Tobe Hooper

Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of all time.

Born in Austin, Texas, Hooper's feature film debut was the independent ''Eggshells'' (1969), which he co-wrote with Kim Henkel. The two reunited to co-write ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974), which Hooper also directed. The film went on to become a classic of the genre, and was described in 2010 by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the most influential films ever made." Hooper subsequently directed the horror film ''Eaten Alive'' (1976), followed by the 1979 miniseries ''Salem's Lot'', an adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. Following this, Hooper signed on to direct ''The Funhouse'' (1981), a major studio slasher film distributed by Universal Pictures. The following year, he directed the supernatural horror ''Poltergeist'', produced by Steven Spielberg.

In the mid-1980s, Hooper directed two science fiction horror films: ''Lifeforce'' (1985) and ''Invaders from Mars'' (1986), followed by ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (1986), a big-budget sequel to his original film. The 1990s saw Hooper directing various horror and sci-fi projects, including ''Spontaneous Combustion'' (1990), which he also co-wrote; the television anthology film ''Body Bags'' (1993); and ''The Mangler'' (1995), another adaptation of a Stephen King story.

Hooper directed several projects throughout the 2000s, including the monster film ''Crocodile'' (2000), an episode of the sci-fi miniseries ''Taken'' (2002), and two episodes of ''Masters of Horror'' (2005–2006). Provided by Wikipedia