Blog Monster Movie Review: Toolbox Murders (1978)
Toolbox Murders (1978)
Directed by: Dennis Donnelly
Written by: Neva Friedenn, Robert Easter, and Ann Kindberg
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure, Nicolas Beauvy, Tim Donnelly, and Kelly Nichols
Production Company: Tony DiDio Productions
Toolbox Murders is one of those great seventies slasher flicks supposedly based on true events. I don’t know if the story is based on true events or not, but it’s one of the better flicks of the era that I’ve seen.
There’s something enjoyable about the slasher flicks of the seventies. Before the slashers had to be supernatural creatures in order to give the filmmakers an excuse to have outlandish scenes, the slashers were normal people who did abnormal things. The scripts were more tightly written than today’s special effects laden movies. Don’t get me wrong, the special effects can be fabulous, but there’s something about a simple psycho going around and killing people. That’s what Toolbox Murders is all about.
Women in an apartment complex start getting killed. The killer, wearing a ski mask, picks tools out of his toolbox with which to kill his victims. While there is some gore, it’s not dependent upon gore. And really, after the initial series of killings, the movie focuses on Joey Ballard (Beauvy) trying to find his sister Laurie (Ferdin). Before this, though, is a great scene of Kelly Nichols being chased naked through her apartment by our masked killer wielding a nail gun.
While the plot is simple, and we learn who the killer is pretty early, the focus of this film isn’t the mystery and suspense like Black Christmas, it’s thrills and shocks. While I was hoping for a little more creative use of tools, the murders were still interesting to watch, and a little gratuitous tits and ass go a long way. Sometimes all you need is a simple tool.
Directed by: Dennis Donnelly
Written by: Neva Friedenn, Robert Easter, and Ann Kindberg
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure, Nicolas Beauvy, Tim Donnelly, and Kelly Nichols
Production Company: Tony DiDio Productions
Toolbox Murders is one of those great seventies slasher flicks supposedly based on true events. I don’t know if the story is based on true events or not, but it’s one of the better flicks of the era that I’ve seen.
There’s something enjoyable about the slasher flicks of the seventies. Before the slashers had to be supernatural creatures in order to give the filmmakers an excuse to have outlandish scenes, the slashers were normal people who did abnormal things. The scripts were more tightly written than today’s special effects laden movies. Don’t get me wrong, the special effects can be fabulous, but there’s something about a simple psycho going around and killing people. That’s what Toolbox Murders is all about.
Women in an apartment complex start getting killed. The killer, wearing a ski mask, picks tools out of his toolbox with which to kill his victims. While there is some gore, it’s not dependent upon gore. And really, after the initial series of killings, the movie focuses on Joey Ballard (Beauvy) trying to find his sister Laurie (Ferdin). Before this, though, is a great scene of Kelly Nichols being chased naked through her apartment by our masked killer wielding a nail gun.
While the plot is simple, and we learn who the killer is pretty early, the focus of this film isn’t the mystery and suspense like Black Christmas, it’s thrills and shocks. While I was hoping for a little more creative use of tools, the murders were still interesting to watch, and a little gratuitous tits and ass go a long way. Sometimes all you need is a simple tool.
posted by Bodog at 6:24 PM
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