The Toolbox Murders (1978)

Directed by: Dennis Donnelly | 93 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Cameron Mitchel, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure, Nicolas Beauvy, Tim Donnelly, Aneta Corsaut, Faith McSwain, Marciee Drake, Evelyn Guerrero, Victoria Perry, Robert Bartlett, Betty Cole, John Hawker, Don Diamond, Alisa Powell, Kelly Nichols, Robert Forward, Kathleen O’Malley, Gil Galvano, James Nolan, George Deaton

In ‘The Toolbox Murders’, a maniac terrifies a couple of women who live in the same apartment complex. For a long time it is unclear why the killer commits his horrific deeds. Are there really reasons or are we dealing with someone who cannot reason? Mediocre to weak acting from a largely unknown cast, with the exception of lead actor Cameron Mitchell. Nevertheless, an interesting horror film.

It takes a long time to figure out who could be the culprit in the original ‘Toolbox Murders’. This in itself is not bad, because if you knew it after 5 minutes, there would be little more of suspense. Yet. Who is that man or woman who makes short work of his female victims from scratch? There’s no time for movie build-up or character introductions; the mentally ill killer enters every apartment as a handyman, making it difficult for the police to get on the right track. When you see the detective in question, you understand that his role is limited and in the end does not even appear in the story at all.

A handyman who kills women is different from a psychopath fleeing an asylum or a madman in an ice hockey mask who comes to avenge his bad childhood, but the basic principles are not that different. The handyman overwhelms and “treats” his victims in the same, inhumane way as, grab him, Michael Myers in “Halloween” and Jason Voorhees in “Friday the 13th.” The handyman chooses the most beautiful ladies, lets them struggle for a while and finally puts a gruesome end to it. And, if we are to believe ‘Toolbox’, everything comes through the bible. The killer turns out to be well-read and brought up strictly with the writing, which apparently states that you agree to get rid of those you don’t like. Sure, the killer himself has also suffered a great loss earlier in his life, but that doesn’t justify cutting so many attractive women from humanity.

Nail guns, drills, hammers: all kinds of tools pass by that end up in the helpless bodies of the young victims in their own way. Of course, a piece of soft porn should not be missing in a exploitation film from the 70s. For example, we see the attractive brunette Kelly Nichols, who feels herself in full uniform in a white bathtub with lots of foam, with a tatty, campy country music as background music. Kelly was known as a ‘hard worker’ in the porn industry after ‘Toolbox’ in the late 70’s, early 80’s, which was then experiencing its Golden Age, so you can imagine yourself with it. Only annoying that she comes to her end so harshly in the film. The way Nichols takes her last breath seems to be Stephen King’s most favorite death scene. You have been warned.