The Toolbox Murders (1978)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Following a spate of brutal murders, a young man and his friend set out to find the culprit in the crimes when his sister gets abducted by the maniac and held hostage to prevent her from following in the victims' footsteps.On the whole this was a decidedly disappointing effort that doesn't really have all that much going for it. When this one was right, it's unbelievably effective and grisly which is what basically amounts to the first few minutes here which is about as prime exploitative fodder as can be expected at a time like this as the series of kills in this section is outright brutal and shocking. The chase around the apartment with the drill that cuts up her arms before finally delivering the knockout blow to the back of the head, the shockingly casual scene of another victim is knocked out and carried into a stairwell where she has her head smashed in with a claw hammer, dragged back into her apartment when a friend finds the body, tries to flee but is grabbed, bashed to the floor, and has a screwdriver slowly pushed into her. That all these murders happen with absolutely no let up is what's unbelievably shocking about these, letting the gore flow freely and easily here through the merciless scenes before getting to the infamous assault on the nude bather who traps her in the apartment and dispatches her with utterly cruel and deadly nail-gun shots that show truly exploitative full- frontal shots with a relish for the more exploitative aspects of the victims' suffering. The pedestrian-like nature of these kills is such that it really does feel that the psychotic handyman is going about his everyday duties, humming peacefully as he goes, and nothing is out of the ordinary. Sadly, this is the first half-hour of the film and from there the film goes so down-hill the drabness that follows slows the film down to such a crawl that barely anything here is worthwhile. The fact that the torture scenes are incredibly tame and result more in his sweet-natured disposition to the situation of having her tied up that the torture actually comes from his rather lame singing and actually holding her hostage while none of whatever else happens to her is all that terrifying. Likewise, the slasher movie elements end and settles into a police procedural rut with a subplot between the lead detective and her mother which ultimately goes nowhere as her brother plays amateur sleuth when he agrees to clean the crime scenes, ultimately turning up evidence in the case but is altogether ignored with most of his findings being dismissed until the finale when it becomes altogether obvious. As well, despite the one murder it's not really all that nasty as the action is handled listlessly, being brutal but with zero suspense that they actually have little real impact. This really could've been something special but otherwise it's pretty drab overall.Rated R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, Language and strong scenes of female masturbation.

Take a 70s primetime television director with aspirations to milk off the successes of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with a gorier sleazier misogynistic exploitation piece of his own. Add b-movie legend Cameron Mitchell and Welsey Eure (Will Marshall of Saturday morning's Land of The Lost fame) and Pamelyn Ferdin with very realistically disturbing on screen murders involving hand- and powertools, a sexy steaming hot bathtub scene involving female masturbation (featuring future porn queen Kelly Nichols in her debut role under the name Marianne Walter) that leads into one of the most pleasing murder set pieces ever, and for icing one whacky twist that introduces another yet whackier twist. Yeah, it doesn't feature wall to wall gore and the 7 minute body count like later films such as Maniac and Friday The 13th and the ensuing arrival of the notorious slasher in the early 1980s and the toolbox murderer takes no more female victims after the first half hour but this vintage exploitation sleaze left a wonderful taste to my palate. I loved it. SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! Before the final credits when Pamelyn Ferdin is walking like a zombie in a blood drenched dress armed with the scissors in the early dawn across the strip mall parking lot I couldn't resist a sigh and a smile.SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

Sick puppy from director Dennis Donnelly concerning how the car wreck demise of a young woman named Kathy causes her father and cousin to commit unspeakable acts towards innocent human beings. The father, Vance(Cameron Mitchell)is a simply deranged owner of the apartment complex for which he murders a set of beautiful tenants who represent "sinners" needed ridding of so that the world could be a better place. Laurie(Pamelyn Ferdin)shares an apartment with her mother, Jo Ann(Aneta Corsaut) and brother, Joey(Nicolas Beauvy)and Vance kidnaps her, holding the poor girl captive in his suburban home, commissioning his nephew Kent(Wesley Eure, of "Land of the Lost" fame!)to clean up his bloody messes! The police are baffled at the murders wondering just how the killer could operate so freely in dispatching them, moving within their rooms with only one forced entry. Joey, motivated by his sister's disappearance, opts to work as an amateur sleuth as he sees that Detective Jamison(Tim Donnelly)and the police have little to go on. Thanks to Kent, who seems to know more than he lets on(..while also displaying strange behavior when Joey speaks about the acts of violence and his calm demeanor around the crime scenes of the victims' rooms he's about to clean up), Joey suspects Vance once entering the sicko uncle's garage, finding the infamous toolbox, containing the devices used on those women during the nightly murder spree. But, Joey will not suspect someone else..Kent's not exactly operating with a full deck, either! We watch as frightened, and subdued, Laurie, tied to a bed frame, attempts futilely to coerce Vance into letting her go as he drifts into his own fantasies even believing she is his daughter incarnate. Kent, also, finds himself lost to the memories of Kathy, a kissing cousin with a history he is all too willing to share with good ole Uncle Vance, with shocking results.The film doesn't really create an air of mystery as to who committed the grisly, bloody murders at the beginning of the movie, and the reasons for doing so. The director opens inside the front seat showing gloved hands driving a car past the location of where a woman died as a result of a car crash. We then are *treated* to a series of murders(..perhaps not as notorious because of how the director pulls away the camera before the weapons really do their damage, but still repulsive acts of violence) with an assortment of weapons raging from a spinning drill driven into the back of an alcoholic who knows him and is surprised at his antics, a hammer slammed into the back of a victim's head after knocking her unconscious, a screwdriver stabbed into the stomach of a victim who stumbles upon the killer before he could leave, and a nail gun to the head of a model after her lengthly bath tub masturbation sequence. Unlike a lot of giallo thrillers and slashers(..which would follow a similar model as this film), the investigation of the murders is the weakest aspect of the film. The director instead, after bludgeoning the viewer with that wallop of a crime spree, decides to take us into the insanity of Vance, with actor Mitchell, a veteran from the old school Hollywood working in films like this for the money because of problems in his life, sucking a lollipop the first time we see him bringing din-din to Laurie. Mitchell just lets it hang out as the wacko holding so tight to the memory of his little girl and going on and on about the wicked sinners of the world with how he must cut them out like the Bible says. Eure, with those pretty boy looks and squeaky-clean image actually surprised me because he was such an innocent teenage idol on the LotL show. I could see how Joey would be startled at the true maniac that lies behind what appears to be just an ordinary young man looking for some extra dough handed out by Uncle Vance. Beauvy as Joey didn't really impress me, he's merely a plot device who makes a grave discovery whose fate is particularly memorable. Ferdin is a virginal sweetheart mostly tied to the bed hurting from the tightened bondage and worried for her life, a fawn trapped in the madness of a crazed predator(s). What I found most effective was the use of country music playing as Vance murders his victims, and the way the killer carries out his acts so cold-bloodedly, with calculated precision. This will certainly be unpleasant for the weak-hearted and easily offended.

This is by no means a classic genre movie but for a low budget independent '70's horror movie it also certainly is one fine watchable movie.Biggest problem with this movie is that there is no main character. Basically for the first third of the movie you only see different murders occur. You just keep waiting for the movie to introduce its main 'hero'. Some times character's roles become bigger in the movie and you expect the rest of the movie to be focused entirely around them but every time then the movie cuts away again and takes a whole other direction with its story and characters. So not really the most consistent movie around.It's an '70's movie, so the movie uses lots of unusual experimental editing. It's fine looking but yet it doesn't all quite work out well enough. The movie uses the proper right required horror build up for its sequences but yet when it comes down to its most important part; the scare moments, the movie falls short. The movie just never knows to become truly tense and perhaps you can even call the movie a bit boring in parts. This is also due to some of the pacing problems of the movie. The fact that we get to know who the killer is pretty early on in the movie (the hairy arms gave it away) also takes away a lot of the tension and mystery atmosphere of the movie.Even though the movie gets gory in parts, I mean the murders are being committed with the contents of a toolbox, how can it not be gory but it's just never really shocking.Still fans of this sub-genre will probably most likely still enjoy and appreciate this movie.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/