Tubi Thursday: The Toolbox Murders (1978)

 Before I cover the remake that I bought for a dollar, let me check out the original.

It's old, so it must be good, right?

As the Credits roll, we hear a Preacher on the radio...and then the car suddenly stops to show us an accident.

And we're back.  That was odd.

A man shows up and kills a lady with a drill, before putting on a mask...for some reason.

He kills the lady next door AND her visiting friend (a new Poor Bastard of Cinema?).

We can clearly tell who this is AND Cameron Mitchell has top billing...so are we not supposed to know he's the killer in the next Scene.

Oh well, he stalks a naked lady and kills her with a nail gun...eventually.

He also makes sure to kidnap this girl we've only met once before.

Oh, well- who cares about characterization?

The Film takes an odd turn now as the Brother (the guy in the back who looks like Josh Meyers) tries to solve the case and find his Sister.

He works with the Nephew of Mitchell, who we aren't supposed to know is the bad guy yet...I think.

Said guy is played by 'Will' from Land of the Lost.

We finally learn the backstory of our Killer in a bunch of lazy exposition delivered to the kidnapped lady.

Basically, his Daughter died in a car accident and he got religious/crazy (aka pulling a Russell Brand).
He targeted his victims as 'heathens' that were 'perverted.'

Can I just watch Tenebrae instead?

The Brother finally figures things out, finding the Toolbox and all, but the Nephew won't let him snitch.

He douses him in gasoline (left lying around in a pan, because reasons) and lights him on fire!

The climax ensues when Nephew confronts Uncle.  He kills him, after Mitchell freaks out when his baby doll is stabbed.
No, really.

Nephew isn't better, taking the poor girl (who is supposed to be 15).
The next morning, he tells her that he killed her Brother and the Uncle...and she grabs some scissors.

She's seen walking away later covered in blood.  Cue fake 'This is real' text and The End.

A Film with a good, if very sleazy Intro...and not much else.

Credit where credit is due, the Director knew how to sell an Exploitation Flick in 1978.  In fact, after hearing about how profitable Texas Chainsaw Massacre was, that was what he did.

After we get past that part, however, it's really not that interesting.
The Nephew Actor is good, but nobody else really stands out.  Even Cameron is just playing crazy with no real nuance.

The Ending is all sorts of messed up.  So weird to build up that Detective so much and he just does nothing.

The Film knows what it wants to be.  For instance, the second victim strips down, shows her breasts AND gets killed before we even learn her name.

For pure sleaze, it peaks early.
True story- the guy who played the Nephew would go on to co-create a Show for Children's Educational programming.

No joke!

A sleazy drive-in flick that ages about as well as you'd expect.  If there was more of what was interesting, I'd recommend it much more.