10 Greatest Directorial Debut Horror Movies

Creating a horror movie so iconic and influential that still, almost fifty years later, it is being talked about and earning sequels, is an impressive feat on its own, but for this movie to be your directorial debut is nothing short of genius. This is exactly what Tobe Hooper did, when he directed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre back in 1974.

The young director originally thought up the idea for the film when working as a documentary cameraman in Texas, and was inspired by the scandals and atrocities at the time such as the Vietnam War, Watergate and the oil crisis. Hooper was convinced that man was the true horror which led to the movie's iconic villain 'Leatherface', being a simple man in a mask. The film's nightmarish look at a disturbing family of cannibals terrified audiences and the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface became synonymous with the genre.

Following the success of the movie, Hooper went on to work with Spielberg to direct Poltergeist and also directed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 over ten years after the original was released. The highlight of Hooper's career however, was always his breakthrough movie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Creating one of the still most recognisable horror icons in his first ever feature film was an incredible achievement.