Believe it or not... The face ripping scene came from Spielberg. Have you seen the E! special on Poltergeist? The lead actors dismissed the notion that Spielberg was the director. They said that Hooper was there everyday. Of course that doesn't mean much... I'm sure that Spielberg had final say on everything.
Yeah, that's a bit of a shocker. It just seems like such a Tobe Hooper idea. But the film as a whole has a Spielberg feel. (Especially the opening credits. But you never know, that could've been Hooper's idea? LOL) I still count it as a Spielberg film, though. Through and through. Bet you Spielberg DID have final say on everything cuz, y'know...it's Steven Spielberg. ~Matt
And theres the fact Spielberg bankrolled the production. He also wrote the movie. But in the studio it was Tobe that did the directing. Compare the opening shot pan out of the corpse in TCM to the opening pan out shot of the TV screen in Poltergeist. That's one prime example of Hooper at work.
had to go with Jaws but Duel is great also- Jaws was a sequal of sorts to Duel going by what Spielberg said
Personally I like War of the Worlds more than Duel, if you consider that 'horror'. But I don't see Jaws losing to any of Spielberg's flicks.
Spielberg never made a horror film. Intense situations do not define a horror film, otherwise action, adventure-fantasy, science fiction, historical dramas, made-for-TV movies, etc. could never depict extreme violence, disturbing sexual situations, or pulse-pounding moments of excitement without leaning into horror and forcing the studios to advertise it as a different genre than the audience they're trying to court in marketing. (Etc.) Spielberg just doesn't have any interest in horror as an aesthetic, he doesn't care about atmosphere, etc. He really is not a horror director. And, that is totally okay. The guy has a lot of talent. Why should he have to conform?
Just a shout out here. His segment of the NIGHT GALLERY pilot film titled EYES is very good. Joan Crawford starred in it.