NPR

Tobe Hooper, Director Of 'Chain Saw Massacre,' Dies At 74

Hooper's disturbing horror film, which was made on a shoestring budget, had a lasting influence on the genre.
Tobe Hooper arrives at the premiere of New Line's <em>Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Beginning</em> at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 2006 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Tobe Hooper, who directed the influential horror movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, died on Saturday in Los Angeles.

The LA County coroner's office confirmed the death to NPR, but did not provide a cause.

Hooper was a little-known, barely-funded filmmaker when he made the movie that echoed through the horror genre for years to come.

In 2004, magazine the movie's improbable production (and lasting financial woes.) The production crew was astonishingly green — it

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