George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was a game-changer, kids. Released in 1968, it changed the face of horror movies forever. It was low-budget, bleak, and violent- NOTLD told audiences that "safe" horror movies of the past were forever gone. Horror was now dangerous, dark, and gritty. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is a perfect time capsule of the tumultuous 60's as America was smack dab in the middle of the Vietnam War, racial tensions, the counterculture, and so forth.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, with its low-budget and grainy filmstock, almost seemed like a documentary to audiences of 1968, and completely shocked the world with its graphic depictions of corpses rising from the dead to devour the living. Audiences had never seen anything like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD before, and it quickly and rightly so became a cult classic and a Halloween staple. This weird, low-budget fright flick would pave the way for another nightmare that would become just as infamous in its own right. That film was called THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE...
Released in 1974, Tobe Hooper's masterpiece of horror, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, hit theaters. I can absolutely say that this is hands down the scariest movie I have ever seen in my life. It's just so twisted and disturbing- like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, it seemed as if we were watching a documentary or a snuff film. Both movies had completely unknown actors, both shot on cheap film, and both told simple yet absolutely terrifying stories. Based on the story of Ed Gein, TTCM is unrelenting and can still reduce a jaded viewer to cold sweats today. It's that powerful of a film. You believe every single frame of this movie, and that's a testament to director Tobe Hooper who absolutely makes the most of his camera and actors. The late Marilyn Burns gives a bravura performance, by the way- she's fantastic.
The brilliance of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is that there's actually very little blood and gore to be found in the film- it's all mood, tension, and camerawork. Gunnar Hansen is absolutely the stuff of nightmares here, as one of horror's biggest icons was introduced to audiences in the form of Leatherface- yes, before Michael Myers, before Jason Voorhees, before Freddy Krueger- Leatherface was haunting our nightmares. Even today it's a hard film to sit through. That's the power of Tobe Hooper.
Most directors might hit a home run once in their careers and it's a rare occasion to live up to or surpass that home run- but George A. Romero went and did that exact same thing ten years after his ground-breaking masterpiece NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD terrified and shocked the world. 1978's DAWN OF THE DEAD continued the story of NOTLD as it told the story of how the undead have taken over the country with only a handful of survivors left in a shopping mall, of all places.
Romero ups the ante here though, as the film's graphic violence is now presented in full color, and with the help of horror effects maestro Tom Savini, present some truly nightmarish scenes of gore. DAWN OF THE DEAD went through the fucking roof when it was released, and was immediately branded a masterpiece of horror. Just like the original, we are treated to wry social commentary, on top of some outlandish gore effects.
Both NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD are immensely important horror films that forever cemented the name of George A. Romero in the annals of horror history.
As if introducing the world to THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE wasn't enough, Tobe Hooper went on to deliver two more iconic frightfests. In 1979, after the immensely successful adaptation of the Stephen King novel CARRIE, Hooper brought SALEM'S LOT to the small screen as a television mini-series, which would go on to frighten anyone who caught it both on tv and video.
SALEM'S LOT offers the scariest vampires ever put on film, period, and I'd easily put this made-for-tv film not only in the top ten best Stephen King adaptions of all time, but also one of the best horror films of the 1970's, period. Reggie Nalder's lead vampire Barlow is the stuff of nightmares, and who could ever forget the little vampire boy floating outside the window?
In 1982 director Tobe Hooper teamed up with Steven Spielberg to deliver one of the most famous haunted house movies of all time with POLTERGEIST. Even though the film was rated PG and has Spielberg's touch all over it, the brilliance of Tobe Hooper shines through, and POLTERGEIST easily went on to become a bona-fide horror classic.
Hooper and Spielberg crafted some truly iconic scenes here- that damn clown and the infamous line "They're here..." instantly come to mind. POLTERGEIST is one of the most beloved horror films from the 1980's, and it's easy to see why. Tobe Hooper did it right, kids.
These two giants of the horror genre will certainly be missed, but their contributions speak for themselves. A director is lucky to deliver a classic horror film once in his or hers career, but these guys made it look effortless and did it a few times over. So RIP George A. Romero and Tobe Hooper- you may not have been immortal yourselves, but the nightmares you gave us will live on forever.
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