A remake of the 1978 film of the same name, "The Toolbox Murders" is a return from director Tobe Hooper to his suspense/slasher roots. Angela Bettis ("May") stars as Nell, an out-of-work teacher who has just recently moved to a decrepit apartment building in Hollywood. During the day, her husband works, so naturally she runs into a little trouble and as neighbors start disappearing, a disturbing secret about the building comes to light. Is it infested with rats? Is the rent about to go up? Does Seinfeld's Newman store mail in its hollowed out walls? Watch, and find out.Like Hooper's infamous "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (and to a lesser extent, the under-appreciated but wholly worthwhile "The Funhouse"), "The Toolbox Murders" is a slow and steady slasher that builds to its conclusion. Thanks to some slick directing and an effectively creepy setting, the film has a dirty and grimy atmosphere seen too little in more modern slashers. Also in the film's favor is the decade's unsung Scream-queen Angela Bettis, who keeps the film grounded and is likable and credible enough that you want to follow her for an entire film. Of course, that's to say nothing of the often graphic and applause-worthy carnage at hand. Those itching for some good late '70s/early '80s brutality will walk away feeling rather satisfied.Unfortunately, the film is a bit by-the-numbers and suffers from its predictable nature. You may not see the film's twist coming right away, but you can be sure you'll figure who bites it and probably in what order. The film is filled to the brim with stock characters from the quirky neighbor to the creepy maintenance guy which tends to work against the solid performance by Bettis. Rarely does the film break away from convention, and although its throwback feel is refreshing, it gets a bit stale by the end and gives one the impression that Hooper directed the film in his sleep (and without the aid of Spielberg this time).In short, "The Toolbox Murders" is an efficient slasher romp that offers little in the way of surprises. But as a character in the film would say, that's just part of the movie's charm. The film is very much in the spirit of Hooper's earlier work and fans of the bygone golden age of slashers will get the most mileage from it than anyone else. Just go into it with limited expectations and you'll find it to be a decent way to kill 90 minutes.

In all fairness, the 1978 version of this movie already wasn't exactly a great or classic one by any means but at least it had as a redeeming quality that it got made in the '70's and therefor had a great typical distinctive '70's movies atmosphere. This movie its only redeeming quality is its gore even though there isn't an awful lot of it in it.This movie chooses a different approach and story than the 1978 movie and therefor this movie is more of a re-imagining than an actual remake. The only thing that has remained the same is the setting of an apartment complex and a killer who uses the content of his toolbox for his killings. This movie uses a more supernatural approach of things, while the original was a pure slasher.Since it's a re-imaging, it obviously also does some things better, compared to the original. The movie picks a main character right on from the start, so the movie is more coherent with its story and characters.But yet it's not a better movie. The movie had some real good potential with its concept but it just forgot to ever get tense. For an horror movie it's also lacking some serious scares and while the build up is good with its suggestive camera work among other things, it just never pays off in the end, since a climax is never really reached in any of its sequences. It's not that this movie is a complete bore to watch but its concept just screamed for a better execution. It's funny how Tobe Hooper has never made a decent horror movie again ever since after "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", unless you still believe that he also directed "Poltergeist". It's true that the movie gets better toward the end, when things finally start to take off but it's too little too late by then already to still fully save this movie.The movie is definitely dark but I wouldn't exactly describe it as atmospheric. You can say that the atmosphere is too dark, which ruins some of the movie its tension. It's one of the simples things you can do as an horror director; make ever sequence look really dark but this just doesn't necessarily make a movie automatically tense or scary as well.The acting is slightly below par, though definitely still better than the average typical B-horror movie entry. Angela Bettis, Rance Howard and Juliet Landau are all some semi-good and known actors.Not an horrible movie, just not really worth seeing either.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

On one sight,we have masterpieces like Poltergeist,Salem's lot and The Texas chainsaw massacre(1974).On the other sight we have craps like Lifeforce,Funhouse and the remake of Invaders from Mars.With this thing,I wanna say that when there's an opportunity to see a Tobe Hooper's film,it's very possible that we can see a masterpiece or a crap.Toolbox murders(2004)is not a masterpiece and it's not a bad film...it's a good horror film which kept me very fun.A very little quantity of people will remember the original film,The Toolbox murders,made in 1978,which,by my point of view,is a very mediocre and clichéd film.This remake is a lot better than the original movie(surprise!)because it's funner and more ingenious.In Toolbox murders(2004),the tired formula of the masked killer has a thanked twist which explains the motives of the killer and the nature of its surroundings.Angela Bettis showed she's a brilliant actress on a masterpiece called May.She does a good work in Toolbox murders(2004),but her talent is beyond her role on this movie.This film has some fails(the edition is a little weak and the script feels forced on some occasions)but it kept me very fun and it never bored me.

This was a dull little film to me. The atmosphere was good and the claustrophobia of the Lusman Arms building was really good but the acting was so weak and the characters neither charismatic nor intimidating. None of them is likable with the exception of the excellent Angela Bettis who took this thing and carried it across the finish line. I certainly could not have stood watching this to the end without her sensitive, intelligent and interesting acting. She gives the very real and convincing performance of a truly gifted actor and I look forward to enjoying more of her work. Her turn in this movie is close to being on a par with her brilliant "MAY". Sadly, no nudity, no underwear...........not even a glimpse!