The Mangler 2

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.

Now, I have never seen the first Mangler movie, but after viewing part 2, I know that it has almost no relation to the first movie at all. First off, before I start my review, I would like to say that Mangler 2 is the second worst movie of all time (the first movie being Killjoy). I was browsing through the channels at 4:00 in the morning, looking for something to watch. As I scan through the guide, I see this.Mangler 2. I really wanted to see the movie, because I heard it was awful, and I wanted to see if it was as bad as everyone said it was. I pressed ok, and I was so lucky, the movie just started. It was the second worst movie experience EVER. First off, the story of the first movie wasn't very good, but it was a good old-fashioned horror, and it was from legendary Stephen King. But, what the writers try to do with Mangler 2, is they try to use computers to make the movie at least seem a little smart. They used computers and viruses and crap like that to try and override the fact that the plot was awful. I was constantly searching through the guide to find something else on, but there wasn't! The acting is what you would call wretched, the actors give little or no life to the characters, but the bad acting might have improved if the script wasn't filled with ridiculous lines. Speaking of the script, I would like to say that this movie wins second place for worst script ever written. The characters have no personalities, they are all just a bunch of walking, talking clichés. The movie itself tries to be funny, but fails. For example, just when a character is about to be killed off, the computer monitor says in big text, YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK. That was obviously a pathetic attempt to get a laugh or a smile. After you're stomach and mind finally get over the terrible script and acting, you will cringe at the constant re-playing of techno music in some scenes. In a part of the ending, a girl shoves a knife between the strap of her pants, and begins to walk with an angry look in her face. This is one of the scenes that make you want to yell obscenities at the TV, and throw something at it as well. This scene is also example of pathetic choreography: The techno music plays-the girl walks into frame.she walks out of frame.the camera is now in front of some other building.girl walks into frame.and then out of frame, and the repetition of that just makes you laugh at how stupid and witless it is! I've seen the trailer for the first film. I can already tell that it has lots of gratuitous blood and gore, but this movie just has blood, there's nothing special or appealing. The deaths are cheesy and clichéd. Now, horror movies these days call themselves horror, but they're not horror. The writers of this movie thought that if they added blood, that people would call it a horror movie. No. This movie does not deserve to called a horror movie because it has ABSOLUTELY no chills at all. You'll laugh more than you'll scream. Bottom line, the acting is wretched, the script makes you want to throw up, the constant re-playing of techno music makes you laugh and cry, the awful choreography makes you point at laugh at the TV screen, and the lame-ass "chills" makes your heart beat slower, and not faster. Take it from me, if you're looking for a good straight-to-video B horror movie, look somewhere else. Hell, if you're looking for some entertainment, go watch paint dry because it'll sure as hell be better than this garbage. It's awfulness matches right up to Killjoy, also a straight-to-video "horror" movie. Mangler 2 is a disgrace to the world.

Overall score: A big fat 0 out of 10.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The times of great film are thought to have gone the way of the Tasmanian Devil and the Ne-Ne--lost to the ages. If you find yourself a believer in this school of thought, I submit to you "The Mangler 2--Graduation Day." Our times are defined by a select few films, viewed by folks generations from now who see the characters and scenes of these films to portray the thoughts and emotions of those living in its time period. Truly, "The Mangler 2" is one such film. With its true-to-life dialogue, allowing the viewer to not only empathize with the character but to BECOME the character, this movie takes us by the collar and pummels our emotions brutally, stomping on our conceptions of modern security systems and slicing away piece by piece our false sense of safety in our schools. From the first intense seconds of this film, the viewer follows along the turbulent life of a young girl who struggles with her father as well as herself and what society expects of her. She soon meets up with several friends, all of whom are perhaps the most well-developed, complex characters to grace the big screen since those of "Taxi Driver" or "Citizen Kane." These young men and women struggle against a foe far greater than they can comprehend, and several succumb to its evil plots, meeting only the most horrible (yet thought-provoking) deaths imaginable to the human mind. Without spoiling the ending of this cinematic classic, I will suffice it to say that the climax is gripping, a true testament to fine camera-work, acting, writing, and music. The viewer is left on the edge of his seat until, finally, the movie comes to a breath-taking close, leaving us to ask "what's next?" Not only do I give this movie 10 stars, I give it a standing ovation and offer it my first born. Dare I ask when "The Mangler 3" will come squealing from the womb of its writers, squinting into the bright lights of fame?

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!

This movie only scored 1.6 out of ten. which makes it in the bottom ten movies ever in IMDb's rating. for some reason this fact is not recorded on IMDb's worst 100 movies list. perhaps someone knows why this is. In any event it was truly an excellent movie, in my opinion and should have come in the top ten movies of all time. There are a few goof in the movie though. there biggest one being that the opening credits were not immediately followed by the closing credits. however after 80minutes of playing the fool, the director finally realised the gravity of the goof and corrected the error, allowing us to settle down to watch far more talented productions such as the shopping channel.