Throughout the 1970s, the horror film developed into a lucrative genre of film. It began in 1973 with the terrifying "The Exorcist", directed by William Friedkin and starring the young Linda Blair. The film saw massive success, and the first of several sequels was released in 1977. 1976 brought the equally creepy suspense thriller, "Marathon Man", about a man who becomes the target of a former Nazi dentist's torment after his brother dies. The same year, the Devil himself made an appearance in "The Omen", about the spawn of Satan. 1978's "Halloween" was a precursor to the "slasher" films of the 1980s and 1990s with its psychopathic Michael Myers. Cult horror films were also popular in the 1970s, such as Wes Craven's early gore films "Last House on the Left" and "The Hills Have Eyes", as well as Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre".