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Blu-ray Review: Blue Underground’s ‘The Toolbox Murders’

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Now on Blu-ray everywhere is Blue Underground’s The Toolbox Murders, a hi-def release of the classic 1978 film from director Dennis Donnelly. In a quiet apartment complex in Los Angeles, a deranged handyman goes on a killing spree, savagely murdering ‘immoral’ women with the tools of his trade – claw-hammers, screwdrivers, power drills and even a deadly nail gun! But these gruesome massacres are just the beginning of this landmark epic of violence and depravity that was vilified by critics, banned by censors, and treasured by splatter fans worldwide. This is… THE TOOLBOX MURDERS!
The Film

In the 1980’s, the UK government introduced the Video Recording Act which imposed a strict code of censorship on films that were criticized for its violent content. It backfired soon after popular culture embraced these “indecencies” which made the dreaded Video Nasties list. 1978’s The Toolbox Murders was one of them. Aside from the brutal nail gun sequence, the film is relatively tame compared to the string of “torture porn” flicks that’s bombarded the market these past few years.

This post-Texas Chainsaw Massacre flick is a fairly routine slasher for the first act. It’s essentially a string of violent set pieces with zero plot or any attempt at anything resembling character development. Of course, exploitation fans will find some twisted enjoyment out of watching the ski-masked antagonist knocking off an apartment complex filled seemingly with only “impure” women. The nail gun at crotch level shot is classic slasher raunchiness. There really isn’t a central protagonist which makes the aimlessly dull second act a real chore to sit through.

Once the third act kicks in and the antagonist and his motivations are revealed, the film is somehow redeemed. It quickly descends into a dark and complex character study that somehow justifies its seedy beginnings. Everything gets exceedingly more bizarre and interesting from that point, right up to the haunting climatic shot.

The Toolbox Murders will never be mistaken as the pinnacle of genre filmmaking but its wildly unpredictable and insane final half places it a notch above the crowd. Yes, it’s fairly campy and over-the-top but it’s interesting nonetheless. The film is unapologetically sleazy, injected with a layer of psychological depth, a feat rarely seen if ever in exploitation cinema.

6 out of 10

Video

The Toolbox Murders is presented in a pretty impressive MPEG-4 AVC 1080P, 1.66:1-framed transfer. While there are some minor specks and dirt here and there, the print has been fairly cleaned up. Colors are fairly rich and the black levels are surprisingly deep. While inconsistent, there is some nice detail present. There are moments when the picture can be a tad soft but it’s most likely do to the source material. Grain is present throughout but never as distracting. If anything, it preserves the film look which is a definite plus. Blue Underground’s restoration efforts must be commended considering this little exploitation flick has never looked remotely good on home video till now.

7 out of 10

Audio

The film comes with three audio options; DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and Mono but you’d be hard pressed to find much of a difference. The tracks are clean but with the 7.1 and 5.1 mixes, the sound is regulated to the front channels with barely any separation. You’d have to go right up to the rear speakers to hear anything substantial. Thankfully, Blue Underground stays true to source, devoid of the urge to make it more “attractive” to modern film lovers like unnecessary newly recorded sound effects (Yah, I’m looking at you, “The Terminator”).

6 out of 10

Supplements

The features here are ports from the 2002 DVD minus the poster, still gallery and the Cameron Mitchell bio. There is a commentary with producer, Tony DiDio, Director of Photography, Gary Graver and co-star Pamelyn Ferdin. The track has some interesting info on the film’s creation but they spend far too much time reminiscing about other projects and Cameron Mitchell. This is the kind of commentary you listen to once and completely forget afterwards. The best feature on the disc is the “I Got Nailed in The Toolbox Murders: Interview with Star Marianne Walter” featurette (480p, 8:06). Marianne Walter has some amusing anecdotes about the making of her memorable scene, as well as, a solid retrospect of her career. The remaining features are two Radio Spots (1080p, 0:31 & 0:30), a theatrical trailer (480p, 2:19) and a TV spot (480p, 0:32). They’re vintage grindhouse.

4 out of 10

Final Thoughts

The Toolbox Murders is a minor entry in the slasher genre. It’s uneven but with more than enough fascinating attributes scattered throughout to make it stand out. It’s definitely worth a view for the slasher fan base. If you own the previous DVD edition, the HD upgrade is the only new addition. Thankfully, it’s a good one. So if you’d categorize yourself as a hardcore fan of this film, it’s worth the upgrade. More than likely, it’ll be the best A/V treatment it’ll ever get.

6 out of 10

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Home Video

‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]

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Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the VS hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.

Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.

Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter informing him that his aunt has died, and he has inherited her estate in Mexico. He quits his job and uproots his life in New York with his wife Annie (Holda Ramírez) to relocate south of the border and move into his new crib. Now I know what you’re thinking, what person just quits their job and drags their wife to another country without having reliable monetary income? Tony does, everyone, Tony does.

And what’s the first thing they do once they arrive in Mexico and check out the estate? They hit the bedroom, naturally. We are treated to a sex scene with an erotica song that feels like a knockoff of “Sadness” by Enigma (remember them?). Sounds fun and all, but the scene takes place completely in the dark and we see absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s why the sexy-time tune was pumping, so we could know what was exactly going down.

While Tony goes on a job interview, Annie explores the estate’s grounds in a tedious chore to experience, going room by room, plodding along. But it does lead us to her discovery of our antagonist—the evil clown doll, Payasito! Of all the things in the house, she decides to bring this monstrosity down to show Tony when he gets home. What an exciting way to celebrate (sic)! Then out of nowhere, she spouts off some exposition about rumors that Tony’s aunt dabbled in the dark arts and now we know where our title Diabolical Inheritance (the English translation for Herencia Diabólica) originates. For those of you who keep score for things like that.

Before proceeding with this review, you really need to visualize what Payasito looks like to truly embrace the rest of the film’s shenanigans. While Chucky resembles a cute ginger child, Payasito resembles a small clown that is much larger in stature than Chucky. That’s because Payasito is performed by an actor (Margarito Esparaza) in clown cosplay whenever he’s on the move (like Mannequin 2), and makes some really horrible facial expressions. Chucky dresses in “Good Guys” overalls and a striped shirt, but Payasito wears a new wave Santa hat while sporting a Sgt. Pepper jacket and Peter Pan tights. As you can now tell, he is quite beautiful.

Back to our story, Payasito begins to spook Annie cerebrally until she becomes unnerved to the point of having a complete mental break down, making her easy prey to eliminate. She dies but the unborn child survives, with Tony believing that her death was caused by her mental instability. Fast forward some years later and the couple’s surviving spawn has grown into child Roy (Alan Fernando), who at this point has already bonded with Payasito to help him over the loss of his mother. Dun-dun-duuunnn!

Meanwhile wealthy Tony remains single, still grieving his late wife, until his blonde assistant Doris encourages him to move on with his life and start seeing other people. And by other people, she naturally means herself. As the old Kanye West song lyric goes, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger…”, and it seems that she might be until we learn more about her character. Doris is played by the stunning Lorena Hererra who has an extremely extensive resume in Mexico, and she carries most of the film quite well during the feature’s second half. The singer and former Playboy centerfold for their Mexico edition is by far the most recognizable face in the cast.

Doris and Tony do indeed hookup and she moves into La casa de Herencia, where she does her best to impress Roy and lessen his obsession with the doll. There is a scene where they go to a nearby park without Payasito that is filled with famous fairytale figures, such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and King Kong! What, you didn’t know King Kong is a fairytale? Me neither. But Roy continues to be obsessed with Payasito after their trip, much to Doris’ chagrin.

Her actions to separate him from Roy gets Payasito angry, setting up the film’s most memorable scene. We already know that Payasito is a devil doll like Chucky, but now we learn he also has the power to invade people’s dreams like Freddy Krueger! Does Payasito enter the dream world and concoct a creative way to kill Doris in her sleep? No, he harnesses his power to sexually assault her instead. Yes that actually happens. After she awakens, Doris grabs the doll and tosses him into a lake, only to find him waiting for her by the time she gets back to the house. So now we know he also maintains the ability to “transport” like Jason Voorhees too. This doll is the total package!

More insanity happens before we close out the film with the longest victim chase sequence ever. It makes the previously mentioned painful house search scene seem like an eyeblink. It feels like it’s the film’s entire third act, filled with so much padding that you could soundproof an entire three-story house.

So how’s the transfer? Considering it was created using a mix of VHS and film source elements from 1993, they did one heck of a job! The work they put into it is especially noticeable in the dream invasion sequence, with the pulsing multi-colored psychedelic visuals. Super trippy stuff. Even the film’s score provides a pretty chill vibe, during the times when Payasito isn’t on the prowl.

If anything you read has piqued your interest in the very least, you should give it a shot. But if not, it is best to leave this doll on the shelf.

Herencia Diabólica is now available to purchase at VinegarSyndrome.com.

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