The Toolbox Reopens
2003’s The Toolbox Murders showed Tobe Hooper at the top of his form. He wrestled a semi-obscure piece of 70s filth to the ground and rebuilt it in his own image, with the aid of equally unhinged writers Adam Gierasch & Jace Anderson, unchaining arguably his best film since Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. The film rented and sold well, got raves from horror fans, and debuted a brand new, thoroughly rad, thoroughly franchisable new villain in Coffin Baby, a piecemeal abomination held together with staples, bandages, and embalming fluid. The future looked bright indeed for Tobe & power tools. Then he went and made Mortuary.
As bad as the notoriously uneven maestro’s worst efforts, Mortuary ended Hooper’s all-too-brief comeback, and the Tool Box closed it’s lid.
Until now.
TBK: The Tool Box Murders (which I thought was a ridiculous title until I reailzed it was a play on the BTK killer…watch the promo, you’ll see what I mean) has risen from the long smoldering ashes of Hooper’s initial mini-classic, and looks to kick more ass than this seasoned slasherphile thought possible. The official synopsis describes it thusly:
Picking up directly after the events Tobe Hooper’s 2003 version of The Toolbox Murders; TBK intensifies the terrifying exploration into one of Hollywood’s most twisted and morbid serial killers in the annals of American history.
Survivors Nell and Stephen continue their night of Hell as they’re rushed to the nearby Hollywood Memorial hospital. Meanwhile, next-generation , tech-savvy CSI detectives Cole and Barnes coordinate with a hard-nosed, LAPD criminal profiler McGavin to exhume TBK’s modern day tomb and uncover its origins, leading toward a shocking revelation involving old Hollywood’s seedy underground and one doctor’s secret past.
TBK will shock, sicken, and thrill you while pushing every envelope imaginable as it leads you into the darkest recesses of what is to become one of the classic horror films of the millennium.
With a powerhouse roster of genre faves that includes the likes of Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen, and Tony Todd, and written & directed by SFX madman Dean Jones, this long-needed followup looks to fully live up to the promise it’s predecessor so amply displayed. That classic horror films of the millennium line? You might just believe it after you take a look at this insane promo trailer, featuring Jeffrey Combs best performance since his Empire Pictures days….
Those who crave more on this potentially spectacular slasher epic can check out the flick’s official website here, and just so we can get this rallying cry started good and early, say it with me, slasher nation….
I WANT MY DAMNED COFFIN BABY ACTION FIGURE!!!
May 13, 2009 @ 9:38 am
You make a good case, BC. I thought the original err, remake was well put together and looking forward to this one.
May 13, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
What??? No Angela Bettis – wtf?
May 13, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
I liked the remake, but a sequel? I dunno. I’m not against it, I guess I just wasn’t expecting it… Who knows, I love that Jeffrey Combs guy… he’s going places! 🙂
May 13, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Not to piss on everyone’s parade but Coms, Henriksen and Todd have all been in junk lately. Combs couldn’t even save Wizard of Gore remake. And Toolbox Murders had some good gore but it was still an awful movie with lame comic relief. I would say it was better than alot of Hooper’s other films. Although I do think The Mangler is a fun movie and often overlooked.
May 13, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
I think I came in my pants…… Loved the first one and can’t wait for this!
May 17, 2009 @ 7:25 am
I loved the remake. I will like this even more if set entirely inside the hospital. Makes me think of Visiting Hours and Haloween II which are two of my fav slashers.
May 17, 2009 @ 7:49 pm
I guess this makes me the “odd man out” but I was really dissapointed with the remake. I think the sequel has a great chance to be a better film. It wouldn’t take much, IMO.
December 21, 2009 @ 3:26 am
Is Angela Bettis going To Be in this movie??
December 22, 2009 @ 12:44 am
B-O-R-I-N-G!
Like already mentioned, if Lance, Jeffrey and Tony are in this is sure to be crappy made-for-tv SyFy quality. Those 3 actors ONLY appear in really bad, cheap and throwaway films. I’m not impressed with this cast of “genre veterns” at all…
March 20, 2010 @ 1:27 pm
Coffin baby is great and this will be worth watching.
Tobe Hooper’s toolbox was never a remake, though.
The 78 version was more like a cross between Taxi Driver and 70s oddball horrors like The Baby. A very different kind of film.