The Toolbox Murders (2003) 7/10

[Lester Burnham]

Last night, I attended the first ever screening of Tobe Hooper's new movie, "The Toolbox Murders". I had not seen the original, but the updated version was decent in its own right. The plot is nothing original, a couple moves into an old apartment building that is being renovated. However, a killer in a black ski mask is murdering people from the building using tools that one would find from a toolbox e.t. a nailgun. The kills were superb, however one could tell that a lot was cut out to get an R. As it stands, it is still quite a gory movie. One thing that caught me off guard was the jump-scares. Normally these dont get me, but for some reason this movie had a few extremely effective scares. Props to Tobe for those. The acting was surprisingly excellent as well thanks to the lovely Angela Bettis (May). This movie also had a good deal of decent laughs due to a few hilarious characters. The ending was also nothing special, however, ***spoiler*** the supernatural origin of the killer added a little spice to what would be a cliche slasher. Everything about this movie screamed franchise, and I could definately see this becoming the next big slasher franchise. One thing that i have to mention is that I got a chance to meet Tobe after and he was an extremely nice guy and thanked me for coming. Same goes to Eli Roth, who I got to talk to about the upcoming Cabin Fever DVD and his project with Richard Kelly.

[countchocula]

I haven't seen the original either, but I'm highly anticipating Tobe's Toolbox. It sounds like a return to form for Father Saw (or at least a return to power tools).

[myersfan31]

Sounds interesting, and Angela Bettis is in it!

[spacemonkey]

Well Ive been anticipating this one too, since Tobes one of my favorite horror directors, and I hope this one puts him back on the map because even though he did a good job with Taken it wasnt horror. Id love to see him deal with his favorite subject, crazy demented maniacs who love to use power tools to maim innocent people. Gotta love Tobe!

Sheri Moon "Baby" from House of a Thousand Corpses is on this one too! I read Arrows interview to her and she mentions that her role on this film is very much like Drew Barrymores role on the first Scream.

I like the fact that it has a supernatural twist, thanks for the info and review lester!

[Hans, wihout Franz]

I actually have seen the original toolbox murders staring Cameron"I'll be in anything for a buck"Mitchell. Very bad flick. What a great idea. Taking a bad flick and turning it into a good one. Better than remaking a classic.

[alt0077]

the first half of the original toolbox murders was awesome. the second have was about as good as Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. in case you havent seen JCVH, i would rather be infected with aids then have to watch 5 minutes of it.

[Cronos]

this was a nice surprise considering some of the crap Hooper has done from recent years (Crocodile was a particularly terrible film), the story and characters had enough to them to keep me interested, there were some kinda creepy moments and some nice gore as well. the only thing i didn't really like was the silly background to the killer, really didin't work for me

still it was a very entertaining film and gives me some hope that Hooper still has the potential to make good films

8/10

[Ratlehed]

Originally posted by Cronos
this was a nice surprise considering some of the crap Hooper has done from recent years (Crocodile was a particularly terrible film), the story and characters had enough to them to keep me interested, there were some kinda creepy moments and some nice gore as well. the only thing i didn't really like was the silly background to the killer, really didin't work for me

still it was a very entertaining film and gives me some hope that Hooper still has the potential to make good films

8/10

I wish they would've fleshed out the killer a little more. They get into a little bit of backstory and then kind of drop it. It was decent overall.

2/4

[teenkiller]

I haven't seen the original or remake. I have not been able to find them in my local stores but since Hooper has yet to disappoint me with the films of his that I have seen (TCM, Eaten Alive, The Funhouse, Poltergeist) I am more than willing to give this a chance. I'm not expecting it to wow me like those other films but I am expecting something better than average. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Henry Lee Lucas]

Never really saw the original, the remake had some great plot points but it never really went anywhere and I got kindve annoyed with the movie...

I am VERY MUCH looking forward to seeing the original, as I hope it has all the supernatural elements of the remake.

The killer looked pretty lame.