Toolbox Murders (2003)

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Jace Anderson (written by)
Adam Gierasch (written by)

Release Date:

9 September 2004 (Israel)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Another legacy begins.

Plot:

A historic Hollywood hotel houses a supernatural evil. It's been subdued for decades - but when renovations start, a series of murders take place. It's up to our heroine to solve the mystery.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Neighbor | Blueprint | Apartment Building | Nail Gun

Cast

Angela Bettis	...	Nell Barrows
Brent Roam	...	Steven Barrows
Marco Rodríguez	...	Luis Saucedo (as Marco Rodriguez)
Rance Howard	...	Chas Rooker
Juliet Landau	...	Julia Cunningham
Adam Gierasch	...	Ned Lundy
Greg Travis	...	Byron McLieb
Christopher Doyle	...	Coffin Baby (as Chris Doyle)
Adam Weisman	...	Austin Sterling
Christina Venuti	...	Jennifer
Sara Downing	...	Saffron Kirby
Jamison Reeves	...	Hudson
Stephanie Silverman	...	Dora Sterling
Alan Polonsky	...	Philip Sterling (as Allan Polonsky)
Charlie Paulson	...	Hans

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language, some sexuality and brief drug use.

Runtime:

95 min | Germany:91 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Netherlands:16 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | UK:15 (original rating) | Ireland:18 | UK:18 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-18 | Philippines:R-13 | Spain:13 | USA:R | Sweden:15 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Alpine Pictures

Trivia:

The tools in the toolbox belong to Tobe Hooper.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Nell is writing the note to Julia the sound of the pencil on the paper mismatches the action.

Quotes:

Byron McLieb: Any fix-it problems you have, just call Ned at extension 10.

Movie Connections:

References Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Soundtrack:

California (Back To Hell)

A rather solid slasher remake…

Director Tobe Hooper once entered the horror-hall of fame at the top position back in 1974 with his undeniable masterpiece of imaginative terror, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ever since that, his career only went downhill. In the nineties he simply…well…sucked with a repertoire of titles like The Mangler and Crocodile. The tide seems to be turning a bit now, as his version of the Toolbox Murders is surprisingly decent and well made. This is a remake of a vicious 70's slasher that is overall gory and disgusting (the original was even included in the `video nasties' – list of banned horror movies in the U.K) The plot and motivations of the murdering nut are slightly different in Hooper's version of the Toolbox Murders. The story is about a young couple that moves to Hollywood and homes in an old, spooky building. Inhabitants of this building – mainly wannabe actors and other scum – brutally die one by one…As the title implies, the butchering is achieved by hammers, drills, screwdrivers and a bunch of other tools. And I bet you can imagine how badly things can get messed up if you're using tools on people, no? Indeed, this films is rather gory and extremely violent with a few gruesome killing-highlights such as a (semi-)decapitation with a sawing machine! Angela Bettis, the girl who stole every horror fan's heart since `May', plays the screaming heroine who slowly gets to the bottom of the murder mystery. She receives good feedback from the beautiful Juliet Landau (Martin Landau's daughter) . The script and story-development isn't always logical and most of the interior shots are under-exposed. Also, the Toolbox Murders seems to give the impression we're guessing fro the identity of the killer initially…like a good old-fashioned ‘whodunit' slasher, but the mystery and detective aspects abruptly come to an end as the plot opens up a little more. Far from being an intelligent (or even clever) horror remake, Tobe Hooper's film is entertaining and perfectly suitable for an evening of scares and loud yells.