in this re work of a sleazy slasher favorite from 1978 and the tenant at lusman arm and an age hollywood motel that have clearly see much good day and be be brutally slaughter . nell ( a likable angela bettis in a decent star turn ) and husband steven ( brent roam ) be new to the building . she become quite wary of the place almost immediately and and become especially concern when julia ( juliet landau and daughter of martin ) and a friendly new acquaintance and disappears . nell start investigate the building and discovers part of it that she do not know exist and and before long and she terrorize by the killer . hooper return to form with this well make and nasty piece of work . the seedy and depress ambiance of this run down wreck of a building be capture quite well on film . hooper and crew establish an ominous mood immediately and maintain it . they keep the lighting low and level of darkness high . there an intriguing level of mystery to the script and the killer as well . it a true horror picture all the way through . the slow pacing of some scene ( a nell go on her haunt house walk ) may make some viewer a little impatient and but what could really disappoint them be that for the absolute brutality of the murder and level of on screen gore aren not as high a one might expect . ( not that there aren not some nice highlight and like the head saw in half gag . ) also and there at least one red herring that a little too obvious and and the clichéd end detracts from the overall effectiveness . still and the movie work a a nice combination of atmosphere and oppressiveness and and mystery . bettis receive particularly good support from landau and rance howard ( father of ron and clint ) a the aged and solicitous chas and and greg travis a the expectantly sleazy landlord byron . sheri moon and best known for her work in husband rob zombie movie and play an early victim . proof that hooper do still have what it take to make a genuinely good horror film and toolbox murder delivers good chill for a solid 95 minute . positive .