Violent sorta-sequel TOOLBOX MURDERS 2 gets UK DVD release.

Director Dean Jones’ sorta-sequel to Tobe Hooper’s effectively arch 2004 quasi-remake of the notorious Cameron Mitchell-starring 1978 psychodrama THE TOOLBOX MURDERS has an odd but wildly amusing history. Lensed in 2011, the ultra-gory movie has had early, unfinished cuts screen to dismal response at festivals, was bootlegged, was released by Jones in some corners of the globe as COFFIN BABY, endured oddball reshoots and finally found its way to domestic North American release via Scream Factory in August.

That version of TOOLBOX MURDERS 2, the so-called “final cut” is presumably the same one making its way to UK DVD and digital download on October 12th, via TriCoast UK (both prints run 84 minutes).

If you’ve seen the film, you know just how extremely violent it gets, how muddled it becomes and just how unpleasant it is. It would be easy to peg the film as a “bad” film (but really, in horror, today’s “bad” film is tomorrow’s cult film, anyway) but it’s such a fascinating stitch up of mish-mashed footage, sadism and psychodrama and one with such a serpentine legacy, that it’s hard to dismiss.And despite its many-chefs-in-the kitchen production legacy, the film looks rather beautiful.

If you’re reading this blurb in Jolly Olde England and have yet to wallow in TBM2’s grimy stew, it’s certainly worth a look as a curiosity. Hell, the now notorious ex-journo Lianne Spiderbaby appears as a dead body at one point and even had her name above the credits, beside Bruce-freaking-Dern (!) on the foreign COFFIN BABY box art! A curiosity indeed…

Here’s the trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

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