throughout the seventy and early eighty and tobe hooper be widely consider a one of the great horror director ever to grace the silver screen . if it wasn not for his 1974 video nasty the texas chainsaw massacre and then we may never have see movie like slumber party massacre or any of the other slasher amassacre title . we may not have even witness classic like halloween . sometime after his career redefine joint venture with steven spielberg ( poltergeist ) and hooper fell into an awful run of consistently poor form . late year saw uninspired effort like crocodile and the mangler and night terror completely ruin his almost peerless resume . it be somewhat ironic then that he decide to direct a remake of the 1978 gruesome slasher ( the toolbox murder ) at exactly the same time that new line cinema be renew his very own masterpiece ( chainsaw massacre ) . the original toolbox flick be a tough act to follow and let alone reproduce . what it lack in style and quality and it more than make up for with brutality that have never be express in such a gratuitous fashion . some of the gruesomely vicious scene be almost impossible to forget and see a masked maniac use a nail gun to slaughter a naked teenager while he merrily hum away like he change a light bulb be a shock tactic have never be use a effectively since . i must admit i hop for more of the same from hooper and i know that he have already prove that he have the quality to break the hex of extremely poor horror remake . the lusman arm be a run down hotel in hollywood and which have stand since the early twenty . in the opening scene we see a young woman get brutally murder by a hammer wield black shrouded menace in one of the guest room . her body be drag into the shadow and it seem that no one notice her disappearance . next up we meet nell and steve burrow ( angela bettis and brent roam ) and a young married couple that have only just move into the lusman arm . steve be a doctor and spend most of his time out of the house and which leave nell suffer with her noisy neighbour through the wafer thin wall . have already mistake two rehearse actor for someone be slaughter and the local police be less than impress with the housewife overactive imagination . but after hear the die scream of her neighbour and she begin to realise that the complex have more to it history than first meet the eye . nell eventually head out to solve the mystery of the disappearing resident and and what she discover be more shock than she could ever have expect toolbox murder be something of an impressive return to form from tobe hooper . slasher movie be always easy template to unleash some directorial flair and the veteran horror icon seem to lap up the chance to shine with relish . you can tell from the off that this be go to be something of a step up from the typical post scream lowbrow trash . joseph conlan impressive score keep the tension run on a knife edge and and the set location prove that the feature have be slickly produce . hooper do a great job of make an ordinary everyday backdrop like an apartment complex feel as creepy a a haunt castle and the conclusion be as exciting a it be enjoyable . the two lead character be fairly well act and and kudos to the scriptwriter for give the viewer the option to sympathise with the protagonist . there be enough mysterious suspect to partake in a reality tv cluedo marathon and each of them will give you a good enough reason to think that they could be the masked maniac . i especially enjoy the stuttering manager and who describe a tin full of tear out human teeth that nell find in her bedroom wall a and part of the building charm and character . at the time of writing and toolbox murder have not yet be release in either the u or the uk on dvd and which be somewhat inexplicable . i be not sure what kind of business this take at the box office and but i believe that it do certainly deserve a big status . there be a few flaw that perhaps undermine hooper experience . the use of stereotype be beyond belief while and as soon a a creepy toolbox clutch handyman pop up a a hackneyed red herring and the movie lose a touch of credibility . at time the character behave with a knack of ineptness that be totally nonsensical and perhaps underline a lack of effort from the screenwriter . victim leave themselves open to the killer murderous advance in such a fashion that make you wonder if they be suicidal and and the director fail to add anything remotely different to the conclusion . question will be raise about the numerous plot hole that be scatter throughout the runtime and but personally i feel that they add an extra layer of mystery to the synopsis . audience do not always need to be hand guide hand through a story . gap can be fill by a creative imagination and that be part of the beauty of cinema . toolbox murder be not so much a remake of it 1978 ancestor a it be a complete re imaging . yes there a nail gun murder and a similar mask killer theme while but this time around we have an intriguing supernatural sheen and which make the movie a tad more interesting . all in all this be well worth pick up . gory ( one guy get his head saw in half ala intruder ) and suspenseful ( the final stalking scene be brilliant ) and well watchable to boot and this be hooper almost back to his best . let just hope that he can keep up the good work with his late adventure mortuary ( another remake . ) .