The Plot Hole Murders

[yendi]

I just watched Tobe Hooper's The Toolbox Murders -- a remake of the overrated 1978 flick of the same name -- and I can honestly say that it's the best film Hooper's directed since 1980*. Alas, that speaks more to Hooper's inability to grow as a director than anything else.

The concept is pretty much what you'd expect. There's a murderer. He's got a toolbox. He actually doesn't murder folks with the toolbox (because nothing but bludgeoning deaths would be pretty boring), but with the stuff found inside the toolbox. It sounds like it should be fun, but Hooper manages to make being shot with a nailgun dull, let alone the more traditional kills. The collective IQ of the entire cast of characters barely trips triple digits, with folks constantly choosing to do the stupid thing time and again. The cast consists mostly of third rate folks clearly hoping that this will be the last hack-produce movie they'll have to do (Angela Bettis wants to be Sarah Polley so badly, it's almost touching; Juliet Landau clearly knows she's better than this material, and Rance Howard, well, let's remember that he's Clint's dad as well as Ron's). Throw in plot holes that you could drive a Hummer through, and you've got a movie that just should have been tossed on a shelf.

Oh, and if any of the "twists" at the end surprise you, please contact me. I've got a bridge or two you might be interested in purchasing.

*Depending on whether you credit Hooper or Spielberg for Poltergeist, of course.

Comments

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

'the overrated 1978 flick of the same name'

In order to be overrated, someone would actually have to rate it.

I actually haven't seen it, or the remake. But this is the first I've heard of the original being overrated -- the small consensus I've seen seems to be that it's a lame little movie.

Hooper is a sad case. I dug his segment for 'Body Bags,' and of course Poltergeist and parts of Lifeforce and The Funhouse, but otherwise, what a sad decline for the man who made what I consider the greatest American horror movie.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

I'm going to say this as directly as I can: You need to turn your slasher film countdowns into a book.

rafaela, dicotomygrrl, zarhooie and I are all in total agreement on this. Your writing is lucid, clever, funny, and passionate. The format that you've developed is entertaining, adaptable, and ideally suited to the subject at hand. You bring an obvious love for the genre that makes even us non-horror fans want to read more. And there is no shortage of slasher franchises you can write about.

I'm serious. You need to do this. I can guarantee you that it will get published. Please give it some consideration.