''Coffin Baby'' (also known as ''Toolbox Murders 2, TBK: The Toolbox Murders 2,'' and ''Coffin Baby - The Toolbox Killer Is Back'') is a 2013 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

written and directed by Dean C. Jones and starring

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has often played supporting villainous characters of unstable natures. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver ...

Brian Krause Brian Jeffrey Krause (born February 1, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Leo Wyatt on The WB television series '' Charmed'' (1998–2006) and for portraying the lead role of Charles Brady in the 1992 horror film '' Sleepwa ...

Clifton Powell Clifton Powell (born March 16, 1956) is an American actor who primarily plays supporting roles in films, such as in '' Ray'' (2004), for which he received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture nomination. Car ...

, and

Ethan Phillips Ethan Phillips (born John Ethan Phillips February 8, 1955) is an American actor and playwright. He is best known for his television roles as Neelix on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and PR man Pete Downey on '' Benson''. Personal life Phillips was rais ...

. Initially, the film entered production intended as a sequel to 2004's ''

Toolbox Murders ''Toolbox Murders'' is a 2004 American slasher film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written by Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch. It is a remake of the 1978 film '' The Toolbox Murders'' and was produced by the same people behind the original. The f ...

,'' itself a remake of the 1978 horror cult classic. While a majority of the footage used in ''Coffin Baby'' was intended to be used in the planned sequel, behind-the-scenes trouble forced the production to retool the project. Actor Christopher Doyle reprises his role as Coffin Baby from the 2004 film. Distribution of Coffin Baby has been stopped by agreement between Dean Jones and the producers of ''Toolbox Murders 2''.

Plot

In Hollywood, Samantha Forester (Chauntal Lewis) is kidnapped by "Coffin Baby" (Christopher Doyle), branded, locked in a cage, and forced to witness dozens upon dozens of other Los Angeles citizens being murdered in various brutal ways. When she is reported as missing, But, later, by unknown reason he cut off her left hand. After 10 days in captivity, Coffin Baby falls in love with Samantha and gives her an orchid. Becoming crazed by her confinement, she herself eats cooked human flesh from another blonde victim.

Cast

as Vance Henrickson *

as Detective Chad Cole *

as Detective S. Jackson *

Chauntal Lewis Chauntal Lewis is an American stage and film actress. She started her acting career at the age of five. Since 1995, she has appeared in more than 20 movies and TV series. Biography Lewis was born and grew up in Oxnard, California. Her stage caree ...

as Samantha Forester * Christopher Doyle as Coffin Baby *

as Coroner B. Jones *

Ron Chaney Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

as Detective L. Wehage * Isabelle Freitheim as Sabrina Forester * Allison Kyler as Amy Weinstein * Whitney Anderson as Winter Jones * Dean C. Jones as H. Bogart *

Mychal Thompson Mychal George Thompson (born January 30, 1955) is a Bahamian-American former basketball player. The top overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Thompson played the center position for the University of Minnesota and center and forward for the Na ...

as Rodney W. Smith * Douglas Tait as CB double

Production

The film is the directorial debut of Dean Jones, a makeup artist perhaps best known as an eight-time nominee for the Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for his work on ''

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...

''. In October 2012, filmmakers and brothers Dean Jones and Starr Jones shot ''Coffin Baby'' in

Alamance County, North Carolina Alamance County (), from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved September 18, 2012. is a county in North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,415. Its county seat ...

, on locations in their hometown of

Graham, North Carolina Graham is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census the population was 17,153. It is the county seat of Alamance County. Histor ...

. Area emergency workers and residents served as extras.

Release

The film was initially released in April 2013 by Atlantic & Film Pictures before releasing on DVD on July 9, 2013. It was screened on September 30 and October 1, 2016 during the second annual Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival in

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

Reception

Nav Qateel of Influx Magazine felt that the film had potential to be an interesting horror film but failed due to an obviously troubled production. Paul Cardullo of Gruesome Magazine credited Dean Jones, along with effects supervisor William Jones and makeup artist Cary Ayers, for the film's good-looking gore and practical effects, but derided the movie for having no sensible plot or effective characters.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin Baby 2013 films 2013 horror films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s slasher films American independent films American sequel films American serial killer films American slasher films American splatter films Direct-to-video sequel films Films about cannibalism Films shot in North Carolina Unofficial sequel films