credit: www.impawards.com
During the 60’s Tobe Hooper, a Texas native, was a college professor and a documentary cameraman. After standing in line in at a crowded hardware store trying to think of a way to get through the line he looked over and spotted some chainsaws. Not long after he was making a film with a small cast made up of college teachers and students.
1) What Put HIm On The Map?
In 1973 principal photography began on the movie that would make Tobe Hooper a name amongst names in horror: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In 1974 Hooper’s vision of unrelenting claustrophobic violence was unleashed on the movie going public and the world of horror films was never the same again. Even today Texas Chainsaw is one of the most brutal, unrelenting and scary horror films ever made. One might even call it the Citizen Kane of horror films. On top of being an artistic success it was a financial success as well. The film cost just over $80 thousand to make and grossed over $30 million! One could imagine that Tobe was going great places with such a phenomenal film. Sadly, he’s done almost nothing but go down hill ever since.
2) The Crap They’ve Done Since
Hoope’s subsequent films weren’t all bad. His next big success came in 1982 with Poltergeist, which was penned and produced by Stephen Spielberg. However there is a lot of evidence that says this was more a Spielberg film than a Hooper film. His next best film is Lifeforce, a film about a hot naked space vampire chick than suck the souls out of people turning them into zombies. It’s a pretty badass concept and has some great scenes but definitely falls in the so bad it’s good category. From there it goes way down into the dregs. Even his 1986 Chainsaw sequel paled in comparison to the original. His other films are just a sad mess: Eaten Alive (77), a psycho who kills people and feeds them to his crocodiles; The Funhouse (81), teens stalked by a killer in an abandoned carnival; Invaders From Mars (86), a terrible remake; Spontaneous Combustion (90), I don’t even know what to say”¦; The Mangler (95), a laundry folding machine that eat people, the Stephen King short story wasn’t any good and neither is this; Crocodile (00), you can guess what this one’s about; Toolbox Murders (04), lame, lame, lame; Mortuary (05), you really just want to cry at this point. That makes 12 movies in just over 30 years.
3) What Do You Think They Can Do To Be Successful Again?
So where did Hooper go wrong? What happened to him after Chainsaw? Did the bright lights of Hollywood blind him preventing from seeing what he was doing? We may never know but if he came make a movie like Chainsaw then damn it he can do it again! Maybe he’s just been depressed. He needs someone to tell him he’s better than low budget, straight to DVD horror films. What he really needs to do is go back and watch Chainsaw again. Watch it closely and find in there the man he was, forget the man he’s become. He needs to find the inspiration of a young filmmaker and go out there and make another film worthy watching. He’ll probably never make another movie even coming close to Chainsaw, but at least he could try. Please Tobe Hooper, for us, your fans, try! There are rumors that he may direct a new Texas Chainsaw 3. Maybe he can show Hollywood was horro is all about, again.
