The Toolbox Murders (1978)

Acting:		Partying:		Girls:
Blood:		Language:		Gore:
Violence:		Humor:		Sexuality:
Torture:		Predictability:		Overall:

Grime can be very hard to re-produce. As the phrase ‘Grindhouse' gains popularity with horror aficionados and movie geeks everywhere, more and more forgotten, low budget and just flat out bizarre films are being brought back to life. I actually saw a box of ‘Grindhouse' flicks in an Electronic Retail store with 20 films jammed into one case. Most of these films are public domain, or films that are sold in bulk for mass distribution to turn a tidy profit. A lot of these films are also not quite what people have in mind: a majority of them are kind of dull, slow, and with lots of dialog (nothing cheaper to film), and most of that pretty bad. What usually binds most of these films together are the grittiness and graininess of the film themselves: it's as if a layer of grime from the theaters where these films were shown has added itself to these films. The best ones have a grimy, sleazy, almost tawdry vibe that nowadays is very hard to re-produce. Digital Video is too ‘clean' and considering a majority of these films were shot on 16mm and then blown up to 35mm, most films nowadays don't (or can't) create that level of skuzzyness.

Which brings us to the original "Toolbox Murders", which is one the dingiest, grimiest films from the late 70s era. This is a film that was actually re-made (by Tobe Hooper), but the remake is literally in name only. Hooper's film bears nothing in common other then the name. What Hooper's film doesn't have is the very low budget, skuzzy grime that the original has. It may not be directed, acted, or even framed and shot as well, but the elements in it make it much more effective. It just has this real sort of griminess and seediness. It reminds me of New York City before the Disneyfication by Giuliani.

The Toolbox Murders is basically what you would think it's about: a deranged killer/handyman with a toolbox is going around murdering the tenants of an apartment ...

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