Shopping

In this insignificant but nevertheless fun 80's low-budgeter, the sex-hungry teenagers for once aren't chased around by a killer wearing a ridiculous mask but by a troop of malfunctioning and heavily armed security robots! Four couples that work in various stores at the Park Plaza shopping mall secretly throw an after hours party during the same night when a lightening storm completely disorientates the 3 brand new "Protector" robots and get killed off one by one. "Chopping Mall" (how can you not love that title?) is a lot of fun to watch and it's easily Jim Wynorski's best effort out of more than 60 directed films. Despite the fact that "Chopping Mall" doesn't take itself too seriously and mainly focuses on satire, there really are some tense moments and properly mounted suspense sequences. The laser head-explosion sequence is famous and there are multiple other cheese-highlights. But what is perhaps the most surprising, are the engaging acting performances and the welcome amount of tasteful nudity. The most familiar cute face in the cast is Barbara Crampton who stars as a screaming beauty in between her two greatest films "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond". Truly ingenious are the endless references towards Roger Corman's repertoire, especially illustrated through cameos of Paul Bartel, Dick Miller and Mary Woronov. Unquestionably, "Chopping Mall" is a righteous guilty pleasure of many, many horror fans.

CHOPPING MALL is one of those cheapies made in the 1980s that was probably green-lighted because of the expanding video market. Even though it was released theatrically, CHOPPING MALL looks more like a direct-to-video movie than anything else. The video I saw had a terrible transfer (out of focus and murky) and the cheesiness of it all could have made this a chore to sit through but even with those things going against it, the film was fun and fast paced. It's totally played for laughs and never takes itself seriously. The upbeat goofiness basically saves CHOPPING MALL from the usually unwatchable Concord/New World junk.

It's a definite minor Cult film.

A group of teens(among them lovely Barbara Crampton from "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond")are terrorized in a shopping mall by a bunch of killer security robots."Chopping Mall" is a highly energetic horror film that is perfect for younger horror fans.The film is well-made,delightfully cheesy and it offers some memorable set-pieces(check out a head explosion scene!).The characters are likeable and there are some great one liners.Highly recommended.Director Jim Wynorski made also "Sorority House Massacre 2","976 Evil 2:The Astral Factor" and "Hard to Die".

Had all the boxes checked: cheesy dialogue, campy feel, bad acting, silly villain(s), gratuitous boob shot. It was just an entertaining 80 minutes. Please don't expect more out of that and I don't think you will.

Teenagers are partying in a shopping mall late at night, and find themselves having to escape the latest in mall security: the Killbots. Sucks to be them, since the Killbots are armed with laser beams and C4 (in case some military commandos break in, I guess). I started laughing at the hilarious facial expressions of the second guy to get killed, and from that point on the movie was pure comedy. The silliness factor is out of control, with such things as a sporting goods store that just happens to have a few M-16s in stock, a couple watching TV while 6 people have sex in the background, a girl who wears her pants so tight that she has a huge you-know-what throughout the entire movie, a soundtrack inspired by Atari, a cameo by Dick Miller (whose entire career seems to be based on making cameos in B-movies), an exploding head, etc. Pretty crazy stuff.