Rob Zombie reflects on Texas Chainsaw Massacre & the passing of Tobe Hooper

August 29th 2017, 2:45pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We are all still reeling from the recent passing of not only George A. Romero, but now fellow master of horror Tobe Hooper. To but it simply, it is a strange and scary time to be a horror movie fan.

With that in mind, we'd like to take this article and let you know how much Hooper's passing is affecting even those we cherish (somewhat slightly near) the level of Mr. Hooper.

Recently, Rolling Stone magazine asked THE DEVIL'S REJECTS writer-director Rob Zombie to say a few words of Tobe Hooper's influence. Not only his own work but on cinema in general. Zombie ended up writing a full article on Hooper and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

How's that for a statement, Rolling Stone?

You can read select bits from Rob's sprawling remembrance of Hooper below, and his full statement in the link below. After looking through that, let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram.

Rob Zombie on Tobe Hooper and TCM:

… I still remember that moment in 1974 when Massacre entered my world. I was nine years old and having a friend from school sleep over my house. We were watching television when suddenly it happened: a commercial for the movie that would change my life came onscreen. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – and unfortunately, neither could my friend. He immediately started to cry. He was so freaked out by the images he'd just seen that his Mother had to rush over to retrieve her shellshocked child.

Zombie continues:

So needless to say I ditched whatever school nonsense I was suppose to be doing and headed inside the theater pronto. First, of course, suffering through what at the time seemed like a two-hour guitar solo movie. Then it was time. The opening scroll began. John Larroquette's voice boomed over the sound system telling of what was to come.

The madness unfolding before me on that screen took it to the mountain and back. I was so deep in that world I thought Leatherface was gonna come bursting into the theater. George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead may have started the new wave of real life horror and Wes Craven's Last House on the Left definitely pushed it further. But Chain Saw dragged it places no had ever dreamed of before.

It was a genuine American nightmare caught on film for all the world to see.

Zombie on the film's impact:

In the years since, a lot has been written about how miserable it was to shoot the film and the bad feelings that followed between the parties involved. But who really cares? A soon as Leatherface appears in that open doorway in front of that blood red wall decorated with animal skulls … it was all over. And by the time he slams that metal door shut 17 seconds later, we knew Tobe Hooper had made something that would change the course of film history forever. Before this film, who the hell was even thinking about chainsaws as anything but a power tool for Lumberjacks? Now you can only think of one thing when you hear the word "chainsaw." Pure terror. It altered the culture.

And finally:

To call The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a "slasher film" or "just" a horror movie is an insult at best. It is a film that stands side by side with some of the best films of it's time – one every bit as powerful as Taxi Driver, Jaws, A Clockwork Orange and The Godfather. It is a true classic. Some people say that you’re only as good as your last project. That's complete nonsense: Art has no timeline or expiration date. And for that reason, Tobe Hooper now resides along side the greats of cinema history.

Say what you will about (some) of Rob Zombie's films, he is a stand-up guy and I appreciated him writing this in remembrance of Tobe Hooper. If you feel the same, you can read his full statement HERE.