In 1979’s The Toolbox Murders, someone is murdering the female tenants of a building in Los Angeles. The killer, who wears a mask and a leather jacket, uses tools. One woman is killed by a hammer to the head. Another is skewered by a power drill. One is stabbed with a screwdriver. Another is shot with a nail gun. The identity of the killer would be a total mystery if not for the fact that we’ve already seen Cameron Mitchell’s name in the cast list.
Indeed, it’s a bit pointless to cast Cameron Mitchell in any sort of whodunit-type of film. Nine times out of ten, Mitchell being in a movie means that that Mitchell (who, in the early days of his career, originated the role of Death of a Salesman‘s Happy Loman on Broadway) is going to be revealed as the murderer. In this case, Mitchell plays Vance Kingsley, the owner of the building. Vance has never recovered from the death of his daughter so he’s punishing women who he considered to be sinful.
The actual toolbox murders are pretty much finished after the first twenty minutes of the film. The rest of the movie deals with Laurie (Pamelyn Ferdin), a 15 year-old girl who is kidnapped by Vance and his nephew, Kent (Wesley Eure). Joey (Nicholas Beauvy), who is Laurie’s brother, attempts to find and then rescue his sister and turns out to very much not up to the task. The film itself ends on a rather sick note, one that is followed by a title card that informs us that the film is based on a true story. Yeah, sure, it was.
The Toolbox Murders has somehow earned a reputation for being a gory and shocking grindhouse film. It was among the films that was banned in the UK for several years. It’s actually not that gory and the use of tools to commit the murders is not quite as clever as the film seems to think it is. Even the nail gun murder (which is the film’s best known moment) feels rather awkward as the victim (Kelly Nichols) never really makes a run for it despite the fact that Vance has to stop to reload after every nail that he fires.
The scenes with Laurie being held hostage are far more disturbing and weird, largely due to Mitchell’s characteristically over-the-top portrayal of Vance’s psychosis. When you watch a movie called The Toolbox Murders, you’re probably not expecting a lengthy scene where Laurie — pretending to be Vance’s dead daughter — tells a long story about what it’s like in the afterlife. In the role of Vance’s nephew, Wesley Eure is even more disturbing than Mitchell. As opposed to the sinister-looking Mitchell, Eure actually has the look of a nice, young community college student and that makes his actions at the end of the film all the more icky to watch.
The Toolbox Murders doesn’t quite live up to its bloody reputation but it’s still a disturbing film nonetheless. Did you know that Heaven smells like lollipops? After this film, you’ll never forget.
Through the Shattered Lens 