The Mangler 2

It seems there is a few form of terrorism being unleashed upon the Western World and that is of sequels to bad Stephen King ideas. Mangler 2 is a mess. Rarely does a feature film rated a 'bomb' generate a sequel that is actually worse! The premise is embarassing. Computer wires killing people? Even for a horror, where is the carnage? Everyone dies off screen or in some routine fashion that makeup expenses can be ignored. Lance Henrickson mails in the performance as the 'dean' of the school and should crawl back to the Millennium creators and ask for a job back. Stay away from this direct to video release. The box may look intriguing and the premise may look promising, but you will not find a worse direct to video release this year!

I saw this movie on HBO just a few short days ago. While I knew all the while how poor the acting, script, etc. really was, I was compelled to watch until the credits rolled. This was for one thing and one thing only: to confirm my already-predicted ending. Awww, look, the loner girl saves the day (or her own ass, leaving everyone else to the Mangler)... or does she??? :::dun dun dun:::

We have here yet another piss-poor sequel that makes more than obvious attempts to grab the youth of america by the balls. (And though I am not equipped, being a girl, I'm pretty confident that I walked away unscathed by the wrath of the super-spooky Mangler)

From the painfully cliche characters... -the "goth" girl who obsesses over chaos -the skanky girl who was sexually abused by the headmaster I'll just end that topic here.

And let's not forget the soundtrack... For a second there I thought I was on ecstacy...all that techno rave music. Well, let's bring out the glow sticks! Ok, while we can all appreciate a movie score which echoes the plot (computer technology = techno), I doubt we could appreciate it as much when it's on a continuous loop. "Jo" could've been tying her shoe, crying over her meaningless existance some more, or hey, maybe even taking a crap and we'd still here that same techno track. I mean, come on.

And I know someone already mentioned the pointless product placement of sorts, i.e. the Mangler quoting "Tell me what you want what you really, really want" of the Spice Girl fame. Well, I did laugh...so I guess that was the attainable result of the writers. But I laugh only in mocking of their collective effort...and the miserable failure in the process. Not to mention that I was picturing a wired Lance Henrikson as the next Scary Spice...

But moving right along... I have seen, for lack of a better word, prequel--The Mangler.

And I have a few questions: How exactly did the evil spirit Mangler end up on the internet via virus? I was just wondering... oh wait, that's right. THE MANGLER 2 WAS NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM RELATED TO THE ORIGINAL. Ok, so there are many horror movie sequels that fail to acknowledge the previous installments. But for the love of all things sacred....could they at least leave us with something!? The Mangler 2 may as well been called...Killer Virus on Campus, or something. And by the other incriminating evidence (read: non-stop techno, empty stock characters), I declare The Mangler 2 to be in direct violation of movie ethics. The writers go far beyond focusing on a target audience...they dumb down the target audience to the effect of complete idiocy. Sure, we'll buy the latest shoe or guzzle the new flavors of the slurpee machine at the 7-11. But please, don't force-feed us with sugar-coated crap, if there is nothing in it for us. Not all teens, after all, are hell bent on chaos. And not all teens fit into those neatly-woven cloths they cut, in their close-minded cliche ridden dialogue. Playing some funky synthesizers and having well-endowed women on the screen does not ensue entertainment. I mean really, I am 19 years old. And even im my darkest hour of self-pity, I doubt I'll be putting any "Manglers" on my college's main frame. Then again... :::cue the techno music:::

This movie has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It's an unwanted sequel, unbelievably stupid, no horror, no laughs, and no gore. OK, I admit that I missed the first 15 minutes. Thank God. But what does this movie have to do with the original? Why was it even rated R? Nothing happened! Talk about low budget! And how about a computer that taunts the token black guy before killing him. Nothing like a race conscious computer! Good grief. If this review stops at least one person from watching this movie, it would be worth it. I would give this movie 0/10 stars if possible.

elcabio

While most of her peers are away on break, a student genius (Chelse Swain) plans to get revenge on the stern dean of her school (Lance Henriksen) by developing a computer virus that will shut down her high-tech campus long enough to give her and her stupid friends some time to party. Instead, the plan backfires when the computer system takes on a mind of its own, traps the group inside and starts killing them off by manipulating and controlling the electric wiring.

Chelse Swain (THE VIRGIN SUICIDES) fails to convince us she can tie her own shoelaces, let alone is a genius, and the talented Henriksen is sorely wasted as the human heavy, who's eventually transformed into what looks like Plughead from the CIRCUITRY MAN films.

Highly implausible plot, amateurish acting, insipid dialogue, painfully annoying characters and offscreen murders mean don't bother with this "sequel," which is completely unrelated to the 1993 Tobe Hopper film.

Holy Macaroni! This one really is as bad as everyone says it is. Poor Lance Henriksen! This truly is one of the worst movies I ever saw him in. This movie should have been called "The Cables of Death" or whatever, because it has nothing to do with the original "The Mangler" (1995) and all we see is some cables and wires moving around once in a while. At least in my country DVD distributors had the sense to re-name it "Virtual Death" (a more stupid & more fitting title). All killings are off-screen and there's no real tension whatsoever throughout the whole movie... And that stupid, cheap electro/techno soundtrack... Ow, aw, ugh! On to the points: One point because this movie makes "The Mangler" look incredibly good (and the original one needs that, in my humble opinion), if not to say excellent! One point for Lance Henriksen hanging on cables with wires running through his head and body near the end. One point for Daniella Evangelista doing a lot of running dressed in a tiny red bikini, making her boobs go up and down and up and down and up and down and... wooow, what a fascinating sight that was. There you have my generous rating for "The Mangler 2" explained.