The Toolbox Murders

This was a film that my girlfriend and I rented because it said on the box that it had been "banned for 14 years", or somesuch sensationalist tag. We expected, rather naively, a powerful, shocking attack on society a la Texas Chain Saw Massacre. What we had was some bloke in an unfrightening woolly hat going around and, yep, you guessed it, killing people with a variety of tools. Of these, the initial murder with a drill is the most unpleasant. As the film goes on, however, it clutches at straws, ultimately having to resort to that oh-so-scary object of carpentry, the chisel.

Unfortunately, entirely pointless deaths only account for about half the film. Where it really goes wrong is when it begins to justify these with some bizarre "taking revenge on the evils of society" explanation delivered by the one character we were really certain WASN'T the killer, by virtue of his being such an obvious candidate.

But for all its faults (and there are many), The Toolbox Murders remains compulsively watchable. This is because its hack dialogue and direction are so unbelievably bad that the viewer is left wondering just what god-awful impersonation of dialogue or technique is going to crop up next. Whole chunks of background information go effectively unexplained, phrases are repeated by characters unnecessarily, and one scene goes on so damn long you can't help thinking it might be a deliberate Chain Saw Massacre-style experiment on the viewer's nerves. But no, it just goes on too long.

Two-out-of-ten stuff, then - but one way or another, you won't hit the stop button before the end.

I never thought an actor from a campy Saturday morning kids show (Land of the Lost) could find a project even worse, but here we are! I saw this movie at the drive-in back in 1978. Bad acting? Yes! Bad script? Yes Bad lighting and sound? Yes. Horror? A little bit thanks to an item we all have in our homes, a toolbox. Cheap, expliotive trash like this can be enjoyed on a certain level if you check your brain at the door. I think everyone involved in this movie had a late payment on their new car pending or were dire need of some quick cash. Wesley Eure mutters the funniest line in the whole movie! After examining blood stains around an apartment in a rather inquisitive manner he finds a vibrator and picks it up and says "disgusting"! Blood and brains on the wall is okay but I guess a sex toy was just too much for his delicate psyche. Speaking of which the scene in which the victim uses her toy in the bathtub was quite erotic for a 1970's film. Cute, perky Pamelyn Ferdin was attempting to break into adult roles after years of playing kids roles but she should have held out for a better part or at least a more memorable one. Her character gets kidnapped and spends most of the movie gagged, I guess she did get an early copy of the script! After viewing this movie again the 90's I wanted to go to my toolbox and beat myself over the head with my rubber mallet.

The Toolbox Murders is one of those early pre date slashers that came out even before Halloween and has become well known among slasher fans due to it's entry on the Video Nasty list back in the 1980's, This is a film that I have seen many times, I dunno why I've never reviewed this movie before, no reason just never got round to it.

"The Toolbox Murders" starts out with a bang, as we get too see various sexy looking women getting murdered in an apartment building, (dunno why people still live there why don't they just move) not that it's a bad thing, just adds extra cheesiness. Hammers and Nail Guns are the weapons of choice favoured by a convincing menacing serial killer, nothing to complain about there and we even get a likable final girl who is quickly menaced by the killer early on and even kidnapped leaving her brother to try and find her and solve the murders. An interesting subplot even.

But then this movie takes a sudden dramatic turn, everything that is shown in the first half of this movie, namely the murders, is almost abandoned in the second half, when the killer is revealed and kidnaps the female lead and has her tied to the bed. It's at this point where the movie quickly becomes rather tame and all the fun of the first half has been sucked out here. Okay like I said before we do get a rather interesting sub plot involving her brother attempting to solve what's going on but that's over way too quickly in a rather unsettling twist. Okay I do like the fact that they have attempted to do something different rather than the usual stalk and slash fest, but in my opinion it does feel rather out of place when it comes to the second half of this movie and even when they do try to flesh out some of these characters it's just not enough development in my opinion. And when it comes to the final moments of this film it does kind of fall flat as it tries to be shocking, which does work in a way.

The performances in this movie are quite strong especially from veteran actor Cameron Mitchell who gives a chilling yet convincing performance that's rather menacing and yet quite engaging. Pamela Ferdin who plays Laurie is very sweet and convincing.

All in all "Toolbox Murders" is a decent enough entry, with an awesome first half just try not to be put off with the second half.

While this is no flawless masterpiece it is still an entertaining enough slasher that has a simple straight-forward plot, and the killers MO of killing with various tools is an interesting one. For fans of the genre this should be solid entertainment.

"Banned since 1982" screams the video box. After sitting through an hour and a half of this crud you'll be lining up to have it banned for another twenty years. Not because it's controversial, too violent, or objectionable in any way (except perhaps aesthetically), but simply to save your fellow movie watchers from having to experience this incoherent, pointless mess. And it is a MESS. Badly written, directed and acted, with no redeeming features. And I LIKE horror folks.

The first 20 minutes or so features a series of murders of young women by various items from a toolbox - drill, hammer, nail gun,etc. (why a toolbox you ask? Good question...). The victims are all attractive and seem to share a taste for MOR country music. The killer wears a ski mask and sometimes hums to himself. (Maybe he's a country purist and is offended by their lack of Hank Williams?)

Anyway, after that the movie rapidly gets duller and duller, a girl gets kidnapped, some inept cops investigate the murders and are baffled, even though you'll pick the killer as soon as you see him. B-grade legend Cameron Mitchell hams it up sucking a lollipop and singing spirituals, and the faceless supporting cast are as bad as the stinker of a script. If you haven't seen 'The Toolbox Murders' well, you haven't missed anything much. Not even bad enough to be funny.