime soap opera intrigue and gothic atmosphere of classic horror films. It would eventually be reedited and released theatrically in Europe.
Hooper would then go on to make a sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1986. He would also remake the classic 1953 alien movie, Invaders from Mars.
He continued working throughout the 90s and 2000s. His most recent film, Djinn debuted in 2013. However, it didn’t match the success of his previous works with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Poltergeist.
Tobe Hooper is survived by his two sons. He was truly a master of the horror genre.