Tobe Hooper - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Hollywood

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Hollywood

In 1974, he organized a small cast composed of college teachers and students, and with Kim Henkel, on a budget of $60,000 (which eventually rose to $70,000, though some reports say up to $120,000) made The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Hooper claims to have come up with the idea for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre while standing in the hardware section of a crowded store. While thinking of a way to get through the crowd, he spotted chainsaws for sale. The highly successful film changed the horror film industry and landed Hooper in Hollywood. Media reports of audiences throwing up and storming out of theaters showing the film swept the nation. Hooper wanted an MPAA PG rating for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as there was no PG-13 at the time. Despite having no sex or sexual situations, no drug use, no hard profanity, and a low level of graphic violence, the film received an R rating. The MPAA cited the film's intense tone as reason enough to issue the R rating.

Hooper then received a call from Marty Rustam to direct his first Hollywood film, Eaten Alive (1977). Hooper and Henkel re-wrote most of Rustam and Alvin Fast's script to fit their own desires. Eaten Alive starred Mel Ferrer, Carolyn Jones, William Finley, and Marilyn Burns, who played the lead role in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Some critics noted that Hooper tried to recreate Chainsaw, but did not succeed in terms of intensity. The main reason for this was that Hooper felt the producers were compromising his vision by exerting control over the film. As a result of this, Hooper left the set with three weeks of principal photography remaining. After Hooper's departure, Carolyn Jones, and the editor, Michael Brown, reportedly finished directing the final weeks of the film.

Richard Kobritz, producer of the suspenseful and acclaimed John Carpenter telefilm, Someone's Watching Me! (1978), handpicked Hooper to direct an adaptation of Stephen King's vampire novel 'Salem's Lot. The novel had been a bestseller and had been in development for some time, with Hooper briefly attached under producer William Friedkin's supervision in 1977. Salem's Lot (1979) became Hooper's most polished and mainstream film to date. The telefilm was well received by critics and fans alike, and is generally thought of as a genre classic.

In 1981, Hooper directed the film, The Funhouse. The story involved four teenage friends who decide to spend the night in the funhouse of a sleazy traveling carnival. The film opened to modest box office receipts and received mainly positive reviews. Hooper had a shooting schedule similar in length to Salem's Lot, but nowhere near the same budget. One of the most praised aspects of the film was its visually stylish cinematography.