Chopping Mall
| release date | March 26 1986 |
| studio | Lions Gate Films |
| director | Jim Wynorski |
| writer | Jim Wynorski |
| starring | Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Russell Todd, Barbra Crampton, Tony O'Dell |
| rating | R |
| tagline | Where shopping can cost you an arm and a leg |
| site | lionsgatefilms.com/CorpSite/video/video |
4 Comments
1986 was a year of historically notable events. It was in 1986 that the world saw the tragic Challenger Disaster, the partial meltdown of the Soviet nuclear plant in Chernobyl and the year the Statue of Liberty got a much needed face lift. It was also the year that the Sherman Oaks Galleria of California played host to yet another movie. This movie involved teenagers and killer mall robots. Yes, I am talking about the notorious film that anyone over the age of 25 remembers sitting on your local video store’s shelf, Chopping Mall (aka Killbots).
The Park Plaza shopping mall has decided to let Securetronics Unlimited use there establishment to test a series of security robots called Protector 101. These robots will patrol the mall after it has closed and if it encounters any intruders or ne’er do wells, the Protector 101”s will use a slew of disabling devices on anyone who does not have the required security badge. These devices range from sleep darts, stun guns, C4 and even lasers. That’s right, C4 and lasers. The movie Chopping Mall takes place on the first night the Protector 101′s are to go on-line. This is also the same night that a group of teen-agers, some who work at the mall’s furniture appliance store, decide to take advantage of all those nifty showroom beds at their disposal and have a party after the mall has closed. During this after hours party, lightning strikes the central computer that controls the Protector 101′s, and changes them from mall protectors to indiscriminate killers. The Protector 101′s new agenda has now been modified into ridding the mall of ALL humans if they are supposed to be there or not. These six teenagers must now use their wits, road flares and automatic weapons lifted from the gun store to outwit these seemingly unstoppable killer robots. It is also when once again, teenagers learned that having sex in a horror movie almost always guaranteed your death.
Directed by sleaze master, Jim Wynorski (976-EVIL 2: The Astral Factor, The Bare Wench Project) and produced by Roger Corman, Chopping Mall is a campy, sci-fi horror movie that was originally released as Killbots. After experiencing lackluster sales the title was changed, as well as the original movie poster. Most of the film was shot entirely in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, a California mall that should look familiar to a lot of people as it was the background to a slew of ”80s movies including Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Terminator 2. Aside from some Roger Corman related cameos of Dick Smith, Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov, the rest of the cast consists of the six teenagers sealed inside the mall. Mostly unknowns at the time, some should be recognizable. The heroine of the film, Alison Parks, is played by Kelli Maroney from Fast Times at Ridgemon High and Night of the Comet fame. Suzie Lynn is played by Scream Queen, Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator and From Beyond). All the actors do a decent job for a film of this caliber with one-liners flying and cheesy dialog flowing freely.
The Protector 101′s should get a mention as well. They were created by Robert Short and modeled after the robots from the 1954 film, Gog. While devoid of any real personality aside from the their relentless pursuit of any living human, The Protector 101′s in Chopping Mall were able to reason and communicate with each other. They traveled on tracks, and actually moved fairly quickly, although some of the fun of Chopping Mall is watching the actors ”run” from the quickly gaining Protector’s…you know, the running-in-place run. The gore effects in Chopping Mall are passable if not a little on the lite side, with the exception of a decent head-explosion. Other deaths included burning alive, throat slitting, falling and electrocution. Most action sequences revolve around the teens shooting at the robots with firearms, and the robots shooting back at the kids with lasers as they plow through store front windows. The soundtrack is handled by long-time Corman composer, Chuck Cirino. Created in 3 weeks, the score to Chopping Mall was his first in MANY future film scores and consists of a heavy synthesized score prevalent in the ”80s and fits the film like a glove. Click here to listen.
Chopping Mall is a fun film that does not offer anything more than what you would expect from a Roger Corman produced film. It resonates all of the things a lot of people like about ”80s horror, which also happens to be what a lot of people hate about it. Low budget, sub-par acting, cheesy dialog, implausible scenarios, blood, and of course, nudity. The movie is full of laugh-out-loud scenes that include a girl who forgets what leg to limp on, the fact instead of hiding, the teenagers all decide to run around the mall, displaying the little known f
Eh, didn’t ever promise much so it’s not like I was expecting an awesome movie, but as far as cheesy films go this one wasn’t that great. The most amusing thing was noting how things have changed since the 80′s.
This is great entertainment. Idiot teenagers are savagely killed by mall patrolling killbots who look like retarded, homicidal Johnny-5′s.
Everything in this movie is bad except for the amount of fun it delivers. See it with friends, you’ll need someone around to laugh along with.
What a rad 80′s horror thrill rid! Like Nightmares it was fun in an arcade kinda way, I loved this one as a little girl and still love now as an adult, it’s just fun to watch!!!
This is one of those movies that you want to like so bad but doesnt give you everything you want. There are some decent effects with the makeup, the killbots are done very well, but I think what kills this movie is the poor acting. Yes, we have seen many horror films from this era with mighty poor acting, but when the film doesnt promise as much in the likes of gore and horror, than it falls flat for me. There are also many scenes involving the killbots shooting piles and piles of lasers at the humans, and at many times, the humans seem to stand right in front of them, which looks a little silly and kills the effect of the killbots.
Chopping Mall tried hard to combine sci-fi with horror, and somewhat meets its goal but this one was just too mediocre for me.
AWESOME!
they should do a sequel: Ed209 vs. Chopping Mall robots vs. Johnny 5
Pretty
Not great. Horrible in fact. But that’s all part of the appeal.
Just based on the cover of this movie I thought it was about a monster staying overnight at a mall, coincidently based off of a Goosebumps book, but I digress, it wasn’t close. The movie is in fact about a group of people who stay overnight at a mall that is unfortunately patrolled by a bunch of trigger-happy haywire guard robots. There are a number of things wrong with this movie, however there are also a number of things that the movie has that replace those bad things.
Once example would be the general concept of killbots run amok in a store killing of young teenagers. This is a classic 80′s slasher film but the design of the robots and the fashion in which they kill in, sort of fun to watch and not scary. Perhaps that may be the intention, but I like a little scare to that concept. Perhaps electrocution can be legal if it is for petty theft.
The movie does a great job satirizing the younger teen generation of that ere but the only thing bad about it was the actors. They did a so-so job and had they acted full potential, it probably would have more of a delight to watch. The effects for that time where not as great as they are today, and I mean the generalization of all movie effects and for this movie it seemed like it was more animation than usual, sort of cheesy and corny but for a low-budgeter it was pretty good. Some of the corny things about this movie took me directly out such as falling 3 stories onto a tent and walking away and leaving your safe place to run around with psychopathic killers.
I don’t know, I guess it was the little things that took me out of this movie despite some of it’s flaws, or maybe I really do like this movie and haven’t found it out yet but I will compromise with this one. It was more of a bittersweet relationship with this mall.
Cheesy, brainless, fun. One of my personal guilty pleasures from the 80′s. It’s silly, goofy & Barbara Crampton gets down, what’s not to love?
An 80s cheesefest! Topless girls, corny lines, over the top acting, tons of memorable scenes AND killer robots! There is no other “slasher” like it!
not enough blood or tits.
What a funny B movie! It scared me when I was
young but now when I remember and think back
about all the B movie’s I did watch only one still kinda freaks me out and it sure as hell
ain’t this one! 2/10.
This is a good cheesey movie. Don’t take it seriously and you might enjoy it.
Cheesy 80s goodness.
This is a different take on the slasher with having killer-robots instead of a psycho and the setting in a shopping mall. But it follows the same formula as every other slasher with teens/20-somethings getting killed one by one. Cheesy but I found it enjoyable, decently made and the robots were cool – “Have a nice day!”.
This little nugget of 80′s horror is a crazy piece of campy trash. I say this in a good way. Do you have fond memories of hanging out at the mall for hours on end as a teen? There is a special little niche of movies made about mall culture. Most notably Kevin Smith’s Mallrats (filmed in Minnesota, woohoo!). This film also takes a few hints from Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”, and quite strangely the “Mall Cop” comedies of 2009.
Once known as “Killbots” in theatres, it was renamed “Chopping Mall” for video. It looks like some marketing guy was trying to look smart because there is little if any “chopping” going on. The three Killbots are basically robotic mall cops that keep tabs on things when the mall is closed. When a group of young mall employees plan an after hours party in one of the stores, the Killbots are on the prowl. Of course the `bots malfunctioned while charging when the building was hit by lighting. The kids need to survive until morning when the mall opens up again to survive. That’s pretty much it for story, but it is entertaining. It’s very cheesy and very 80′s. This was a Roger Corman production so it was filmed on a very small budget, but that’s part of the charm of the film.
This is a minor cult hit on video and DVD, probably fun to have on at parties or seen with a group of friends. If you looking for a trip down memory lane, check this flick out. “Thank you, have a nice day”.
Thought the concept of the movie was great
for it’s time. The killings could have been
better, but limited FX because i’m sure the Killbots cost a bundle to operate. Watched this movie on VHS when I was in HS-have not viewed it since. But I going to watch it again soon!
Great film! fast paced and entertaining throughout, a great cheesy 80′s horror movie that delivers the goods
This movie is awesomely bad! 80′s cheese at its best. Love the cover and the catch phrase
“Where shopping can cost you an arm and a leg”
-sigh- Nuff’ said…
chopping mall. One of the best 1980′s films ever.
I can’t believe what I just seen! This movie will go down in history! It has the worst acting, and the worst script of all-time!!! BUT, I can’t stop watching it. It’s like nicotine for your eyes, you know it’s bad, but you just keep doing it!
This is 80′s horror at it’s cheesey best! The idea and writing, bad in a great way and the execution, horrible and wonderful
Why don’t they just hide somewhere until the morning? Because that would be a BORING movie! If you don’t appreciate this movie for what it is, B-movie fun, then you were probably born after the 80′s…