TOOLBOX MURDERS (2004)
Few horror directors are as diverse in their careers as the late, great Tobe Hooper was. The only other genre director who had as eclectic of a career could be the late Wes Craven. Rather interestingly both men forged in the fires of sensory assaulting, genre-defying features from the 1970s. While Craven would have several critically acclaimed features and more than one career resurgence, Hooper wouldn’t be seen as a true horror auteur until after his death, when he’d garner a posthumous respect for films other than 1974’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.
Although Hopper would never reach the same mainstream success as his contemporaries – it could be argued he was too wacky for the mainstream despite his high-budget dip into sci-fi with LIFEFORCE - many critics are under the impression he didn’t make anything good post-1990s. But they couldn’t be more wrong. Whether it was the schlocky joy of the Nu Image creature feature CROCODILE (2000); atmospheric fungus-infused horror MORTUARY (2005); or the two solid entries from Mick Garris’ Masters Of Horror series – DANCE OF THE DEAD (2006) and THE DAMNED THING (2007) – Hooper always injected his wry wit and dark humour into each directorial venture.
One film that remains an unsung classic from his filmography is TOOLBOX MURDERS (2004), an in-name-only remake of 1978’s THE TOOLBOX MURDERS. This time round, it’s not just a ski-mask-wearing killer the residents have to worry about as a cavalcade of genre film actors including Rance Howard, Marco Rodriguez, Juliet Landu, and Sheri Moon Zombie (in a cameo role) meet their ends at the hands of household tools. But then this reboot does something rather interesting and shifts focus mid-film to delve into occult goings-on and the bizarre history of the scuzzy Hollywood hotel-come-apartments where the residents are picked off in increasingly grizzly fashion. Like some of Hooper’s best work, he once again satirises culture, in this case, the alchemy and nature of religious Hollywood cults.
The once glorious Hollywood hotel of the Lusman Arms is brought to grimy, dilapidated life by production designer Yuda Acco (SABRETOOTH ; The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) with art direction by Steven R. Miller (CRITTERS 3). It feels lived-in, neglected and in need of some serious TLC, and that’s before we are shown the unsettling lower levels and subsequently hidden quarters. Anyone who’s lived in a crappy apartment is bound to relate to the walls of water-damaged wallpaper, paper-thin walls, and often out-of-service elevators.
All of this is accentuated by the cinematography of Steve Yedlin (MAY; LOOPER; KNIVES OUT), which heightens the dusty and subterranean aesthetics of the hotel, often shooting from a low angle to evoke a sense of oppressiveness – as though the once legendary hotel is slowly engulfing the residents and the killer is forever omnipresent. It could also be seen as Hooper satirising Hollywood in general, underneath the thin façade lays a hollow and brutal reality.
This brings me to the deranged killer Coffin Baby (played by stunt man Christopher Doyle) who has an intimidating presence during the eponymous murders, despite only having limited screen time and even less showing of his grotesque facial features, but that doesn’t stop Hooper from cranking up the gonzo quality often found within his killer features.
One particular moment has Coffin Baby pin Luis’ (Marco Rodriquez) head into a metal vice and gleefully pour a corrosive powder onto his face, as he does a little dance and cackles to himself. It's hard not to see Coffin Baby as a long-lost Sawyer family member as you both grin and retch during the assault. It's delightfully tongue-in-cheek.
The effects work, though sparse, does enough to separate itself from some of its contemporaries. It might lack the viscera that more hardened gore fans are accustomed to (particularly during that era of horror), but the kills are not without their redeeming qualities. For TOOLBOX MURDERS, Hooper brought on Dean Jones, Starr Jones, and Justin Apone to create some gnarly practical makeup effects (with some uncredited work by the legendary Mark Shostrom). Most notable being the serial killer’s hideous visage and a handful of inventive murders – the previously mentioned sulphur powder facial, a nail gun attack, and a buzz-saw to the face.
But it's not solely the effects which make these moments stand out. Hooper dedicates just as much time to the audio as he does to the visual, with the murders being all the more visceral due to some impressive foley work and, like some of his prior films, leaves the audience’s minds to fill in the blanks.
Early 2000s titles and dated end-credit rock song aside, Tobe Hooper’s TOOLBOX MURDERS has aged rather well. From the oppressive low-angle shots, decidedly icky production design, and darkly comic murders, I’d easily say this is a forgotten gem from Hooper’s latter-era filmography. That’s not to say it's without flaws; Angela Bettis as our titular final girl can grate slightly during the more intense moments. This is a genuine shame, as she shines in her work with director Lucky McGee (MAY and THE WOMAN), but it can often feel like he is the only director who can get the best out of her.
TOOLBOX MURDERS plays to Hooper’s creative strengths and feels almost like a love letter to his older films—particularly single-location settings like THE FUNHOUSE, POLTERGEIST, and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 —and quickly descends into a horrifying and delirious playground full of twisted delights, occult strangeness, and entertainingly gory (complete with darkly comic kills). Keeping the action set within a historic hotel from a bygone Hollywood era lends itself a fairground quality, particularly when the climax takes place within a literal maze of corridors. Some fans would argue this is nothing more than a greatest hits package for the director, but they couldn’t be further from the truth, especially underscored when Hooper (along with screenwriters Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson) subverts expectations during the film’s final third, changing this from a standard slasher to a supernatural cat and mouse chase.
Although Hooper would reteam with Gierasch and Anderson for MORTUARY a year later, they sadly never returned to TOOLBOX MURDERS world to evolve on the original’s sequel-bait ending. A delayed sequel did appear several years later in 2013 – titled TOOLBOX MURDERS 2 aka COFFIN BABY – but quickly faded into obscurity despite being directed by makeup effects artist Dean Jones. Ultimately it loses the wry humour of Hooper’s original, focusing instead on gore and depravity without any of the off-beat charm that made the original so unique.
TOOLBOX MURDERS is so much more than just a budget slasher, destined to be relegated to the forgotten DVD rental shelves from the mid-2000s; it’s clearly Hooper having fun with the stale slasher subgenre, and it remains a charming oddity within the late director’s expansive filmography.
It might not reach the dizzying delights and gonzo insanity found within SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION or the previously mentioned TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 and LIFEFORCE, but it’s still a latter-era Hooper that demands reappraisal and can sit comfortably with the likes of CROCODILE and MORTUARY as a wholly entertaining Friday night feature. Despite his untimely death in 2017, Hooper has left a rich and interesting filmography which more horror fans should delve into beyond his well-known titles.
