Tobe Hooper is back with “Djinn,” and while he is a talented director, he’s also somewhat erratic in terms of the quality of his output.

There’s a lot of debate over whether he directed “Poltergeist,” which looks like a typical Steven Spielberg film (other than the subject matter), though that could be due to the people that worked on the film, such as the cinematographer, for example.

And while I don’t entirely believe that that’s the case, it is possible.  An example of which can be seen in Anthony Ferranti’s “Boo.”  “Boo” isn’t a very good film, though the first half hour–give or take–looks like a John Carpenter film.

That’s because Dean Cundey, the cinematographer on five of Carpenter’s movies (“Escape From New York,” “Halloween”, “The Thing,” “The Fog” and “Big Trouble in Little China”) also worked on “Boo,” which is where the similarities begin, and end.

So, in reference to Hooper, for every “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “Lifeforce” he directs, there’s also a  “Mortuary,” “Spontaneous Combustion,” “I’m Dangerous Tonight,” or “Salem’s Lot (which I am reluctant to include on this list because it has some genuinely creepy moments.  That being said, moments don’t make a movie, and Mikael Salomon’s version of Stephen King’s novella “Jerusalem’s Lot” story is significantly better in virtually every way).

When all is said and done, I am glad to see Hooper’s return to theaters, though his aforementioned lack of consistency is disconcerting because when he’s good, he’s really, really good.

Though more often than not he’s just all over the map.