Tobe Hooper's: Toolbox Murders

Tobe Hooper directed the Toolbox Murders in 2004, though he is probably most known for having directed the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre film in 1974. So, has Tobe gotten better with age or was the Toolbox Murders a straight to Dvd flop?

The film is about a ski masked killer going through a Hollywood apartment complex, stalking and killing the residents. A 1978 film with almost the same title was surely some inspiration considering it has pretty much the same plot, just executed very differently. The cast of actors on this new version do a fine job, with Angela Bettis taking the lead heroine role. Some horror fans may recognize her from the dark psychological horror film: May. Sheri Moon Zombie has a small role in the opening of the film. The best character out of all of them for me was the Landlord. He is quite funny.

Right off the bat the characters introduced come across as idiots. A quick example: the apartment building is being renovated and the electricity keeps going on and off, yet the people still use the elevator and wonder why it stops and shuts down. Really the idiot factor is on-par with most horror movie characters, so I guess this isn't something to gripe about and one should just relax and enjoy.

The first kill is gruesome and gory, though the killer comes across as moving a bit slow and uninteresting at first. The name of the film is the Toolbox Murders and there is a toolbox in a few shots and he does use tools, however once the full picture of what is going in is revealed the title to me should have been re-thought. The murders continue to be violent and gory, and the killer is overly through with his stabbings and whackings and such.

The setting for the film becomes very interesting and there is a lot of backstory that could have been elaborated on further to make the film less of a stereotypical genre film. However, the director does a great job of capturing everything and bringing a real sense of the apartment complex's "historic charm" to life.