INDUSTRIAL MUSIC Tony Bennett fans will be happy to know ...
USIC Tony Bennett fans will be happy to know that his 80s arrangement of "I Wish I Were in Love Again" is finally available on disc, specifically, on the recent SCTV box set just released on DVD. There's a lot of good music that's only available on prerecorded video. Fortunately, everyone in Manhattan now owns elaborate home-theater stereo systems.
And if you don't, then go to the Two Boots Pioneer Theatre to enjoy a great song on the fairly big screen. The Toolbox Murders has always been one of the best slasher films of the 70s. The eerie title sequence sets a miserable tone, and Cameron Mitchell is totally shameless as the craftsman killer. Anchor Bay Video put out a gorgeous print on DVD a few years back. Those same reels are running between October 20 and 25 as part of the Pioneer's Halloween horror celebration.
This is also a chance to enjoy one of the best musical interludes ever captured on film. Don't worry about learning the details. The scene has to be seen and heard to be appreciated. Eighties porn star Kelly Nichols-billed here as "Marianne Walter"-appears as an apartment-dwelling beauty settling in for a bubble bath. Little does she know that Mitchell lurks outside her door with his nail gun of nihilism. She's too distracted by her radio, which offers the dulcet tones of George Deaton and Terry Stubbs performing "Pretty Lady."
There wasn't much of an audience for ersatz Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood in 1978. Toolbox director Dennis Donnelly still thought to make brilliant use of this gentle country ballad. "Pretty Lady" begins as Nichols starts her soaking, and continues to play throughout her masturbation scene, which fortunately climaxes before Mitchell barges in and starts chasing her around the cheap furnishings.
The same music that set a sexy scene is now providing a startling contrast to mechanical mayhem. By the time of The Toolbox Murders, people were used to the sight of gorgeous naked gals being killed in gory ways. "Pretty Lady" adds true pathos to when Mitchell finally adjusts his aim and nails his prey. Nichols breathes her last horrified gasp as the song-and her life-comes to an end.
Her porn career, however, is just beginning.
Strangely, Donnelly's commentary track on the Toolbox Murders DVD doesn't acknowledge his stunning use of music. At least Nichols mentions the song in a short documentary. Maybe that scene-and the entire movie-is the kind of art that occasionally stumbles out of schlock filmmaking. It's still a moment that makes The Toolbox Murders worth the price of admission. Also, the cast includes Wesley Eure from The Land of the Lost. He's shameless, too.