6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In a quiet apartment complex in Los Angeles, a deranged handyman goes on a killing spree, savagely murdering ‘immoral’ women with the tools of his trade – claw-hammers, screwdrivers, power drills and even a deadly nail gun! But these gruesome massacres are just the beginning of this landmark epic of violence and depravity that was vilified by critics, banned by censors, and treasured by splatter fans worldwide.
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Pamelyn Ferdin, Wesley Eure, Aneta Corsaut, Kelly NicholsHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 12% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Dennis Donnelly's "The Toolbox Murders" (1978) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new programs with director Dennis Donnelly, star Wesley Eure, actress Kelly Nichols, and film historian David Del Valle; exclusive new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson; vintage promotional materials for the film; and more. In English, with optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
He nailed her
Blue Underground's release of The Toolbox Murder is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray offer presentations of the recent 4K restoration of the film.
Two sets of screencaptures are included with this review. Please note that the screencaptures from the 4K Blu-ray are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.
Screencaptures: 1-19 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Screencaptures: 23-35 are from the Blu-ray.
Blue Underground released The Toolbox Murders on Blu-ray over a decade ago, but more recently British label 88 Films had a Region-B release as well. (You can see our reviews of these releases here and here). This new 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release is sourced from a brand new 4K master that was prepared exclusively on behalf of Blue Underground.
I viewed the entire film in 4K with Dolby Vision enabled and then did some direct comparisons with the 1080p presentation. I think that in native 4K the film has a pretty strong organic appearance, but the new 4K restoration isn't one of those dramatic makeovers that usually materialize when restoration work is done right. Why is that? Well, I think that for the most part the old master that the folks at Blue Underground worked with to produce the original Blu-ray release was quite strong. It was healthy as well. However, as soon as you begin paying close attention to smaller details and nuances, which is what anyone purchasing a 4K Blu-ray release should be doing, the upgrade in quality becomes quite easy to appreciate. For example, plenty of daylight footage boasts superior highlights that have positive effect on the perception of depth. Also, during darker footage shadow definition is improved, so there is a positive effect there as well. Grain exposure is superior, so density levels better throughout the entire film. Some of the most meaningful improvements are in the area of color reproduction where there are new and different ranges of proper nuances that have an additional positive effect on the perception of depth. (For reference, the overall color balance is much different than the one seen on the Region-B release). Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks very healthy, too.
I did some random comparisons with the 1080p presentation and my impression is that the entire encode should have been better optimized. In quite a few areas, but primarily in darker footage, I spotted compression artifacts of the kind that could evolve into macroblocking. While the shaky camera movement can hide most of it, I think that trained eyes will spot it rather easily. You can see an example of the issue on the left side of screencapture #24. Also, I much prefer the manner in which highlights are handled in native 4K where all nuances come together a lot better. My score for the Blu-ray release is 3.75/5.00.
Note: The 4K Blu-ray release is Region-Free. The Blu-ray release is Region-Free as well.
There are three standard audio tracks on this release: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature.
I viewed the entire film with the Dolby Atmos track, which was created exclusively for this release. The main difference that I could identify without actually performing direct comparisons during key sequences was a wider, fuller sound. The difference isn't dramatic, but it was what immediately made an impression on me. I could be wrong, but I am assuming that this would be the most obvious improvement that other viewers will identify as well. I did not encounter any technical issues to report in our review.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
This 4K Blu-ray release offers another definitive upgrade for a popular genre film. I personally am not a fan of The Toolbox Murders because the violence that is supposed to produce all the excitement in it actually annoys me quite a bit, but I could not be happier that Blue Underground continues to treat smaller genre films as if they are grand classics. So, if you enjoy The Toolbox Murders you should consider upgrading because the new 4K makeover is excellent and the release has a solid selection of exclusive new and archival bonus features. If you reside outside of North American and would like to add the release to your library, you will be pleased to know that the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray discs are Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.
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