[4] Born in Austin, Texas, Hooper's feature film debut was the independent Eggshells (1969), which he co-wrote with Kim Henkel.

"[5] 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 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.

He was present at the college on August 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman opened fire on random people from the University's clock tower, fatally shooting a police officer that was close by Hooper.

Along with Kim Henkel, they co-wrote a screenplay that had elements based on the murders of Ed Gein and Elmer Wayne Henley while forming a company named Vortex, Inc.

"[12] It was also a huge commercial success, making $30 million in the United States and Canada, while being one of the highest grossing independent films of the 1970s.

Hooper's next film was Eaten Alive (1976), co-written by Henkel and producers Alvin L. Fast and Mardi Rustam.

Hooper's later works included Spontaneous Combustion (1990); the television movie I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990); and Night Terrors (1993).

[18] In 2010, writer and actor Mark Gatiss interviewed Hooper for the third episode of his BBC documentary series A History of Horror.

[24][2] Filmmakers who have been influenced by Hooper include Hideo Nakata,[25] Wes Craven,[26] Rob Zombie,[27] Alexandre Aja,[28] Jack Thomas Smith,[29] Kiyoshi Kurosawa[30] and Nicolas Winding Refn.

[31] Ridley Scott said that his work on Alien was influenced more by Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre than any other genre film.