The Toolbox Murders 1978 123movies

Watch: The Toolbox Murders 1978 123movies, Full Movie Online – A lunatic runs around an apartment complex, apparently home only to attractive flight attendants with a tendency towards exhibitionism. While there, the lunatic tries to kill all the tenants with the contents of a toolbox. Based (probably quite loosely) on a true story..
Plot: No one is safe when a killer, wielding the deadly contents of his toolbox, methodically stalks his prey.
Smart Tags: #naked_dead_woman #female_frontal_nudity #murder_of_a_nude_woman #rape #murder_spree #rape_and_revenge #cult_film #tragic_villain #remade #low_budget_film #power_drill #female_rear_nudity #ski_mask #female_nudity #hammer #nudity #screwdriver #scissors #nail_gun #based_on_true_story #murder

Find Alternative – The Toolbox Murders 1978, Streaming Links:

123movies | FMmovies | Putlocker | GoMovies | SolarMovie | Soap2day

Ratings:

	5.2/10 Votes: 4,362
	13% | RottenTomatoes
	35/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 82 Popularity: 7.483 | TMDB

Reviews:

**_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-

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**

Somewhat tedious and sickly (but not due to gore!!)
I heard about this film at the start of last year and instantly became deeply intrigued by it. I was overjoyed to see it finally released on the ‘VIPCO’ video label (here in the UK) but, alas, this all seemed to be in vain. I guess overall it was somewhat of a bathos and failed to rouse any serious interest in me whatsoever. The acting was, at the best of times, marginal and the plot…let’s say it wasn’t exactly ground-breaking: At the same time though I doubt that director Dennis Donnelly (who has also worked on episodes of ‘Dallas’ and ‘Airwolf’…if I recall from my childhood) was attempting to change the world with the tale of a deranged Ski-mask wearing killer wielding, amongst other items, nail guns and chisels. The killings portrayed are rather nasty and bloody but, as I am now aware, are slightly cut here in the UK. I doubt (sincerely) that if they were shown in their entirety it would have made any valuable difference.

Perhaps what I found most disturbing about the film itself was the general visual aspect ( – vague I find you asking yourselves). The film looks very much dated now, which for some may not be a problem but it tended to make me feel decidedly ‘sickly’. By this I mean that it just reminds me far too much of photos from my childhood *shudders*…with its ghastly floral interiors and fashion sense. I guess this is just a reflection of my own personal dislike towards nostalgia and is no serious reason to comment negatively on the film.

To conclude, ‘The Toolbox Murders’ is a tedious and poor (sorry to be harsh) horror flick at best. At times it appears to imitate Tobe Hoopers classic ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ in the sense that the film was, allegedly, based on ‘real’ events. It also follows a fairly congruous and typical narrative: a series of murders followed by an abduction and, inevitably, torture…only to have the attractive protagonist narrowly escape death. The fact that ‘The Toolbox Murders’ focuses on the notion of the ‘family-gone-wrong’, a la ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, or Pete Walkers ‘Frightmare’, for example, only seems to strengthen this argument more. The main problem: it falls flat on its face in trying to do so. I consider myself to be a die-hard horror film aficionado but this was just unfulfilling; certainly not to be mistaken as a ‘cult classic’.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Horror films
The great Cameron Mitchell is a masked maniac who kills the inhabitants with nail guns, screwdrivers & hammers, before kidnapping Laurie Ballard, a typical yet innocent 15 year old (played by Pamelyn Ferdin who is such a vegetarian that apparently she didn’t even accept meaty roles). I really don’t understand the general disdain for this fine grind-house film, especial by horror aficionados. The first 30 minutes are classic bloody grind-house shenanigans, while the rest is fun in a hokey, unintentionally humorous dialog type of way. And there’s no doubt that Cameron played great nut cases in his career. Better than Tope Hooper’s drab and lifeless 2004 re-make (or re-imagining, rather)

Eye Candy: Marciee Drake gets topless; Kelly Nichols gets fully nude; and extra nudity in the DVD menus & Extras

My Grade: B-

Blue Underground DVD Extras: Commentary with producer Tony Didio, cinematographer Gary Graver and actress Pamelyn Ferdin; an interview with actress Marianne Walter (AKA Kelly Nichols); Poster & still gallery; movie poster reproduction; Cameron Mitchell biography; TV spot; 2 Radio spots; and Theatrical trailer.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 33 min (93 min)
Budget 185000
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated R
Genre Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Director Dennis Donnelly
Writer Neva Friedenn, Robert Easter, Ann Kindberg
Actors Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure
Country United States
Awards N/A
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono, Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1
Camera Arriflex 35 IIA
Laboratory Consolidated Film Industries (CFI), Hollywood (CA), USA
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Digital Intermediate (4K) (2022 remaster), Dolby Vision, Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm