"Toolbox Murders" review

Toolbox Murders (2004)

Directed by Tobe Hooper
Writing credits Jace Anderson Adam Gierasch

Angela Bettis .... Nell Barrows
Brent Roam .... Steven Barrows
Marco Rodriguez .... Luis Saucedo
Rance Howard .... Chas Rooker
Juliet Landau .... Julia Cunningham

The first "Toolbox Murders" was a film that demanded a remake. They started with a great idea, (Psycho killing women with power tools), but then proceeded to waste it by having the psycho blab on and on to one of his victims. The new "Toolbox Murders" doesn't waste time with a lot of blah, blah, blah. The title says Toolbox Murders and that's what you get.

"Toolbox Murders" is a fine film. It's top quality for a straight to video flick. It could have easily played in theaters. So once again, Toolbox Murders are raging at an apartment building. A motley crew of misfits and cretins are hanging around to get slaughtered. The girl from "May" moves in as well. She's on a quest to prove that there's something very wrong with this building. She may be right as all of the tenants keep disappearing. Soon the madman will make his appearance and many power tools will be unleashed on the hapless inhabitants.

While I enjoyed this gory flick, there was one crucial scene from the first movie that should have been updated. Who could forget the famous scene where the naked chick leaps out of the bathtub and runs for her life from a guy with a nailgun? While a nailgun does make an appearance in the new version, it is a fairly tame death compared to the first "Toolbox Murders". I'll give the original points for their nailgun death scene. For everything else, this version is the winner.

SCORE: 3 out of 4 toolbox massacres