Not even bad in a good way

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A ski-masked maniac kills apartment complex tenants with the contents of a toolbox.Blue Underground does a great job of bringing forgotten movies to the mainstream, and making them look good in the process. You might think a "video nasty" from the 1970s would not fare well today, but they make it work with a great audio commentary and interview. We get an inside look at a slasher that really predated the slasher movement.One can see why it got the title of "video nasty". There is a sexuality to it that is not necessarily appropriate, and then the idea of killing people with power tools? This similar idea was explored more humorously with "Slumber Party Massacre", but there is little humor here.

A warning to the unaware: the "toolbox murders" of the title don't take up very much of the screen time. They're merely a prelude to some sordid, twisted melodrama that some viewers merely find boring. But if you don't mind this shift in focus, you should find sticking with this movie to be worth it. Certainly the acting is bravura stuff; some of the performers take a great delight in their roles.A maniacal handyman uses the implements to be found in his trusty toolbox to slaughter the female tenants in an apartment complex. The incredibly stupid detective on the case doesn't once think of an obvious course of action. (So the movie may lose some viewers on that basis as well.) And before long young Laurie Ballard (cute and perky former child actress Pamelyn Ferdin ("The Beguiled") is abducted by the killer and held captive.Cameron Mitchell, seemingly an actor who could never turn down a paycheck, is the star of this junky but oh so amusing nonsense. Co-starring as his nephew is Wesley Eure of 'Land of the Lost' fame; Aneta Corsaut ('The Andy Griffith Show') and Nicolas Beauvy ("The Cowboys") play Laurie's mom and brother. And cast as the detective is Tim Donnelly (brother to director Dennis Donnelly), who appeared on the TV series 'Emergency!' and went on to be the star of "The Clonus Horror". You really have to hand it to Mitchell: he does NOT phone it in here. Marianne Walter, better known as veteran porn actress and makeup artist Kelly Nichols, has a memorable bit as a victim who pleasures herself in the bathtub (to the strains of a touching country ditty dubbed "Pretty Lady") before the Toolbox Murderer comes calling.Basing itself on some supposedly "true story" (as text at the end indicates), this is undeniably entertaining stuff for those with a taste for the sick and seamy, and it just grows more and more grim as it goes along, accompanied by an incredibly haunting score by George Deaton. Legendary cameraman and d.p. Gary Graver handles the cinematography.Even if it's not for everybody, one can't deny that this movie does have its moments.Followed by a 2004 remake directed by none other than Tobe Hooper.Seven out of 10.

The stars of this film are Cameron Mitchell (232 performances in film), Pamelyn Ferdin (71 roles, including The Beguiled), Wesley Eure, and Kent Kingsley.But, the real star of this mystery is Marianne Walter, who started her film career in the King Kong remake. You thought you were seeing Jessica Lange's breast's didn't you? No, they were Marianne's, and she really puts them on display here in her first film role. She gets nailed by the slasher after a long masturbation scene in the bathtub. Someone must have noticed her talent, as she changed her name to Kelly Nichols, and made 84 more films, most of them rated X.This movie has some gruesome murders using tools, but it is not overly bloody. The real interest, aside from Marianne, is who the slasher is, and the reason for the murders, and how it ends. It has some real interesting twists and is made all the more interesting by the fact that is it supposedly based on a true story.You will feel a little guilty watching this misogynistic trash, but it is cinematic history as this is one of the 74 video nasties banned in Britain. It was released with 1 minute and 46 seconds cut in 2000.

This is by no means a classic genre movie but for a low budget independent '70's horror movie it also certainly is one fine watchable movie.Biggest problem with this movie is that there is no main character. Basically for the first third of the movie you only see different murders occur. You just keep waiting for the movie to introduce its main 'hero'. Some times character's roles become bigger in the movie and you expect the rest of the movie to be focused entirely around them but every time then the movie cuts away again and takes a whole other direction with its story and characters. So not really the most consistent movie around.It's an '70's movie, so the movie uses lots of unusual experimental editing. It's fine looking but yet it doesn't all quite work out well enough. The movie uses the proper right required horror build up for its sequences but yet when it comes down to its most important part; the scare moments, the movie falls short. The movie just never knows to become truly tense and perhaps you can even call the movie a bit boring in parts. This is also due to some of the pacing problems of the movie. The fact that we get to know who the killer is pretty early on in the movie (the hairy arms gave it away) also takes away a lot of the tension and mystery atmosphere of the movie.Even though the movie gets gory in parts, I mean the murders are being committed with the contents of a toolbox, how can it not be gory but it's just never really shocking.Still fans of this sub-genre will probably most likely still enjoy and appreciate this movie.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/