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The Movie:
 Other than the
title - and the fact that the killer uses tools to dispose of his
victims - Tobe Hooper's Toolbox Murders has little in
common with the original 1978 film. More a
"re-imagining" than a straight remake, Hooper's film
tells the story of an old Hollywood hotel that has a history of
missing inhabitants. Soon after Nell and her husband move in,
while the building is being renovated, the creepiness starts to
set in. It's not long before Nell finds herself in the middle of
the search for the Lusman building's mysterious secrets.
Many rabid horror fans, myself included, have been hoping for a
return-to-form from Tobe Hooper ever since his Texas Chainsaw
Massacre days (Poltergeist barely counts), and Toolbox
Murders seemed to be the perfect opportunity to showcase his
talent for portraying gore in a hardcore, frightening way. In a
period of horror-genre history when the PG-13 rated film seems to
reign supreme, Hooper's latest film tries vehemently to deliver a
glimpse of what's mostly been missing in the theaters over the
last few years. It is a violent, gory return to the days of the
slasher film, with a little bit of mystery thrown in.
Toolbox Murders, however, is not a true return to form
for Hooper. The film is not another Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(what could be, really?), but there are moments of that type of
brilliance within it. The pacing is not exactly perfect, and
there are certainly some logic issues at work here, but I have to
hand it to Hooper where it really counts. He makes a kick-ass
horror film that does a great job of frightening just when he
wants it to, and he definitely knows how to crank up the
tension near the conclusion. Once Nell starts her real
investigation of the Lusman's oddities, Toolbox Murders
begins to churn and never really slows down for the remainder of
the film. Not to mention the sense of dread hanging over the
hotel, which Hooper creates with his muted color palette and
propensity for oddball angles. You just know something
bad is going on within those walls, and you can't help but wonder
who might actually make it out alive.
 So we know that
Hooper can make an adequate slasher film. Is this really a
surprise to any fan of the horror genre? Probably not, and the
fact that the film does give us a handful of the usual clichés
and red-herrings doesn't really help distinguish it as anything
more than a gory return to something a little harder than we're
used to seeing. Hooper's film, however, does have a few things
going for it that most of those other films don't have. Sure, he
may use a few of the usual clichés, but he also takes those
clichés and turns them on their head several times throughout
the film (and especially near the end). He intentionally allows
the viewer to gain a false sense of security by using those
clichés, and then shocks that very same viewer by turning those
clichés upside down.
The other big caveat that Hooper has going for him in Toolbox
Murders is genre-favorite Angela Bettis. If her performance
in May established her as rising star, this film cements
her place as one of the foremost actresses working in horror
today. She may be a tiny little thing, but her presence on the
screen is enormous, and Toolbox Murders really gives her
the chance to shine with a performance that is both nuanced and
fresh. This performance alone (not to mention the inclusion of
genre veterans Juliet Landau and Rance Howard) is enough to turn
what could have been a dull remake of a cheesy slasher film into
a surprisingly good low-budget horror film.
The DVD
Video:
 Toolbox
Murders is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer that
suffers greatly from a shoddy source print. As much effort as
Lions Gate put into the extra features on this DVD, they would
have done wisely to clean up the print for this transfer. For a
film (albeit a low-budget feature) this recent there is no excuse
for how many instances of dirt, scratches, and debris are present
throughout the entire film. I can understand there being some
inherent grain - especially in darker scenes - and there is
certainly a fair amount here, but Lions Gate could have at least
cleaned up the print. The debris is not always
noticeable, but when it does rear its ugly head, it becomes quite
distracting.
Nevertheless, this transfer does attempt to overcome its problems
as it does a nice job handling the shadows, colors, and vast
amount of blackness employed by the film. Detail is often sharp
and black levels are deep with no sign of digital artifacts.
There is a very slight amount of edge enhancement, flicker, and
shimmering present, but it is hardly noticeable. Shadows are
nicely delineated and the muted green and brown color palette
appears just as it is intended, but it's hard to get past the
shortcomings of this transfer. Lions Gate really dropped the ball
by not at least giving the print a once-over before delivering
this DVD. If they had, this could have made for a very
pleasant visual presentation.
Sound:
The audio on this disc is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and
Dolby 2.0 stereo surround formats, and while both tracks are very
nice, the format of choice is clearly the Dolby Digital 5.1
track. The film's numerous "jump scares" are portrayed
so well in this track that the very few problems that arise seem
barely negligible. Spatial separation across the front channels
is great and the use of the surround channels is extremely well
done. Whether it be to aid the soundtrack, provide a bit of
ambience, or deliver some truly great surround effects, the rear
channels always seem to be doing the right thing at the right
time. The LFE channel even gets quite a workout a few times
throughout the film, providing some very nice low-end. The only
issue I had with either track is the slight level fluctuation,
especially in the center channel. At times, the film's dialogue
gets a bit muddled and becomes somewhat overwhelmed by the other
aspects of the soundtrack. It never gets bad enough for the
dialogue to be intelligible, but there are a few instances where
I had to strain to hear exactly what was being said.
Nevertheless, this track succeeds in its overall power and
ability to provide some great surround effects that only help the
film to create more tension.
Extras:
Although Toolbox Murders didn't have much of a
theatrical run here in the United States, Lions Gate chose to
provide a fairly loaded disc with some very nice extra features.
 The first, and best, special feature is an audio
commentary with Director Tobe Hooper and Writers Jace Anderson
and Adam Gierasch. It's clear that the three
participants are great friends as they interact very easily
throughout their commentary. Anderson and Gierasch do most of the
talking while Hooper drops in a few nice anecdotes and comments
about filming. There are a few instances where the participants
fall into the awful trap of simply narrating the scenes, but most
of the track is filled with insightful comments about the film
itself. The trio goes on to explain why their film barely
resembles the original 1978 film, and they even touch on the
influence of Dario Argento's Suspiria and the novel
The Picture of Dorian Gray on their film. They do
tend to gush a bit about the film and the actors, but the
friendly interaction between Anderson, Gierasch, and Hooper makes
this a very engaging listen.
Also included on this disc is an audio commentary with
Journalist Calum Waddell and Producers Terence Potter and
Jacqueline Quella. This track is slightly slower and not
quite as interesting, but Waddell does a nice job of moving the
pace along. He's clearly well versed in the horror genre and
poses some great questions to the film's producers. Potter and
Quella speak at length about their admiration of Tobe Hooper, the
performances of the actors, and filming at the historic
Ambassador Hotel, but the most interesting aspects of this track
are their comments not only about the differences between Toolbox
Murders and the original film, but also the direction they
might take for the already-planned sequel.
 Lions Gate has also provided five-and-a-half minutes of deleted
scenes. The gorehounds will love these scenes, as they
are mostly extended bits of gore and violence that were excised
in order to attain an R-rating. The film itself is definitely a
hard-R, but the inclusion of these scenes would have really amped
up the gross-out factor.
We also have a very short clip called Fearless Tales
that shows Hooper, onstage at a festival, explaining the idea of
the "coffin baby." Finally, there is the theatrical
trailer for Toolbox Murders, and five
trailers for other Lions Gate films.
Final Thoughts:
I, personally, have nothing against remakes of classic horror
films (or any films for that matter), but I know that a lot of
diehard genre fans recoil at the very thought of them. If the
studios continue to make them with imagination, however, and
pursue them as "re-imaginings" rather than straight
remakes, I think we'll all be in for some really good horror
films. Tobe Hooper's Toolbox Murders only goes to prove
that fact. It is certainly not a perfect film, by any stretch of
the imagination, but it is definitely a well-acted, gory,
tension-filled horror film that will probably make you jump out
of your seat at least a few times.
If only Lions Gate had taken the same amount of time and care
with the film's visual presentation as they had with the rest of
this DVD, I would easily make this a highly recommended disc. The
audio presentation is great and the inclusion of some very nice
extra material goes a long way toward making this whole package
an entertaining experience. I just can't help but think they just
overlooked the fact that the film's print was in desperate need
of a clean up. The performance of Angela Bettis, however, and the
fact that Toolbox Murders is a damn fine little horror
film makes me easily recommend this disc to all the horror fans
out there. |
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