Horror Community Honors Tobe Hooper

Like all of you, we are still recovering from the sad news that iconic director Tobe Hooper died late Saturday night at the age of 74, leaving behind his 1974 masterpiece The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as his ultimate monument, along with a amazing filmography of additional classics, including the original Poltergeist (1982), ‘Salem’s Lot (1979), The Funhouse (1981), and the 1986 Leatherface sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2.

Hooper died in Los Angeles of natural causes, according to the Associate Press.

The horror community at large took to social media yesterday to pay honor Hooper and share his influence on them and the genre we all love so much.

We have gathered some of these tributes from many of Hooper’s friends and contemporaries, including John Carpenter, Stephen King, Rob Zombie, James Wan, William Friedkin, Joe Dante, Don Mancini, Eli Roth, and many more, which you can read below.

‪RIP #TobeHooper, brilliant director of #TheTexasChainsawMassacre – one of the most successful independent films of all time. I met this icon once, years ago at the old Dave’s Laser on Ventura in the Valley. I was able to tell him how important he was to me and indie cinema in general and how much I LOVE TexasChainsawMassacre2 – (a movie that me and @TellEmSteveDave and #VincentPereira still quote at each other to this day). Not only did the man terrify me with #SalemsLot and #Poltergeist in my youth, his DIY moxie to make movies at all inspired me as a 23 year old who wanted to make Clerks. While my first film wasn’t a horror movie (I wouldn’t make my first horror flick until #JerseyGirl), I was terrified nonetheless about spending 27 grand on credit cards when I was dirt poor. But Tobe’s work made the prospect of making a movie with no money when I’d never done something like that before less scary. He proved you didn’t need lots of money or studio backing to make a flick – so to me, Tobe will always be one of the best filmmakers who ever lived. He entertained me long before I knew I wanted to be a filmmaker and he inspired me and kept me going when I was first learning to tell my stories cinematically. Thanks for that, Mister Hooper – and thanks for being so gracious and patient when I rightly gushed at you that day. You changed the world, storyteller, and your name and ideas will always be a part of my DNA. Because sex? Well nobody knows what sex is. But the saw is family! #KevinSmith #TobeHooper #Director #filmmaker #indiefilm #horror ‬

A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) on

Photo by Ludovic Kazeba/REX/Shutterstock (580704b) Tobe Hooper 'MORTUARY' FILM PHOTOCALL, PARIS, FRANCE - 28 MAR 2006
Photo by Ludovic Kazeba/REX/Shutterstock (580704b)
Tobe Hooper
‘MORTUARY’ FILM PHOTOCALL, PARIS, FRANCE – 28 MAR 2006

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Matt Artz

Founded Halloween Daily News in 2012 and the Halloween International Film Festival in 2016. Professional writer/journalist/photographer since 2000.