hellholehorror I didn't hate it like I was expecting. It would have been better if it had been gorier but the intense terror also works. Not really a lasting horror but a good one that will make you feel tension and fear even if it is not petrifying. It reminded me of when I was younger and I got scared of being tied up. Not that that ever happened. I was not tied up as a child. I just got scared that I would. This movie has people being tied up and then tortured. Almost like an early Hostel (2005). Lots of dark scenes of torture. I found myself empathising with the character's fear.

Chris Smith (RockPortReview) In 1974 Tobe Hooper directed the original horror masterpiece "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and created and instant name for himself. But over the past few decades he really hasn't done anything to write home about. Except that in 2004 he directed Angela Bettis in a remake of the 1978 film "The Toolbox Murders".This new version stars Bettis as Nell as she and her husband move into the Lusman Arms apartment complex in Los Angeles. The complex in under an extensive renovation and is a complete mess, but they have a doorman. The story feels like a lost film from Roman Polanski, drawing a lot from the themes of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant". The story also throws in a bit of old Hollywood noir, as the apartment building was the former residence of the infamous Black Dahlia victim Elizabeth Short. The building is a character in itself as a dark and foreboding presence. The movie was shot at the old Ambassador Hotel which has a pretty storied past in itself. The Lusman Arms is the place where young actors come with dreams of making it big. Although Nell is a school teacher and her husband Steve and med student.From the first scene of the movie we know that there is a ski masked maniac in the building who is killing off the resident and things seem to point towards Ned the quiet and creepy young maintenance man who kind of looks like Jack White. Like the original film he kills his victims with various tools in his toolbox, so yeah the title is pretty self explanatory.Nell immediately gets the creeps about the place, but its so affordable since they have to live in a construction zone. We get to know a lot of the residents from an old man who has lived there for 60 years, to the young couple that is always fighting, and the middle aged couple with a teenage son. After hearing a bunch of screaming from next door Nell calls the cops, but they find nothing. She is all alone with her mind allowed to wonder and with the paper thin walls she can't get a moment of silence. As the terror and suspense increases Nell starts to investigate the history of the Lusman Arms. Acting on a tip from the Old Man she find that each floor is missing a room and that something sinister lurks within the walls.This is a fun little movie that is all about Angela Bettis and her character Nell as she fights for not only her life but for her sanity. The "Toolbox Murders" DVD is available online or from Netflix and includes a couple of commentary tracks and some deleted scenes. So I guess you should put the Hot Pocket down and go watch this movie.

jseger9000 I'm not much a Tobe Hooper fan. Aside from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Salem's Lot I haven't liked any of his movies (unless you want to give him credit for Poltergeist). I therefore wasn't expecting much when I picked up his remake of The Toolbox Murders.I haven't seen the original, so I can't say how this remake compares, but on its own, this movie is a winner. A young couple moves into a rat trap old building in Hollywood. He's an intern and is gone most of the time leaving Nell Barrows with too much time on her hands. She finds out some strange things about the building's history and unbeknownst to all, somebody is murdering the tenants.Right from the beginning when the camera is filming through a sheet of plastic in the rain, it manages to give off a downright unsettling atmosphere. A fantastic job was done lighting the creepy old building, making every shadow seem threatening. Everything feels old, grimy and unpleasant. The music is surprisingly good. There is the usual 'string swell' to make you jump, but otherwise it works well to ratchet up your nerves. The whole movie is an exercise in tension.Really the only bad part about this movie is the whole 'toolbox murders' gimmick. The story really stands on its own and is good enough without the different tool for each murder shtick. If the killer just used a knife or something, that would have worked just as well. It felt like they needed to throw in the unusual murder weapons to keep the name.Still, this was a pretty good movie. I'd recommend it to fans of old fashioned '70's and '80's horror movies. They don't make many like this any more.

Paul Andrews Toolbox Murders is set in a Los Angeles apartment complex called the Lusman Arms where a young doctor named Steven Barrows (Brent Roam) & his wife Nell (Angela Bettis) move in, it's not exactly five star accommodation but what can you do when your on a budget? It's currently undergoing lots of renovation & so there are lots of tools lying around, some of the Barrows neighbours are a little strange too, however Nell befriends Julia (Juliet Landau) whom seems pretty normal by comparison. When Julia mysteriously disappears Nell becomes worried & feels something is not right, Nell investigates the origins of the hotel & discovers a sinister past. Nell also discovers a vicious killer & she becomes his next target...Directed by Tobe Hooper I thought Toolbox Murders was an average horror film & nowhere near as good as the original The Toolbox Murders (1978) which this remake has virtually nothing in common with besides the attention grabbing title. The script by Jace Anderson & Adam Gierasch has an identity crisis, it can't decide whether it wants to be a straight forward gory Friday the 13th (1980) slasher or a more mystery orientated who dun-nit like Scream (1996) & frankly it disappoints on both fronts. For those looking for blood, gore & death you would be best advised to watch the original & those seeking a good mystery should watch something like I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), there is definitely better out there. The film is a mish-mash of ideas that don't quite gel together including some supernatural elements that strangely go nowhere, the killer himself also disappoints. Again this remake differs in this respect with a completely different killer & their motives & identity are nothing like the original, in this film he is just some deformed freak who just 'is', nothing more nothing less & that's what it boils down too. This is nothing more than a basic slasher with some out-of-place mystery elements that are almost irrelevant. Having said that it's an OK watch with a few decent moments here & there but overall it's nothing to get that excited about.Director Hooper does OK, I felt the film was a bit flat looking & could have used a bit more visual flair & a bit more style especially considering that such an experienced filmmaker like Hooper was behind the camera. The climax is quite well done though with plenty of rotten corpses strewn around & these scenes have a The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) feel about them. The gore is tame & the body count low, someone has their head bashed in with a hammer, someone has a drill shoved through their head, someone gets pumped full of nails when the killer uses a nail-gun on her, someone has their face burned off with acid & someone has the top of their head cut off, it sounds gory & exploitative but it's pretty bloodless & stretched out at nearly 100 minutes isn't enough.Technically Toolbox Murders is alright, it's generally well made with decent production values but there's nothing particularly special on show here. The acting is OK but again nothing special.Toolbox Murders is an average slasher with a hint of mystery which comes to nothing, I can't say I particularly liked it but at the same time I can't say I particularly hated it. Average at best & nowhere near as good or as exploitative as the sleazy original.