Toolbox Murders is a 2004 supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper from a screenplay by Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch. It is a very loose remake of the 1978 film of the same name and was co-produced by Tony DiDio.
Daisy Rain goes to her apartment in the Lusman Arms, a former luxury hotel undergoing renovations, and is beaten to death with a hammer by a man wearing a balaclava. In another room, new tenants Nell and Steven Barrows, a teacher and a medical intern, are introduced to the amenities and a few of the residents by Byron, the building manager.
As Steven works long hours, Nell is left alone most of the time, and befriends Julia Cunningham, a neighbor down the hall, and Chas Rooker, an elderly man who reveals some of the history of the structure, mentioning it was made by Jack Lusman, who disappeared mysteriously, and that builders died while working on it.
Days pass, but the Lusman Arms are plagued by mysterious circumstance; strange noises are heard throughout it and coming from the intercoms, Nell finds a trinket containing human teeth in a wall, and Julia and another tenant vanish, having been killed (with a drill and a nail gun, respectively) by the ski masked murderer, who hides their bodies…
Reviews:
“Toolbox Murders is not so much a remake of its 1978 ancestor as it is a complete re-imaging. Yes there’s a nail gun murder and a similar masked killer theme; but this time around we have an intriguing supernatural sheen, which makes the movie a tad more interesting. The rubbish mystery has been replaced with a good old school horror plot that works wonderfully, making this one of the best remakes of the noughties.” Luisito Joaquín González, A Slash Above…
“Jace Anderson and Gierasch’s notion of an apartment building that’s one vast spell owes a debt of inspiration to Fritz Leiber’s 1977 novel Our Lady of Darkness (itself an homage to the spooky tales of H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen, M.R. James et al.), but their script is mostly an excuse for a series of stalk-and-slash scenes that Hooper executes efficiently but with no particular originality.” Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide
“Pic gleefully quotes from Psycho, The Perils of Pauline and even references Texas Chain Saw, underlining the idea that the movie is a love/hate letter to Hollywood. Toolbox may not renew the splatter genre in any significant way, but the chills and kills prove Hooper, when armed with the right script, can still tighten the fright screws.” Russell Edwards, Variety
Cast and characters:
- Angela Bettis as Nell Barrows
- Brent Roam as Steven Barrows
- Marco Rodríguez as Luis Saucedo
- Rance Howard as Charles “Chas” Rooker
- Juliet Landau as Julia Cunningham
- Adam Gierasch as Ned Lundy
- Greg Travis as Byron McLieb
- Christopher Doyle as Coffin Baby
- Adam Weisman as Austin Sterling
- Christina Venuti as Jennifer
- Sara Downing as Saffron Kirby
- Jamison Reeves as Hudson
- Stephanie Silverman as Dora Sterling
- Alan Polonsky as Philip Sterling
- Charlie Paulson as Hans
- Eric Ladin as Johnny Turnbull
- Sheri Moon Zombie as Daisy Rain
- Price Carson as Officer Daniel Stone
- Carlease Burke as Officer Melody Jacobs
- Bob McMinn as Shadow Man
- Ralph Morris as Nell’s Father
