Native Texan Tobe Hooper was born in Austin on January 25,1943. Little Tobe was frequently taken by his father to local movie theaters ("a movie every day," according to Hooper) and soon developed a love for celluloiud.
As a child, Toby performed magic tricks for audiences who paid to see his act before finally turning his attention towards horror in his teens and making a series of 8mm films starring his high school buddies.
Hooper enrolled at Austin's University of Texas in 1962 and almost immediately gravitated towards the Department of Radio-Television-Film. He then gained experience directing industrial films, documentaries (folk artists Peter, Paul and Mary were one) and various commercials.
Hooper's first feature was 1970's neverseen Eggshells, a vehicle starring local UT residents and ostensibly a tale of Vietnam vets coming home. When Eggshells failed to garner Hooper the notice he sought, the young director turned his attention to a film which would not only secure his own future but have a monumental cultural impact on his contemporaries, 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Chainsaw (initially titled Head Cheese) was based loosely on a variety of true crime sources not limited simply to the Ed Gein/Wisconsin horrors. Houston serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley and an offbeat doctor from Hooper's own past figured prominently in the final Chainsaw story concept.
The Terror Trap can't undervalue the importance of Chainsaw. Hooper's cobbled together masterpiece was shot on a low shoestring budget of $60,000, required hellish days of sweat and toil in Round Rock, TX, almost never saw the light of day...and was a phenomenal success upon release.
Indeed, while Chainsaw may be a savagely modern retelling of the classic Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, its visual (& symbolic) depictions of backwoods decadence, flesh rotting decay and bone white depravity have simply never been matched since.
Many wondered what Hooper would follow Chainsaw up with and in 1976, he released Eaten Alive. Trying to capture some of the feel of the earlier film, this one was about a backwoods motel owner with a penchant for feeding guests to his pet alligator.
It was not a success and received a limited release. Not familiar with it?
Perhaps you've heard of it under one of its other titles: Horror Hotel, Death Trap, or Starlight Slaughter. Definitely underrated and worth a look, if only for its black humor and very eclectic cast which includes Robert Englund, Mel Ferrer, Marilyn Burns (from Chainsaw) and Carolyn Jones (Morticia from The Addams Family TV show).
Next up was the the TV mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, a huge ratings success. This was followed by the troubled production of The Funhouse, in 1981. The end product was very good and it made money, but there were budget
problems during the filming, which included moving an entire carnival from Akron, Ohio,
to a studio in Florida.
In 1982, Hooper made Poltergeist, his most successful film ever. Steven Spielberg was the Executive Producer and it was suggested that he actually directed much of the film. Watching this beloved ghost film, one can't help but think it certainly has the look and feel of a Spielberg film
and that could only hurt Hooper. Both men have denied the accusation.
In recent years, Hooper's films have received less attention and he's turned to television for most of his work. Here's hoping he finds a project well-suited to his immense talent.
