Shop til you drop, dead!

Chopping Mall
1986 | R | 1 Hr. 17 Min | Sci-Fi/Horror | Concorde Pictures

Director: 

Jim Wynorski

Writers: 

Jim Wynorski

Steve Mitchell

Stars: 

Kelli Maroney

Tony O'Dell

Russell Todd

Barbara Crampton

Synopsis:

A group of teenagers that work at the mall all get together for a late-night party in one of the stores. When the mall goes on lockdown before they can get out, the robot security system malfunctions and goes on a killing spree. One by one, the three bots try to rid the mall of the "intruders." The only weapons the kids can use are the supplies in other stores. Or . . . if they can make it 'til morning when the mall reopens.

To serve and protect!

Joe Bob Briggs opened up season two of his hit show The Last Drive-In Streaming on Shudder with an 80s cult classic Chopping Mall. Park Plaza Mall has just installed a state-of-the-art security system, including shutters across all exits and three high-tech robots programmed to disable and apprehend thieves! But some freak lighting storm short circuits the pannel turning this innocent bot's into killer machines. The bots were originally set to stun the thief until help arrived. 

Sadly the beautiful Karrie Emerson would only do one more movie after this.

Meanwhile, the four couples decide to have a party in a furniture store where three of them work. In true B-Movie fashion, a few of them begin to have a drink, party, and of course have sex. >Side note from one that has worked in the mall I can confirm this type of behavior did happen! Oh yes, it did happen. In fact, while working in a small theatre we would confiscate the alcohol that people snuck in but forgot to pick up after the show well, what do you think we did with it pour it down the drain? <  So how does the carnage begin? Simple its the 80s and when a girl needs a smoke she needs a smoke! But when your out you send your boyfriend to the vending machine out in the mall for a pack.

Just gaze upon that cigarette machine and all its retro glory. 

I'm going to show my age here but remember cigarette machines like this? They were a bitch to pull on that drop arm. Do you remember when you could smoke in the mall? It does not seem that long ago. I can still see those poor maintenance people sweeping up everybody butts laying around. Hey, maybe the smoking ban is why malls are doing so poorly now? Ok back to the movie, of course with our chump walking the mall and our short circuit robots on patrol the action starts to set in. 

Killbots

Would you believe the guy who brought us an enchanting mermaid from "Splash" to the man-eating sharks of "Lethal Weapon 4", to the inspirational heart light of “E.T.” made the Killer Bots? Crazy as it seems Robert Short took old electric wheelchair parts along with an escalator tread to make one of the horror Sci-fi iconic looks. And with this being a Roger Corman film the budget was low and the special effects would take up a huge chunk of that. Special Effects artist Roger George was the man behind the exploding head as well as other special effects that look pretty amazing. He also worked on may Corman pictures but also gave us effects on Terminator, Repo Man, and The Howling.  George and Short's companies have gone on to win Academy Awards for there work in other films. 

Scream Queen Barabra Crampton 

With a young cute cast its odd that only a few of them went on to do other movies. Of course, the wonderful Barbra Crampton is never afraid to take off her top. And Kelli Maroney was coming off of the hot Night of the Comet. She was cast because director Jim Wynorski had a crush on her. "I had seen Kelli in a couple of things and I wanted to date her. So, I figured the one way to make that happen was to put her in a movie," said Wynorski. And we get a quick glimpse at Rodney Eastman as a shoplifter tracked down my the non-killer bots. Eastman later went on to star in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

Kelli Maroney's Crazy 80s hair is a safe place for spiders to live.

Upon its initial limited release on March 21, 1986 Killbots did poorly at the box office. However, it fared better when it was re-released as Chopping Mall. The name Chopping Mall was a suggestion of a janitor working in the mall at the time. It was back in 1986 when I first gazed upon the VHS cover I could not wait to take it home. I loved it then and I still love it now. For a low budget, Corman flick Chopping Mall's pace is very crisp and never really slows down. With great actors, and an interesting story followed by a killer soundtrack Chopping Mall is still worth the watch. Even if this time around I was watching the background more then the movie reliving my retail days. 

3 Bloody Brains out of 5