Cover Art

Credits

Director: Dennis Donnelly Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure and Nicolas Beauvy Screenplay: Neva Friedenn, Robert Easter and Ann Kindberg Music: George Deaton Tagline: 'Bit by bit…by bit...he carved a nightmare' Country: USA

Joking aside, The Toolbox Murders is one of the first releases from the newly formed DVD house Blue Underground, a company run by none other than Bill Lustig, who used to work for Anchor Bay (and may well still). The disc itself is a gem, perfectly remastered with a handful of extras. To all intents and purposes, this looks just like an AB disc with a Blue Underground motif. Not that that's a bad thing, because when AB are good - they're very good. And this disc definitely falls into that category.

But what about the film? Is it any good? Well, good may be the wrong word to use here as it's hardly a cinematic masterpiece (since when has that bothered us?), but for sheer entertainment value it scores top marks.

The premise is very basic and will hardly strain the grey matter (though the ending was a bit muddled). A block of apartments, which is home to lots of pretty young girls, becomes the target of a maniacal killer who uses the utensils in his toolbox for homicidal purposes. The film wastes no time in setting the scene by throwing us straight into a succession of grisly and brutal murders, the most notorious being the nailgun slaying - which is, admittedly, pretty grim stuff. But hey! If you're not going to kill people with your tools - what use are they? Though I had to laugh at the fact that when we first see the ski-masked killer he's having trouble getting the thing on straight and ends up looking out with both eyes through one hole.

After doing some bloody DIY on these ladies, the final victim, Laurie Ballard (Pamelyn Ferdin), is abducted rather than killed. The story then spirals into the hunt for the missing girl, with the girl's brother, Joey Ballard (Nicolas Beauvy), and the Landlord's nephew, Kent Kingsley (Wesley Eure), making their own enquiries. We are then shown the Landlord, Ben Kingsley (Cameron Mitchell), holding the girl captive, apparently she is a replacement for his daughter who was killed in a car accident. Ben rambles incessantly about how evil the world is and how it must be rid of those sinful women. From this point on, the film wanders slowly to its conclusion with a twist or two along the way.

Although not as gory or blood-soaked as its title (or reputation) suggests, there are still some pretty nasty moments. The nailgun murder is quite brutal, as is the clawhammer sequence, but the violence is not relentless and slows after the first half-hour. However, Mitchell manages to sustain the viewers' interest with his over-the-top, self-righteous and maniacal performance - worth the admission price alone in my opinion. Nicolas Beauvy as Joey Ballard gives a rather half-soaked performance that lacks any enthusiasm for the role whereas Wesley Eure gives a startling performance as Kent Kingsley. The cast is variable, actually, ranging from pretty good to fairly bad.

So, good film or bad? I wouldn't say it's a particularly good film, but it's 100% entertainment for lovers of trash cinema. Also, considering it was made in 1977, it's an obvious forerunner of the forthcoming American slasher cycle, which peaked in the early to mid-eighties. There are many elements in the film which would appear to have influenced later films of this ilk. Don't forget also that this film was inspired to inception by the re-release of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. So we could tentatively say that the roots of the modern American horror film started with TCM. But that's mere speculation, of course.

Trash film lovers - grab yourself a copy of this! You'll love it. Where else will you get to see bathtime female masturbation followed by a vicious nailgun attack??