“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” director Tobe Hooper dead at 74

Getty Images/Michael Buckner(LOS ANGELES) — Director Tobe Hooper, who revolutionized horror movies with his low-budget 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, died on Saturday at 74, Variety reports.  According to the magazine, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said it was a natural death.

Shot on a budget of less than $300,000, Texas Chainsaw Massacre popularized a low-fi aesthetic shaped the look of horror movies for a generation.

In 1982, Hooper directed another horror classic — Poltergeist — this time working in the big time, with Steven Spielberg as writer and producer.

Hooper also was responsible for a 1979 TV adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Salem’s Lot.

Hooper’s peers took to social media over the weekend to remember the influential director.

Director John Carpenter tweeted: “Tobe Hooper directed THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, a seminal work in horror cinema. He was a kind, decent man and my friend. A sad day.”

Exorcist director William Friedkin tweeted : “Tobe Hooper, a kind, warm-hearted man Who made the most terrifying film ever. A good friend I will never forget”

Stephen King tweeted: “Sorry to hear Tobe Hooper passed. He did a terrific job directing the ‘SALEM’S LOT miniseries, back in the day. He will be missed.”

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