The Toolbox Murders (1978)

Regisseur:

Dennis Donnelly

Drehbuchautoren:

Neva Friedenn (writer) and
Robert Easter (writer) ...

Premierendatum:

März 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Werbezeile:

Bit by bit..By bit he carved a nightmare!

Plot:

Ski-masked maniac kills apartment complex tenants with the contents of a toolbox.

Plot Keywords:

Tied To Bed | Female Nudity | Flight Attendant | Female Masturbation | Teenage Girl

Nutzerkommentare:

Somewhat tedious and sickly (but not due to gore!!)

Besetzung

Cameron Mitchell	...	Vance Kingsley
Pamelyn Ferdin	...	Laurie Ballard
Wesley Eure	...	Kent Kingsley
Nicolas Beauvy	...	Joey Ballard
Tim Donnelly	...	Detective Jamison
Aneta Corsaut	...	Jo Ann Ballard
Faith McSwain	...	Mrs. Andrews
Marciee Drake	...	Debbie
Evelyn Guerrero	...	Maria
Victoria Perry	...	Woman in Apartment
Robert Bartlett	...	Man in Apartment
Betty Cole	...	Middle Aged Woman
John Hawker	...	Middle Aged Man
Don Diamond	...	Sgt. Cameron
Alisa Powell	...	Girlfriend

Alternativ:

Bohrmaschinenkiller, Der (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]
Killer mit der Bohrmaschine, Der (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

93 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Australia:Refused Classification | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Norway:(Banned) (1978-2003) | Norway:18 (2004) | Sweden:18 (video rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (2000) (cut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:R

Drehorte:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Firma:

Tony DiDio Productions

Pannen:

Mikrophon sichtbar: In the scene where we first see Laurie Ballard tied up in the bed and Vance enters the room, the shadow of a boom mike is clearly visible on the wall behind them.

Dialogzitate:

Joey Ballard: I'll be home for dinner. What are you fixin'?
Laurie Ballard: Ah! La specialty of the house; chicken à la TV dinners.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in I Got Nailed in the Toolbox Murders (2002) (V)

Somewhat tedious and sickly (but not due to gore!!)

I heard about this film at the start of last year and instantly became deeply intrigued by it. I was overjoyed to see it finally released on the 'VIPCO' video label (here in the UK) but, alas, this all seemed to be in vain. I guess overall it was somewhat of a bathos and failed to rouse any serious interest in me whatsoever. The acting was, at the best of times, marginal and the plot...let's say it wasn't exactly ground-breaking: At the same time though I doubt that director Dennis Donnelly (who has also worked on episodes of 'Dallas' and 'Airwolf'...if I recall from my childhood) was attempting to change the world with the tale of a deranged Ski-mask wearing killer wielding, amongst other items, nail guns and chisels. The killings portrayed are rather nasty and bloody but, as I am now aware, are slightly cut here in the UK. I doubt (sincerely) that if they were shown in their entirety it would have made any valuable difference.

Perhaps what I found most disturbing about the film itself was the general visual aspect ( - vague I find you asking yourselves). The film looks very much dated now, which for some may not be a problem but it tended to make me feel decidedly 'sickly'. By this I mean that it just reminds me far too much of photos from my childhood *shudders*...with its ghastly floral interiors and fashion sense. I guess this is just a reflection of my own personal dislike towards nostalgia and is no serious reason to comment negatively on the film.

To conclude, 'The Toolbox Murders' is a tedious and poor (sorry to be harsh) horror flick at best. At times it appears to imitate Tobe Hoopers classic 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' in the sense that the film was, allegedly, based on 'real' events. It also follows a fairly congruous and typical narrative: a series of murders followed by an abduction and, inevitably, torture...only to have the attractive protagonist narrowly escape death. The fact that 'The Toolbox Murders' focuses on the notion of the 'family-gone-wrong', a la 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', or Pete Walkers 'Frightmare', for example, only seems to strengthen this argument more. The main problem: it falls flat on its face in trying to do so. I consider myself to be a die-hard horror film aficionado but this was just unfulfilling; certainly not to be mistaken as a 'cult classic'.