Customer Reviews

Toolbox Murders, the

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Toolbox Murders is an preety low budget slasher, which in my opinion, is very entertaining and delivers the goods. I really enjoyed it. It may be contraversial, sadistic, and the direct opposite of Oscar worthy material, but If you enjoy violence, beautiful women and cinematic savegrey... this is the film for you. I do not own the DVD, but since it was released by Blue Underground, im sure its immaculate. Find a copy, and enjoy.

Most of the controversy surrounding "The Toolbox Murders" revolved around charges of misogyny rather than extreme gore. To that end, the infamous "nail gun scene"--which was featured on "60 Minutes" and "Donahue" as an example of violence against women in film--is unsettling for its blend of eroticism and cold brutality, making the movie flirt with a snuff mentality. It's also one of the more groundbreaking scenes in splatter movies and the most effective scene in "The Toolbox Murders." Otherwise, the movie isn't any different from a whole host of other gore movies. It's better than most, with OK performances and a fair amount of technical proficiency for what it is, but there are few moments that are going to make much impact on today's jaded horror fans. Most of the murders occur in the first half of the movie, and while they're bloody, there have been more graphic scenes on "ER." In the movie's second half it pretends to be a mystery, even though you know who the murderer is within the first five minutes.

The DVD includes an 8-minute interview with Marianne Walter, who played the victim in the nail gun scene and who later, under the name Kelly Nichols, became "an adult film actress." (First the nail gun scene and then a porn star--Ms. Walter was just giving the feminists fits!) The commentary, by producer Tony Didio, director of photography Gary Graver and a VERY PERKY Pamelyn Ferdin, has some enlightening moments, but it gets redundant after about 30 minutes.

Ultimately, though, about the scariest thing in "The Toolbox Murders" is star Cameron Mitchell's facelift.

"The ToolBox Murders" is one of those films that has gained most of its notoriety because of it's title. The question for anyone new to watching it is, does it live up to the promise? Well the answer is yes, but only for the first 20 minutes. Pretty much as soon as the film starts, the viewer is treated to several murders featuring hammers, drills and screwdrivers, all in quick succession, and all of women. After a brief pause for breath, the film plays its trump card, the scene in which a woman is interrupted while taking a bath to be chased naked around her apartment by the killer, who this time is wielding a nail gun. This scene is by far the nastiest in the movie, even though the special effects are achieved very cheaply. Actually, goremongers may be upset to learn that most of the gore in the movie is delivered in a very cheap and poorly filmed way. The editing of the first batch of murders is terrible...it seems that only the nail gun murder had any kind of story boarding or professional editing done on it!
Sadly, there is worse to come, for after this eye-popping first half hour, the film grinds to a virtual standstill, as it is at this point that the murderer is revealed and the killings all but stop as the action turns to the detectives trying to solve the case, along with depicting the prolonged plight of a young girl who the murderer has kidnapped and is keeping bound and gagged at his home. This remainding section of the film just drags on and on, despite some laughs on offer from Cameron Mitchel as he pours his heart out to the terrified girl.
On that note, the rest of the acting talent on offer throughout the movie is also rock bottom bad, especially in some of the minor roles where performances reach almost H.G. Lewis standards! About the only exception to this is Pamelyn Ferdin as the unlucky final victim, who does manage to wring some believeability out of her plight, despite having to share screen time with Cameron Mitchell singing "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child."...oh dear.
The DVD edition of the movie presents a great picture considering the quality of the film is pretty ropey at best. And there are some nice extras, including an interview with Kelly Nicholls, who suffered the nail gun murder. Its surprising that a film this poor has enough of an audience to deserve such a good DVD makeover, as it's strong points are few and far between. Strangely, all the murders are set to twee country music that seems to be playing out of every record player in the apartment block, something I have not often seen before. In fact, during the nail gun murder, this lends an almost surreal touch to the unfolding horror, leaving me to wonder if the effect was intentional or just decided on at random. That, and the seriously downbeat ending (quite effective in my opinion, at least for anyone who hasn't switched off before that time), are probably the only original touches to the movie which sadly fails in all other respects to come close to the style and quality of the countless better films it so obviously is trying to copy.

What? Only one review for the ultra sleazy 1978 film "The Toolbox Murders"? There must be some mistake because a lack of fulsome praise for this piece of junk is most surprising. Blue Underground, a DVD company formed by the director of such morally uplifting pieces of cinema like "Uncle Sam" and "Maniac," William Lustig, knew a hit when they saw it and gave "The Toolbox Murders" star treatment. Of course, Blue Underground gives every schlock movie they release the works because they recognize there are enough viewers out there who appreciate this crud as much as they do. But "The Toolbox Murders" is junk, plain and simple. Scary? Nope. Gory? Not really. Engaging? No. The only value such films as this one have occurs when it inspires film censorship boards to have conniption fits, resulting in a whole lot of bad press that actually serves to make people remember it as a classic. I think this one eventually ended up on some sort of British "video nasties" restricted list until recently. That sounds impressive until you learn the same board banned Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs." Anyway, "The Toolbox Murders" probably never looked better than it does on DVD.

This film has a premise that sounds like a winner: a loony and his toolbox wreak an amazing amount of damage on the residents of a small apartment building somewhere in California. Even more amazing are the number of beautiful, vulnerable young women who live alone in these apartments. Using a nail gun, drill, screwdrivers, and almost anything else you can think of that might dwell in the confines of a toolbox, the killer moves from one abode to another with seeming abandon. That the killer eludes the prying eyes of the police and the local populace isn't that surprising. After all, a guy lugging around a box full of tools doesn't set off alarm bells. Whoever is inflicting fatalities in the area is causing no end of worry to those residents who have yet to receive a visit. The landlord, played by one time Hollywood up and comer Cameron Mitchell, also pops in from time to time in order to wring his hands over the carnage and promise to ratchet up security in the area. Still, the atrocities continue and fear hangs over the area like dark clouds of doom, a doom made even worse when the killer kidnaps a young girl in one of the apartments and carries her off to what could only be a fate worse than death.

Fortunately for every one involved, her brother is one of those pesky types who won't sit idly by when family members face danger. He teams up with a painter friend, who just happens to be the son of the landlord, and the two begin making tentative inquiries in an effort to solve the crimes and locate the missing sister. Who says kids are lazy and unmotivated? It is sad to say, but "The Toolbox Murders" doesn't provide any long-term motivation for America's youth to follow through on a murder investigation. As the kid finally discovers the killer's identity, one of those twists of fate only found in horror movies rears its ugly head and permanently discourages our young investigator with a splash of turpentine and a flaming match. It turns out that the killer's precious daughter died due to a lapse in morality with the result that father kind of lost it upstairs. The crimes are actually divinely inspired missions dedicated to rubbing out immorality wherever it pops up. The kidnapped girl isn't one of the murderer's targets, but rather a young lady who reminds him of his own dear, departed daughter. He doesn't want to hurt her but wants to keep her close by for intimate confessions about what he is doing to honor his daughter's memory.

"The Toolbox Murders" is quite ridiculous. The producers even throw in a statement at the end about how this story really happened and how the kidnapped girl spent some time recovering in a mental asylum, etc. I cannot vouch for the veracity of these claims, but something tells me what we just saw in the preceding ninety or so minutes was something quite different from any real incident. It isn't that I have difficulty in believing some maniac somewhere attacked a young woman with a nail gun, or someone kidnapped a young girl because they made a weird association between a deceased daughter and a living person. I just refuse to believe this specific story. Announcing that "real events inspired this horrific tale" is a cheap marketing ploy used by Hollywood in an attempt to draw in a record number of ticket buying dupes. If you want real tragedy, turn on the evening news or sign up for a ride along with your local police department. If I thought this was a truthful reenactment for a second, I wouldn't watch it. Reality births enough horrors without seeing someone try and profit from actual human sorrow.

The acting, sets, special effects, and script definitely fall into the category of sub par, but a few things work to keep the plot moving along. Seeing Cameron Mitchell sell his soul for a paycheck is amusing and convinces me that even the worst role in a bad movie is light years better than actually working for a living. That scene where the redhead encounters the murderer during a moment of bliss is worth watching. Otherwise, I thought this movie was strictly average fare. If you do like the movie, Blue Underground includes a commentary track (!), an interview with the aforementioned redhead, trailers, and poster galleries. They even put the film in a widescreen format! Give it a shot if you like horror movies. Everyone else should pass.

First of all, this is a very good transfer. Blue Underground really goes all out when it comes to restoration. Secondly, though interesting, the extras don't add up to much. Trailers, a very small feature about the infamous nail-gun scene, radio spots, a Cameron Mitchell bio and a running commentary. For the price, the quality of the transfer is worth it for fans of the film. As for the film itself, the title basically says it all. In this viewer's opinion it's an above average slasher flick. It COULD be taken seriously except for the fact that some of the victims just aren't trying hard enough to escape. Overall, a noteworthy effort cinematically in terms of trash films and worth adding to any slasher fan's collection.

I thought for a long while about getting this dvd only hearing brief reviews I finally got it today it was everything I hoped for. Unlike most slasher films this one is based on true events that happened in L.A. in 1967. It would offend any femminist because the main target is women, immoral woman to be particular. The man who thinks he's helping to rid the world of evil by killing all the sinful women in the apartment complex he owns. Disguised as a handyman he uses tools from his toolbox such as a hammer, screwdriver and a nailgun.
Shot on a pretty low budget it features the late Cameron Mitchell as the handyman in my opinion a great film finally avalible after being banned in 1982.

You know about this movie... It sucks. Some stupid guy wearing a Ski mask killing Beautiful, attractive, super sexy women with his tools and they are [a drill. a hammer. a nail gun.] and the rest... I don't know. so my 1-Star rating means it stinks, it stinks I tells ya. Oh and for the guys everyehere the nail gun part was essential. So I would not recommend this stupid 1970s movie to anyone especialy who likes the nail gun scene. so Do Not Purchase the movie. HEAD MY WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I find it funny how reviewers can give movies that are clearly low budget, have bad acting, and bad plot lines, 5 stars. That said, I admit I like trash. I mean I have an almost sadistic pleasure in torturing myself with bad movie watching. Yet no matter how much I might like a movie that's clearly awful, I won't give it 5 stars for being a suck fest. Movies like Halloween might deserve 5 stars, but movies like this do not. It's deceiving towards people interested in checking this flick out, thinking it might be as good as people are hyping it up to be. Well it isn't. However, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen either. I'm glad I bought this flick, but remember I'm a bad horror movie fan.

The acting by the cops is awful at best. You can easily tell these guys knew little about police work or acting. The killer isn't too bad, though far from scary. By the end of the movie he's not even remotely menacing, but actually comes off as rather pathetic, due to some unusually good acting. It's kind of weird how the movie starts off with all the killing and rampant nudity, then turns itself into a semi normal low budget 70's horror flick. Usually I'm all for excess skin in horror, which is often the only redeeming quality. However this movie would have been better without the sexploitation, and might have even received a bigger cult following if it played on late night t.v. But the director kind of doomed himself with having the murderer killing only naked to mostly naked girls.

It's good for a rent, but trust me, don't buy it first until you know what you're getting. It's not a 5 star horror, but is a solid 2 star cheese flick.

Ooooh, dear sweet God this movie is bad. Bad, bad, bad. The killer is a dork with a ski mask and a toolbox, and he hums when he's walking from one murder to the next. He does most of the killing in one steady swipe, because this supposed slasher movie boasts all of about five victims. The killer is the owner of an apartment building, and he just kind of lets himself in (with his key, which cops don't think to investigate) and goes to work. His vague motivation is the death of his daughter in a car wreck, although for the life of Klaus Kinski I can't figure out what her death has to do with the murders.

A few points of interest:

Normally, I would never ever complain about a chick finding an excuse to take take off her pants, but this was the worst excuse I've ever seen. This blonde, kinda pretty, victim #2, goes in to take a shower, turns it on without looking, then realizes that her dress is hanging in there for no reason. So, fully clothed, she steps inside with the water running, then gets back out, and THEN turns the shower off. Then she looks peeved about her clothes being wet. Ooops!

Victim #4 is a svelte redhead dacing in her hiphuggers in front of her window before she decides to take a bubble bath. She's pretty hot-looking, built well for the scene at hand, but is accompanied by the worst song ever, even worse than the song from the Hot Tub Chase in Madman. "Pretty lady, I'm in love with yoo-oo-oo; and maybe we can make our dreams come tru-uu-uue." I better stop it, I'm getting all warm inside. So anyway, the killer comes after her with an archaic, siege-style nail gun that sounds like a .38 with a silencer when it's fired. She runs naked all through apartment (this is actually the cool part of the scene) with Toolbox Killer shooting nails at her and missing by foot-wide gaps.

Anyway, I guess I just clued you in to the best scenes of the movie. Beyond that, it's got less action than a flat tire. Alot of meandering pointlessness, half-development of characters you care nothing about, overacting, underacting, bell bottoms and bad music. The "I'm a dirt-crazy killer" act was overplayed to the point of being nauseating. But, this is a good movie if you just want to settle back and watch the rock bottom of bad movies. It'll make you laugh, at least for a while.

This film, which became widely known because of the nail gun scene, is a truly great post-Texas Chainsaw Massacre, pre-Friday The 13th slasher movie with a bit of exploitation thrown in for good measure. The death scenes are top-notch and there's nudity, too. It has every element that a great horror movie should have. I love this movie. This should be in every horror fan's collection. If it's not, you should at least rent it or borrow it from a friend so you can witness it's greatness.