The Toolbox Murders

Year: 1978
Director: Dennis Donnelly
Writer: Neva Friedenn, Robert Easter
Genre: Horror: Slasher

Here's one of those early slasher classics that I've avoided watching seriously for a while. It must have something to do with he name... Toolboxes aren't all that interesting and the name is pretty uninspiring. As I watched the first twenty minutes or so it totally seemed that my fears were founded in something tangible too. When you start watching The Toolbox Murders you feel like it's something very dull and that you've probably seen a million times before.

For the first few minutes you're party to watching woman after woman getting herself killed by a murderer who uses tools from his toolbox to kill them. If you turned it off right after the second or third murder I wouldn't blame you. However, it's worth watching past the supremely slow introduction as the film snaps out of it.

After the big murders have been committed then people must work to figure out what's going on. Detectives and friends/family of the victims are all trying to discern what is going on and why. Things get weird, the murder isn't just some faceless unhuman being, and overall the movie is pretty neat. It doesn't do much incredible but for the time period it was at least distinctive.

I'd recommend the film to those who care about slashers but have also avoided it. I found myself pleasantly surprised and hope that others will too. It might also be fun to watch with some friends because there are some strange segments which could definitely get people joking about.