28 March 2024
The Toolbox Murders (1978)
92 min.
Directed by Dennis Donnelly.
With Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Tim Donnelly, Wesley Eure, Aneta Corsaut, Nicolas Beauvy, Kelly Nichols.
Nailguns and hammers and drill bits, oh my!

The female residents of a city apartment building are being stalked and killed by a husky psycho in a black ski mask.

The deranged nutcase is murdering the women in grisly fashion, utilizing a variety of power tools and assorted construction hardware.

What motivates the bloodlust of this maniac? And will innocent teenager Laurie (Ferdin) escape the madman's wrath?

Playing the complex's superintendent Kingsley, veteran actor Cameron Mitchell (of 1980's superfun Silent Scream) is passable in this gritty cheapie.

Toolbox is shot with a bit of verve, occasional spurts of energy, and boasts at least one bloody sequence which hits...the nail...right on the head.

Eure is good as Kingsley's strapping nephew Kent, but Ferdin is woefully underused as the final girl.

Unless you absolutely hate it upon first viewing, a second go 'round might be in order.

The bottom line? Any way you cut it, Toolbox is still a step above Abel Ferrara's Driller Killer (1979), if you can believe that.

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