Toolbox Murders (2003)
If you lived here, you'd be dead by now.
Starring: Angela Bettis, Juliet Landau, Brent Roam, Chris Doyle, Rance Howard, Carlease Burke, Price Carson, Sara Downing, Adam Gierasch, Eric Ladin, Bob McMinn, Sheri Moon, Charlie Paulson, Alan Polonsky, Jamison Reeves, Marco Rodriguez, Stephanie Silverman, Greg Travis, Christina Venuti, Adam Weisman
Director: Tobe Hooper
Running Time: 95 minutes
US MPAA rating: RUK BBFC rating: 15
Horror
Despite having "unique architectural features" and "a lot of history", an eccentric Hollywood apartment complex called the Lusman Arms has seen better days, and an ongoing programme of refurbishment (with a high accident rate amongst the workers) has made it able to attract only the impoverished, the desperate or the strange to its rooms. New tenant Nell (Angela 'May' Bettis) is spooked by the alarming noises she hears at night, the cache of human teeth and hair she finds hidden behind a wall, and by the mysterious disappearance of two neighbours - but everyone, including her husband Steven (Brent Roam), thinks she is just being paranoid. Except that, amidst the delapidated brickwork and strange masonic symbols lies a long-term resident who, mightily disturbed by all the commotion and renovations in the building, is out to do some drastic preservation work with a set of very sharp tools.
With its slice-and-dice sensibilities and vaguely low-life characters, 'Toolbox Murders' positions itself as yet another in the current spate of seventies horror retreads (like the recent remakes of
It's Got: Good oddball cast, some funny lines, spectacular set.
It Needs: To follow through on its own premises - and to be scarier.
Alternatives: 'The Toolbox Murders' (1978), 'The Tenant', 'Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth', '13 Ghosts'
Summary: A haunted building with lots of half-finished stories and a few too many, er, flaws.
External Links
Official Web Site
Toolbox Murders at the IMDB
