Hailed as one of the founding fathers of horror, Tobe Hooper has created many of the most iconic and terrifying horror movies of all time. Frightening audiences since 1974, with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hooper quickly cemented himself as a horror legend. The horror community was jolted at the passing of the iconic director on August 26, 2017, at the age of 74.Hooper's legacy of iconic and terrifying movies paved the way for how audiences see horror movies today. Many directors admire the legendary filmmaker for inspiring them to create their most iconic works, including Hideo Nakata, Wes Craven, Rob Zombie, Alexandre Aja, Jack Thomas Smith, and Nicholas Winding. Ridley Scott has stated that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) was the biggest influence on his work on Alien, more than any other film. Fans, critics, and audiences praise this legendary director as having the most influential horror movies in the genre. But what movies are his most iconic and best works?
5 Salem's Lot (1979)
An adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name, Salem's Lot follows a novelist who returns to his childhood town in New England. Upon his return, he soon discovers that the town has been invaded by vampires; with the help of a young horror fan, the pair must save the town from the undead.
Salem's Lot was originally released as a TV miniseries; however, much like Stephen King's later adaptation of IT (1990), fans now regard Salem's Lot as more of a 3-hour movie. While being a cult classic among Hooper fans and Stephen King fans, Salem's Lot remains divisive within the horror community, with many calling out the poor acting and many fans claiming that the film isn't scary. Salem's Lot also has a reboot coming this fall.
4 The Funhouse (1981)
Praised as one of Tobe Hooper's most underrated movies, The Funhouse (1981) has many avid horror fans claiming it to be a masterpiece. The Funhouse (1981) sees four teenagers who spend a night at a creepy local amusement park. However, what they don't know, is that someone wearing a Frankenstein mask is waiting to murder them.
Much like some of Hooper's other movies, The Funhouse (1981) is yet again divisive in the horror community, with many praising the movie's twist, pacing, and atmosphere; and plenty of other fans calling this movie slow and boring.
3 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Releasing 12 years after its predecessor, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), it's safe to say that fans were excited to see their favorite chainsaw-wielding antagonist back on the big screen. However, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) was released with a fair bit of criticism, with many critics and fans calling the sequel too zany and over the top, compared to a much darker and grounded original.
The plot is fairly similar to the original, with Leatherface and the rest of his twisted clan returning to their cannibalistic and maniacal ways. Although this time, Leatherface and company decide to attack a radio station with their sights on a local disc jockey.
2 Poltergeist (1982)
Regarded as one of the scariest haunted house movies of all time, Poltergeist (1982) is praised as one of Hooper's most iconic directorial outings. Terrifying a majority of audiences, setting the horror in a suburban house makes the horror feel incredibly realistic and much scarier.
Many people regard this as a Steven Spielberg film due to his involvement, and most audiences don't realize that this is a Tobe Hooper movie. It is easy to think that this is a Spielberg movie not only due to his name being attached, but with this film feeling a lot more family-friendly as opposed to Hooper's usual horror format. Nonetheless, Hooper still manages to create a frightening motion picture, complete with suspense, terrifying imagery, and haunting music; even without all the violence and gore we see in Hooper's most iconic horror movies.
1 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
​​​This low budget horror movie is considered one of the most iconic movies of all time. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) earned Tobe Hooper the respect of being one of the greatest horror directors of the generation. The terrifying chainsaw-wielding Leatherface quickly became one of the most iconic and frightening characters in the genre, and he led to the creation of many iconic slasher antagonists, such as Micheal Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger.
This movie is so incredibly iconic, that it has garnered many a remake, not only in the franchise but with many other horror movies and franchises praising the film, like homages in the recent horror movie X directed by Ti West. Many think X is the best The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake of 2022, including this year's Netflix sequel. So, while not being a direct sequel to the hit franchise, there are plenty of similarities and homages to claim that Ti West's X is the best The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remake.