TOOLBOX MURDERS 2

2013 / Director. Dean Jones.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

My review of COFFIN BABY explains how director Dean Jones fell out with his producers. He walked away with a heap of footage and put together his own cut of the film using newly shot material to enable an alternative narrative. The result was terrible movie with almost no redeeming qualities. Ultimately he settled his grievances with the producers and released this “official” TOOLBOX MUDERS 2 version (Jones is now divorced from the COFFIN BABY cut).

This movie is infinitely better than COFFIN BABY, which speaks volumes for that previous piece of shit… because, despite being better, this isn’t very good either. It is a sequel in name only and bares little resemblance to the previous film. The killer may have returned but his whole MO has changed. Where he was once confined to a dishevelled building and lurked in the shadows, he now wanders the streets collecting victims. His back story is no longer relevant to his crimes as he keeps women locked in cages and performs grisly (and creative) murder in front of them. That’s the crux of the story. There is little else to this nasty affair other than butchery and gore.

TOOLBOX MURDERS 2 is honestly one of the goriest and grisliest films I have ever seen. It sits proudly amongst the ranks of “torture porn” movies as one of the most outrageous in terms of the limits pushed. That alone is its appeal. This is a movie for gore hounds and wont resonate beyond those who relish in the depravity. It is definitely stylistic and the gore is handled beautifully. Jones never flinches for a moment and every sick and twisted moment is exploited for all its worth.

I’m all for style over substance, however, in this case the style becomes so gratuitous that without any substantial narrative it also becomes boring. Very boring! The acting leaves a lot to be desired and feels as though the emphasis was so focused on the depravity that the script was an after thought. The movie will have its audience and they will lap up the blood. They might even fund the proposed sequel through the crowd funding campaign, and that’s for the best. Let them pay for it and reap what they sew. 

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