Wow! Such a good movie.

Just so...so bad

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Blistering performances.

Some reviews call this movie sleazy; to some degree it is. Some might say it lacks action in the last two acts; that's partially true as well. But this film is something different entirely. In the genre of serial killer-exploitation, female characters are routinely objectified. But "The Toolbox Murders" is a rare feminist exploitation film. It twists the genre on it's head and gives it an entirely different angle on female roles in horror.The film starts with some suitably gory murders, seemingly setting the stage for a by-the-books slasher movie. But after these first murders (SPOILERS) the killer kidnaps a young girl and keeps her in his home as his surrogate daughter (his own died in a car accident). The killer reveals that he chose his female victims because of supposed moral transgressions. These transgressions are sins of the "modern woman" (sexual freedom, freedom of choice, etc.) and he wants to keep his new "daughter" as a pure, virginal woman.The movie twists and turns, but it's mostly psychological. It plays with genre conventions, such as a woman's savior almost always being a male figure, and changes them. In the end, she is seen by her attackers as a porcelain doll to be manipulated, not a real human being. (SPOILERS) She eventually is capable of saving herself; no man is needed.The direction is fine, the acting is okay for a low-budget '70's horror movie, but the uniqueness of this film is its greatest quality. Many viewers came to this movie expecting a cookie-cutter serial killer movie, and that's not what "The Toolbox Murders" gives you.

"The Toolbox Murders" opens with a string of brutal and bloody killings at a small apartment complex in Los Angeles.An unknown assailant wearing a ski mask kills various sexually active and 'lewd' women.The nude murder scene of Marianne Walter with a nail-gun is the most noteworthy and has to be seen to be believed.Unfortunately after four gory and misogynistic murders the film becomes pretty tiresome kidnap/captivity/detective psychodrama.Come on!The first half of "The Toolbox Murders" blew my mind with its sleaze and unflinching violence.The climax is also disappointing and abrupt.The acting is good with excellent central performance of Cameron Mitchell as the Toolbox Slasher.Overall,"The Toolbox Murders" is a solid exploitation sickie.A must-see for fans of "Maniac","Don't Go in the House" or "Born for Hell".8 out of 10.

This is by no means a classic genre movie but for a low budget independent '70's horror movie it also certainly is one fine watchable movie.Biggest problem with this movie is that there is no main character. Basically for the first third of the movie you only see different murders occur. You just keep waiting for the movie to introduce its main 'hero'. Some times character's roles become bigger in the movie and you expect the rest of the movie to be focused entirely around them but every time then the movie cuts away again and takes a whole other direction with its story and characters. So not really the most consistent movie around.It's an '70's movie, so the movie uses lots of unusual experimental editing. It's fine looking but yet it doesn't all quite work out well enough. The movie uses the proper right required horror build up for its sequences but yet when it comes down to its most important part; the scare moments, the movie falls short. The movie just never knows to become truly tense and perhaps you can even call the movie a bit boring in parts. This is also due to some of the pacing problems of the movie. The fact that we get to know who the killer is pretty early on in the movie (the hairy arms gave it away) also takes away a lot of the tension and mystery atmosphere of the movie.Even though the movie gets gory in parts, I mean the murders are being committed with the contents of a toolbox, how can it not be gory but it's just never really shocking.Still fans of this sub-genre will probably most likely still enjoy and appreciate this movie.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The original "Toolbox Murders" isn't a bad exploitation movie but it's far from achieving classic status. Dennis Donnelly's low-budget grindhouse film moves quickly once the opening credits have finished - we are shown a series of violent attacks in an apartment block on a number of attractive women. Each attack, carried out by a ski-masked psycho with a toolbox and a penchant for whistling as he works, is different but retains a DIY theme. So, we have death by nail-gun, death by chisel, etc.There's a fair bit of female nudity on display in these early scenes, including an eye-opening bathtub masturbation scene. Accompanied by a funky '70s soundtrack, the gore sequences aren't memorable in the way that they are in a good "Friday the 13th" installment but the scenes are shown in such rapid succession so there's no time for boredom to set in.Sadly, the film runs out of steam towards the end. Once the identity of the killer is known (although it's hardly a shocking revelation), the movie changes pace and becomes a little tired. Well, a lot tired, to be honest.Still, I've seen a lot, lot worse. 6 out of 10. Good but not great, I preferred Hooper's recent remake.