This is How Movies Should Be Made
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
View MoreExactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
View MoreClose shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
View MoreThis is a delightful little movie in the science fiction genre. Not that well known but still a cult hit for those that matter. Chopping Mall, as you righty guessed takes place entirely inside a mall. A group of horny teenagers romp in a mall and get left inside after shut down. The mall has recently installed high tech cameras and giant robots to safeguard the mall (!!!) and on the night the kids are locked in there happens a thunder strike that takes out all the computer boards. The Robots come alive, kill their caretakers and start hunting the mall. This is a fun flick that undeservedly got forgotten on release. Great performances from the young cast must be mentioned.
View MoreIf you're not from Pittsburgh, let me tell you about Century 3 Mall. At one point, it was the biggest, most modern mall in the area, dug into a former slag heap with 50 plus tons of concrete poured to ensure its three levels would stand. It had everything - Wicks 'n' Sticks, a food court, a cutlery store that sold throwing stars, a store called Heaven that had Japanese comic books and punk rock posters - even Richard Simmons showed up to precariously dangle from the third floor of the mall as everyone sweated to the oldies.It was a magical time to be alive, but if you go to Century 3 Mall today, all that remains are 30 some odd stores from the heights that the mall had once reached - five department stores and over 200 stores and services. It's a sad blight today, with rainwater collecting in buckets all over the place, stained carpets and shuttered storefronts.A sad Easter Bunny sits in what once was a bustling shopping center. I tell you all of this to tell you that at one time, before the internet and social media, we went to the mall. My childhood mall was called Beaver Valley Mall and I remember our priest once yelling in a sermon that more kids thought BVM meant the mall than the name of our church - Purification Blessed Virgin Mary. This is also the same priest who told the story of the movie Alive once a month or so, with no meaning at the end, only discussing how they loved God, prayed and had to eat one another. This tale would always begin with, "The story is told..."But I digress.Chopping Mall is the second movie Jim Wynorski directed after The Lost Empire. Mentored by Roger Corman, it's a cheap and quick little picture that still has moments of great entertainment quality. Kind of like a shopping mall.Park Plaza Mall has had some theft issues, so they install the security team of the future: three robots programmed to take out thieves with tasers and tranquilizers. Of course, nothing could go wrong, right?Rick (Russell Todd, Friday the 13th Part 2), Linda, Greg, Suzie (Barbara Crampton, We Are Still Here), Mike, Leslie, Ferdy and Allison (Kelli Maroney, Night of the Comet) have all stayed late after work and are partying in one of the furniture stores in the mall. These kids are super comfy with one another, because they're basically soft swinging as they have sex on beds and couches right next to one another. Only Ferdy and Allison, the geeky kids, refuse to copulate.Meanwhile, a lightning storm strikes the mall and reprograms the robots, which kill a technician (Gerrit Graham, Phantom of the Paradise, Terrorvision) and a janitor (Dick Miller, playing a character named Walter Paisley, a name he also used in A Bucket of Blood, The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie and Shake, Rattle and Rock!). Mike and Leslie are killed almost instantly, with her head blown to bits while the others all arm themselves with weapons to try and kill the robots.Like Shakespeare, everyone dies...except for Ferdy and Allison. You'll thrill to robots with treads rolling all over a mall, shooting lasers, beeping and booping and being like mini-RoboCops.If the mall looks familiar, it's because Commando and Fast Times at Ridgemont High were also shot at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. It's even mentioned in the song Valley Girl by Moon Unit Zappa! The exteriors in the movie are the Beverly Central Shopping Centre, where Scenes from a Mall was set (and Eraserhead was shot on the industrial wasteland that existed before the mall was built).My favorite part of the entire movie is when the Blanks (Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) show up, reprising their roles from Eating Raoul! It's totally unexpected and such a weird left turn. It's not like they're well-known characters, but any time Bartel and Woronov - two of my favorites - show up in a film, I'm excited.While this film was originally known as Killbots, that title failed at the box office and the movie was re-released months later with its new title, one suggested by a janitor!Sadly, malls are just about dead today. You can't even find a video store in one to buy or rent this movie.
View More"I guess I'm just not used to being chased around a mall in the middle of the night by killer robots."I loved this movie. It's a sci-fi/horror movie where futuristic mall security robots go rogue after a lighting storm and start killing teens partying in the mall after hours.It literally is a movie that only could be made in the 80's. There is awesome fake lighting bolts, cheesy blue and green lasers and terrible acting that some how make the movie even better.
View MoreI liked Chopping Mall I thought it was a fun little flick.It's what I like to call low budget gold. I like 80s horror films and this one was Okay. I actually found this film rather fast paced and it had a lot of Action in it. This is not a totally serious Film either I found it to be more of a horror comedy with some fun tongue in cheek moments.there was also some dark humour that I liked. The story is simple a group of teenagers decide to spend the night in the mall and throw a private party in there but they end up getting locked inside and they are unaware that the security Robots have malfunctioned and are now on a killing spree. People get killed off one by one by the Robots.when the teenagers find out they are trapped inside the store with killer robots they panic and try to run and hide from them. But the Robots are fast and they can shoot laser beams at people which burn right through the skin. There is one scene in the film where someone gets killed in a crazy way and we see a huge load of blood.it was a crazy scene. I thought the film was exciting all the way through because there were always things happening,and I really liked the idea of the film about the Robots malfunctioning and turning on everyone.I thought that was a good idea and kind of interesting,the setting of the film was also interesting.I like films that take place in stores or Malls where a group of people need to work together to fight and escape that's just what this film was like. There were some scenes with the Robots that were kind of ridiculous but the film was so Entertaining I didn't care. I also liked most of the characters which was surprising because usually horror films don't have any likable characters but this one did. I thought the acting was Okay from everyone and I liked the Lead girl Kelli Maroney I thought she was a strong character that had a lot of guts and she put up a good fight. There are some Fun moments when the teenagers fight the Robots with Guns and other objects they find in the store,there are also a lot of exciting chase scenes and a game of cat and mouse occurs. Also every time the Robots Kill someone they say (thank you have a nice day) which I found quite Funny actually. I'm sure most people will think this film is cheesy and it is but it's also a lot of fun to watch which is the main reason I like it.If you have not seen it definitely give it a Watch.
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