WASHINGTON — Tobe Hooper, the director behind legendary horror films such as “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and “Poltergeist,” died Saturday in California at 74 from natural causes, his family said.

Austin, Texas-born Hooper’s 1974 classic “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is considered one of America’s greatest, most-influential horror films and a movie with far-reaching cultural impact, despite being banned in multiple countries when it was released. It follows a hapless group of friends who stumble upon a family of cannibal creeps in rural Texas. As one might expect, things go downhill for the traveling teens.

One of the most enduring images from “Massacre” is the visage of the mad, chainsaw-wielding “Leatherface” — played by Gunnar Hansen — as he relentlessly pursues the young interlopers and helps move many of them to their unfortunate fates.

Hooper said that real-life serial killer Ed Gein helped influence the film and certain plot elements. (Gein was also a gruesome source of ideas for films like “Psycho” and “Silence of the Lambs.”)

Hooper returned to the family, so to speak, for 1986’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” as well, which added a more comedic flair to the nightmare scenarios covered in the movie — a tactic Sam Raimi followed when moving from cult classic splatter flicks “The Evil Dead” (1981) to “Evil Dead 2” (1987).

Beyond the iconic “Massacre” series, Hooper also directed 1982’s “Poltergeist,” which was written and produced by Steven Spielberg and starred Craig T. Nelson alongside JoBeth Williams. The film was a great success. It spawned two sequels and a less-than-stellar remake in 2015.

The 2005-2007 TV series “Masters of Horror” saw contributions from Hooper, as well as the recently passed father of modern zombies, George Romero.

Hooper is survived by his son.