Renovations (Toolbox Murders, 2004)

Toolbox_Murders_PosterTobe returns to the haunted house genre.  Nell and Steven move into a dilapidated but historic Hollywood apartment complex. From the start, Nell feels there is something wrong with the building.

As people disappear, nobody believes her that murders are happening.  Of course, this leads her to watch the red herring, only to discover secret passages below the basement.  So, you know a sub-basement..with sub-basements.

 

She finally finds that the real killer is a disfigured man in a ski mask.  Apparently, it never occurred to him to wear a human face mask, but hey…we can’t all be Leatherface.  I should say, I do think the look is the villain is pretty effective.  Sadly, the rest of the film is less effective.

Toolbox_Murders_1978

The film has laughably inept cops.  In one scene, they leave an apartment, never noticing the body nailed right above the door.  There are several character who exist to be dispatched at the end in a massive bloodbath of a final reel.  The film lacks both suspense and scares.

This is a remake of an exploitation slasher from 1978 that, frankly, I remember nothing about.  Well, except for that VHS video box in the horror aisle at Blockbuster and Hollywood Video.

This is definitely not one of Hooper’s most memorable films.

Look Out…Uh…Back In Time! (Tremors 4: the Legend Begins, 2004)

tremors-4The fourth film (With S.S. Wilson Returning to direct) jumps back to 1889, with the founding of Rejection, Neveda.  This is the town that would become Perfection.  Michael Gross returns as the ancestor of Burt, Hiram Gummer.

The town is under siege from young graboids, and it falls to Gummer to do something about it.  Unlike Burt, Hiram is an upper class guy.  He is a bit of a snob, but still a decent person.  There is not a major twist here…the graboids are smaller gliding worms that have not yet matured.

The film has it’s moments, but I am unsure that this was a necessary prequel.  How is this not part of the town history?  How had nobody heard of the graboids?  It just ends up raising questions for the franchise.  Overall, it is not as enjoyable as previous entries.

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