The Toolbox Murders

If you get rid of the evil, all that’s left in the world is good.

A series of brutal murders task a police department who have limited information to determine who is responsible. They are further burdened by the kidnapping of a fifteen year old, abducted from her mother's apartment; she lives in the same building as a nailgun victim, murdered by the same man who kidnaps the girl. The kidnapped girl's brother will try to find her whereabouts while a detective attempts to solve this frustrating case.

 ***½

 Early memories providing exposition in image as to a possible explanation motivating the mania of murder

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Mother and daughter don't have a clue who just walked past them.

I was thinking tonight as I was watching the 1978 version of The Toolbox Murders that the technique of riding in the car—basically in the passenger seat with him—with a killer, perusing the streets while listening to a radio broadcast featuring a preacher laying down the biblical word regarding sin, seeking a location to kill people, really places us intimately in the company of a psychopath. It is disconcerting, to me at least. When the killer exits the car, he drags out his toolbox (a big one, to boot), walks past a mother walking with her daughter, and pats the child on the head. Yikes, this really should make the skin crawl! It makes that monster so human; he can set a killing plan in motion yet take a moment to address a child with a nice pat on the head.

He proceeds to intrude upon a woman in an apartment complex who recognizes him, seemingly comfortable in his presence even though he has a toolbox open, pulling out a drill. While “Carolina in the Morning”, a western tune, is in the background, the killer uses the drill on her after punching the woman into unconsciousness. She had been cut by his tool, tried to get away into a room, unsuccessful, later knocked out, and eventually drilled. The sound of the spinning drill is quite the death bell. She was just his warm-up kill. He hadn’t even put on his ski mask yet. He hums to the tune even. This brutality by his hands doesn’t even cause a hint of remorse; in fact, it was probably fun. That’s exactly the kind of movie The Toolbox Murders is. Really a sickie.

His second victim is a gorgeous girl who comes home, prepares for a shower, leaves her apartment for just a moment to grab a bag, is accosted by the killer, swiftly belted into unconsciousness. He carries her limp, lovely body to the front of a flight of stairs, pulls out a hammer after laying her delicately on the floor, and buries its teeth into her skull. Thankfully (at least for me), only a spattering of blood is used to establish her heinous demise. His continual humming of a tune while doing so without a slight moment of hesitation emphasizes a total disregard for human life. It further proves that The Toolbox Murders packs a wallop through having us right in the moment a killer goes on his cold-blooded rampage. Then in a twisted bit of fate, a neighbor passes by in one of those in the wrong place at the wrong time kind of moments to say something to the victim as the killer was placing her dead carcass (smeared in blood) on the floor of her apartment. He makes damn sure she can’t escape, capitalizing on her collapsing into a heap of hysteria, pulling a screwdriver from the now bloody toolbox, sticking it in her stomach, death practically instantaneous as obvious internal bleeding took hold. This time a bit of disco plays in the background. Music and death both bedfellows on this night of toolbox murders.

Killer surveys a new killing ground.

The occupants of Room 302 are luckier than others.

"You gotta forgive me, I can't stand the sight of blood."

The film plays on the convenience of how the killer seems to move through the apartment complex as if he’s very familiar with the occupants and rooms. Cameron Mitchell is the prestige name in the cast. When he shows up at the crime scene of model Deborah, named the complex’s owner who leases the apartments, expressing dismay about the deaths, it adds such a layer of creepiness because of the later revelation in the middle of the film as to how he’s tied to the murders. The cops are shooting photographs and interviewing witnesses, surveying the scene of the crime, trying to get a handle on this bloody mess.

It isn’t until the next night that we might have a clue as to the killer’s identity. The sexy redhead in her apartment, taking a nice, long bath, eventually masturbating to a love duet country tune, has her door locked, and the killer is able to unlock it. How could he do that unless he had a key? Snapping the chain with a pair of pliers, he’s able to waltz in without any degree of difficulty, surprising her after she had reached her orgasm, a nailgun in hand. Her fate is sealed as she’s completely naked and vulnerable. This creep has her at his disposal and she can do nothing to stop him. Because he’s so calmly relentless in his desire to put a nail in her stunning body, she’s trying to run around in some desperate attempt to thwart his efforts. I give Kelly Nichols a lot of credit for going into this scene literally bare and in doing so we see how helpless a victim can be when intruded upon with nowhere to escape. While her hardcore/adult film career is notable, here her pleasuring herself in the bathtub, until fully gratified, pushed my buttons just as any make-out session with partners in a porn film would (if more so). What’s the more interesting in her character’s demise, it is possible she’s a nude/erotic model/actress; Nichols own career and the one in this film parallel. Kind of unnerving when I think about it.

The Toolbox Murders is built (the title itself says this) to hit you in the jugular early. A definite criticism I have read is that the movie delivers the goods at the onset and fizzles (grinds to a halt) once the killer kidnaps teenager, Laurie (Pamelyn Ferdin), from her apartment, and her brother, Joey (Nicholas Beauvy), pursues her whereabouts. Joey becomes frustrated with the police’s lack of concern for his sister (or this is what he perceives when they do not search for her initially), and he sets out to get answers. He aligns himself with who he believes is an ally and confidante, Kent (Wesley Eure of Land of the Lost; his part here should raise some eyebrows; I thought his character reveal was hilarious instead of disturbing, the way he "must defend his family" as to protect his uncle of the crimes he committed from Joey) but soon learns that this young man is just as disturbed as the psychopath .

Besides the violent strikes of each murder, the lollipop-sucking confession of Cameron Mitchell to a bound and gagged (and definitively terrified) Ferdin, explaining why he *compassionately* committed his acts out of the best intentions (putting them down quickly like he would an old dog or horse!), using morality as an excuse behind the executions may be the most memorable scene in The Toolbox Murders. It’s effortless for him, as Mitchell portrays this as if it were perfectly logical and humane to do what he did. It’s almost surreal. UNNATURAL! UNNATURAL! UNNATURAL! Nichols had to die because of the way she did unnatural things to her body. This according to Mitchell. Ferdin is really good here. She looks authentically freaked out and tears stream as she quivers. I have to say this is a great scene. It explains the violence of the first act and creates a tension in what could possibly happen to Ferdin if she said or did the wrong thing to set him off as an immoral creature worthy of being taken out as to cleanse the world of another sick, vile beast. Kathy, Mitchell’s little Kathy; her death is the catalyst in how he wound up such a lunatic. Her loss in a car wreck triggered a psychopathy further encouraged by a warped sense of why the world is so dirty and in need of rescue by ridding it of those who cause its decline. Seeing Ferdin trying to keep her hands free from being tied together, hoping to somehow say little but enough to convince him not to harm her, while Mitchell sings, “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child”, certainly takes us into a different place than what we were witness to in the opening of the film. With Kent soon acknowledged as fully knowing Laurie's been kidnapped by his own uncle, and so willing to allow her to stay imprisoned in his home, it only includes yet another twisted angle to the story.

To me, The Toolbox Murders is every bit the slasher movie as others before its making and after. All of its here. The psychosis deriving from a past incident, the psycho-sexual mania involved, the victims chosen and why, and the eventual identification and downfall of killer thanks to "the final girl". Oftentimes, the slasher film will allow a seasoned actor/actress to chew on some meaty scenery; both Mitchell and the younger Eure do so here. Eure is game to go full tilt boogie, doing so when Kent gets too close, learns of who is responsible not only for his sister's kidnapping but the apartment slayings, taking care of matters before the authorities could get wind of such facts/evidence. What I had a problem with in regards to Joey's fate was how little he defends himself against Kent when there are all sorts of tools and weapons at his disposal in the garage. Kent was in sing-along mode, using only lighted matches and a devilishly happy demeanor, while Joey was tossing little boxes of (I guess) nails at him. If some sicko has a plan to burn me alive, I'm cutting his ass with the nearby hacksaw!

I kind of put myself in Laurie’s position as I was watching the intense back-and-forth between Uncle and nephew over Kathy, the secret fornication, and eventual argument’s mad descent into violence. All that madness playing out in front of her, tied and unable to cry for help, her brother’s body burning in the garage (you can briefly hear his screams as Mitchell talks with Ferdin; really eerie). While the uncle is upended by his “fornicator” nephew thanks to a conveniently placed steak knife, Laurie believes she’s saved by Kent, not knowing he killed Joey and plans to rape her. The rape is mostly implied with Kent holding her arms down and forcing himself all over her, Laurie’s pleas for stopping falling on deaf ears; they are shown afterward, Laurie shaken, Kent in bliss. Scissors available to her, Laurie is shown walking on a parking lot towards home, scissors in hand, blood on her blouse, nightfall ending, the dawn on the horizon. 

What a fucked up movie this is. Just demented. Even I had to ask myself, “Who comes up with this shit?” Movies like this are perfectly suited for pissing people off and earning heaps upon heaps of criticism for their subject matter. If you have a model for a “video nasty”, The Toolbox Murders is quite the posterchild. Its fans will celebrate such a distinction, its willingness to offend and punch you in the throat. I never saw a moment where the film says, “This is fun, come in, have a seat, and enjoy.” This is ugly and unpleasant. As it should be, I guess. To be honest, this is was a **½ movie for me, but the masturbation scene aroused out of me ***½. It accomplishes what it sets out to do; it certainly made my skin crawl.