| The Toolbox Murders is one
of the more infamous sleaze films of the late '70s, due to it being banned
in many countries like England. It enjoyed a renewed interest when Stephen
King praised it in his book, Danse Macabre saying it
"Generates some genuinely scary moments!" The
residents of an LA apartment complex live in terror as a ski-masked
assailant begins to slaughter young female tenants with the tools from his
rusty metal toolbox. A teenage girl disappears and is presumably kidnapped
by the killer and her brother tries to find her, but the police believe
that he is responsible for the killings.
To give any more away would ruin the the movie.
The Toolbox Murders is the first of it's own unique subgenre and
considered by most to be the best hardware murder film. Other films have
tried to cash onto its success like Nail Gun Massacre,
Driller Killer, and Microwave Massacre but none
have gathered a cult audience like this. Toolbox was filmed for $165,000
and was intended to be as shocking as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
but instead of shocking us with truly scary and tense scenes like
Chainsaw, Toolbox shocks us with a extremely high sleaze factor. The most
infamous sleazy scene in the film is the murder of pre-porn star Kelly
Nichols. After watching her masturbate in her bathtub, the crazed killer
chases her nude around her apartment before, literally nailing her with a
nail gun. Adding to the sleaze factor is the bizarre casting of former
child actors, Aneta Corseaut (The Andy Griffith Show) and
Pamelyn Ferdin.
The murders are pretty bloody, but are so over the top
that one isn't really disturbed by them. The film also had some
terrific camp moments: seeing Cameron Mitchell crone Motherless Child,
while sucking on a lollipop is moment you won't forget anytime soon. |
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