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 THE
TOOLBOX MURDERS (Blue
Underground) DVD. 1978. Horror. 94 minutes. NR, gore, nudity. Using
various handyman weapons he touts around in his oversized toolbox, a
madman kills a number of female residents of an apartment complex.
Deviating from his usual method of madness, the killer kidnaps a young
teenage girl named Laurie and unknowingly entices her younger brother Joey
to get involved in solving the kidnapping. Along with his tight clothes
wearing buddy Kent, Joey soon realizes that the action may just be a
little too hot for his own good (snicker, snicker…that’s a
“have to see this movie to get it” joke).
The Toolbox Murders is like watching two
different movies with the same characters; the first half is all blood,
guts, and murder, while the second half is more of a mystery/thriller as
we find out who the killer is and his/her motives. So of course, I really
enjoyed the first half more than the second half, but couldn’t help
watching the entire thing for some odd, sick reason. This DVD takes off
like a house on fire with several brutal killings and even some nudity,
but the fire soon flutters down and the “investigation” part begins.
The funniest, and most unrealistic, scene has Joey finding a woman’s
vibrator and playfully tossing it to Kent, who catches it and quickly
drops it saying, “That’s disgusting!” Now seriously folks, what 17
or so year old male is going to do that? When I was 7, my buddy and I
found his mother’s vibrator under her mattress and thought it was a
piece of plastic fruit. Not knowing any better, we put the piece of
“plastic fruit” with the rest of the plastic fruit; in a large wooden
bowl on the kitchen table. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around when my
bud’s mother found the vibrator. Oh to be a fly on the wall. Old timers
(or fans of The TV Land Channel) will surely recognize Wesley Eure (Kent)
from Land of the Lost and Tim Donnelly (Dect. Jamison) as the mustached
buffoon Chet from Emergency, and who also just happens to be the brother
of Dennis Donnelly, director of The Toolbox Murders. The DVD comes with
usual DVD extras; audio commentary, an interview with one of the stars,
trailors, etc. Pretty “chock-full-of-stuff” DVD for the 70’s horror
fan.- Denis Sheehan
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