The Toolbox Murders

Has its moments of creepiness especially with the killer and his kidnapped teenage victim, and the opening murders were pretty brutal, but the scenes in between with characters I couldn't care less about, was a tad dry. As exploitation movies go, it's okay. 2.75/5

Effective low-budget slasher beat “Halloween” to theaters in 1978

At a Los Angeles apartment complex, four women are murdered by various tools and a girl is missing. Who’s the psycho doing the killing and WHY? Cameron Mitchell (Vance), Wesley Eure (Kent) and Nicholas Beauvy (Joey) head the cast.

"The Toolbox Murders” (1978) is an obscure early slasher that only cost $165,000, but it’s professionally made and doesn’t seem too low-budget. It beat the hailed “Halloween” to theaters by almost eight months and, in my opinion, is just as worthwhile if you appreciate slasher flicks.

It’s a sordid affair with a couple exploitive bits, but it explores interesting themes underneath the typical slasher plot. For instance, the opening features a minister on the radio preachin’ Mark 9:43-48 and later we learn that someone takes hyperbolic bits of the sermonizing literally to become a deranged “holy” crusader obsessed with purging society of sinners à la Marvel’s Foolkiller, a character that debuted three years before this flick was shot.

As interesting as that is, it’s augmented by other themes, like foolishly protecting a criminal relative, secret sexual sins, family conflict, traumatization and brave overcoming.

Pamelyn Ferdin is the female protagonist. Although playing a 15 year-old, she was 17 when hired and just turned 18 as shooting began. You might remember her as a child actor featured in several television shows from the mid-60s through the 70s, including the 1968 Star Trek episode “And the Children Shall Lead.” This was her final film before becoming a nurse.

Marciee Drake (Debbie) and Kelly Nichols (Dee Ann) also appear on the feminine front. The latter was a nude model at the time and had therefore no qualms about appearing naked.

The film runs 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot at Canoga Park, Los Angeles, with bits done in other parts of the L.A. area, like the closing scene shot at the parking lot of the mall in West Hills.

GRADE: B-

This infamous little slasher flick with the infamous little title is full of blood, violence, and nudity. It is everything you expect from something of this ilk. Supposedly based on a true story, four women in an apartment building are brutally murdered by items normally found in a toolbox. The killer (and the film makers do not hide this fact) is Cameron Mitchell, the building owner. Mitchell is a religious nut who recently lost his daughter in a car accident. He then begins punishing "sinful" women. The last third of the film sees the deaths of two major characters, and wraps things up nicely with the end credits crawl describing what happened to the "survivors" of this "real life" crime spree.

Although rated (R), this is some very violent stuff. The first half hour, when the majority of the crimes take place, is unpleasant. One of the first murders includes the now infamous murder of the model taking a bath. The blood flows freely, and the murders are punctuated by some truly bizarre country and love tunes. The film makers build up a subplot between Ferdin and Beauvy's mom and the standard driven police detective that never pans out, or is resolved. Ferdin and Eure were mainstays on television in the 1970's. They do well, considering the material. Donnelly's direction is pretty basic, a camera shadow can be seen here and there. Gary Graver, the cinematographer, is better known as Orson Welles' cameraman later in the great director's career. Graver seems to have made a career of this kind of film, his involvement usually sets you up for what to expect. I cannot explain why I am recommending this film. Genre fans might appreciate the gore effects, and the reputation this film now celebrates. This is a serial killer film before the term "serial killer" was coined. The events are watchable, however. "The Toolbox Murders" is not "Scream" or "Urban Legends," this is the type of film that no more motive than to scare and disgust its viewer. If that is all they wanted to do, they succeeded.