Director Dean Jones sorta-sequel to Tobe Hoopers 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 youve 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, todays bad film is tomorrows cult film, anyway) but its such a fascinating stitch up of mish-mashed footage, sadism and psychodrama and one with such a serpentine legacy, that its hard to dismiss.And despite its many-chefs-in-the kitchen production legacy, the film looks rather beautiful.
If youre reading this blurb in Jolly Olde England and have yet to wallow in TBM2s grimy stew, its 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
Heres the trailer.
