Remembering Horror Maverick Tobe Hooper: A Retrospective

While the horror community is still reeling over the loss of horror master George A. Romero, 2017 has claimed another pillar in the genre; Tobe Hooper. The native Texan, a former college professor, and documentary cameraman, forever changed the genre in 1974 when he gathered up a group co-workers, students, and friends from the University of Texas to shoot a low budget feature inspired by social unrest and serial killer Ed Gein. Shot on a meager budget of $300,000, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre shocked audiences nationwide and eventually grossed $30 million in the U.S. and Canada. Hooper’s legacy will always be intertwined with this special film and the iconic Leatherface, but his contributions to horror extended much further than this franchise. Tobe Hooper may not have received the mainstream successes of fellow horror masters but his work still influences many current horror directors working today.

Hooper’s immediate follow up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was the low budget Eaten Alive, also known as Death Trap. Written by TCM’s co-writer Kim Henkel, Eaten Alive was loosely based on the story of Joe Ball, a serial killer known as “The Alligator Man” for feeding the bodies of his victims to his alligators. Actress Marilyn Burns returns to be tortured once more, this time as the very outgoing Faye. Robert Englund steals scenes as sleazy brothel customer Buck, who utters the most memorable line in the film, “My names Buck and I’m here to fuck.” Quentin Tarantino borrowed the line for Kill Bill. Essentially a more sleazy, outlandish film than Hooper’s preceding film, Eaten Alive earned an early spot on the infamous Video Nasties list.

In 1979, after many failed attempts to adapt Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot, the rights were turned over to Warner Bros. Television to be turned into a miniseries and producer Richard Kobritz selected Hooper for the job based on his work in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s the first of many examples of just how adaptable Hooper is in terms of style. When his previous works showcased gritty brutality, Salem’s Lot favored haunting atmosphere. Even when he drew inspiration from other classics, notably Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Kurt Barlow’s resemblance of Count Orlock in Nosferatu, Hooper’s chilling portrayal of vampires made a significant impact on the vampire subgenre. Not only did the floating vampires influence classics like Fright Night and The Lost Boys, but it was one of the biggest influences for Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

After the box office success of Friday the 13th, Universal Pictures was looking to achieve similar success in the teen slasher subgenre and so Hooper was tapped to helm underrated slasher The Funhouse in 1981. Once again nailing the atmosphere, Hooper’s partnership with Andrew Laszlo’s colorful cinematography and Rick Baker’s fantastic makeup effects elevated the film above standard slashers. It was after production on The Funhouse that he would experience mainstream success in Poltergeist.

The controversy and debate over whether Steven Spielberg or Tobe Hooper actually directed this beloved classic still lingers today, but Hooper’s imprint on Poltergeist remains relevant regardless. It’s a testament to Hooper’s collaborative nature, too, considering Steven Spielberg wrote, produced, and was hands on in just about every other way. Hooper had a lot of creative input and spent many nights researching textbooks on poltergeist. There’s no denying that Poltergeist has Spielberg’s stamp all over it, but Hooper’s understanding of horror and atmosphere, combined with his collaborative nature, contributed to the film’s success.

Lifeforce

After Poltergeist, Tobe Hooper signed a three-picture deal with Cannon Films; Lifeforce, Invaders from Mars, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The first two in the deal were sci-fi horror films written by Dan O’Bannon (Alien) and gave Hooper creative directorial control. Panned by critics upon release, both were intended loving homages to Hammer films and ‘50s sci-fi films, respectively. The most anticipated of the three films, though, was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Both Cannon and critics expected a straight horror and found themselves extremely disappointed at Hooper’s satirical approach. Hooper’s humor could be found in most of his films, wedged between moments of horror and sometimes even during them, but he went full throttle into extreme black comedy for the sequel. It was a bold choice that helped launch Bill Moseley’s career and reinforced Hooper’s boldness in taking his revered work in unexpected directions.

In the ‘90s, Hooper’s work largely focused on bringing horror to the small screen. He directed episodes of Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories, Tales from the Crypt, Dark Skies, and Perversions of Science. He also contributed a segment to John Carpenter’s Body Bags, an anthology originally intended to become a Showtime series. The decade also marked a return for Hooper to Stephen King adaptations with The Mangler, based on a short of the same name on King’s Night Shift. While it may not be great by critical standards, Hooper understood the humor to be found in the concept of a killer laundry press and dialed up the gore and fun.

Tookbox Murders

Hooper’s directorial work became sparse in the new century, with lows like Djinn and Mortuary. Yet his work on the Masters of Horror TV series and his reboot of The Toolbox Murders proved he still had much left to say in the genre. Texas Chainsaw 3D may be the most maligned of the series, but it also gave Hooper his first credit as executive producer. He also is credited as executive producer for Leatherface, making its upcoming release bittersweet.

Most surprising of all, was when Hooper tried his hand at novel-writing in 2011’s Midnight Movie. He wrote himself in as the main character invited to speak at a special screening of a movie he directed as a teen, and it just so happens that the movie turns its viewers into homicidal maniacs. It’s the type of novel fitting of its name and complete with Hooper’s trademark humor.

Tobe Hooper has had a fascinating career that’s flown more under the radar than fellow horror masters like John Carpenter or Wes Craven. His film credits, full of successes and failures, indicated that he was never afraid of marching to the beat of his own drum. He wasn’t afraid of defying expectations, and he definitely wasn’t afraid of delivering some of the most uncomfortable scenes on screen. His ability to deconstruct current social and political events with biting humor and his fearlessness toward risk-taking makes him a true filmmaking maverick and horror that will be greatly missed.