The Mangler (1995)

A laundry folding machine is possessed by a demon from Hell.

Director:

Tobe Hooper

Writers:

Stephen King (short story), Tobe Hooper (screenplay),

Stars:

Robert Englund, Ted Levine, Daniel Matmor

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Englund	...	William 'Bill' Gartley
Ted Levine	...	Officer John Hunton
Daniel Matmor	...	Mark Jackson
Jeremy Crutchley	...	J.J.J. Pictureman / Mortician
Vanessa Pike	...	Sherry Ouelette
Demetre Phillips	...	George Stanner
Lisa Morris	...	Lin Sue
Vera Blacker	...	Mrs. Adelle Frawley
Ashley Hayden	...	Annette Gillian
Danny Keogh	...	Herb Diment
Ted Le Plat	...	Doctor Ramos
Todd Jensen	...	Roger Martin
Sean Taylor	...	Derrick Gates
Gerrit Schoonhoven	...	Aaron Rodriguez
Nan Hamilton	...	Mrs. Ellenshaw

Storyline

Detective John Hunton is investigating an iron folding machine that has found a taste for eating people. While he tries to solve the mystery, Bill Gartley, the owner, wants to find new victims for his machine.

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Plot Keywords:

supernatural | crushed to death | severed arm | severed finger | cult film | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate tale of terror is about to begin

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Australia South Africa

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Máquina Mortífera

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$1,781,383 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Film Production, Distant Horizons, Filmex Pty. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Larry Taylor's last film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
George Stanner: What are you doing? Not up here. Get back down there. Jesus. Morons.

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Connections

Followed by The Mangler Reborn (2005)

User Reviews

Another besmirching of a Stephen King short story

There is a trio of films based on Stephen King short stories, and they all come from the same book, "Night Shift", and they are all severely lacking. But this is not the fault of the brilliant Mr. King; it's the fault of the adaptation writers and the directors who couldn't find a way to put in decent added story line to make them long enough.

The first one is "Graveyard Shift", the story of a drifter who goes to work in a textile mill only to find out that it's got giant, hideous rats living in the basement. A complete alteration of the plot line and a poor attempt at creating a romance for the main character make this movie less than a show stopper.

Next is the infamous "Children Of The Corn". That's right, the cheap hack series was actually begun by a Stephen King short, and an old one at that. God only knows how they managed to turn a 28 page short into 7 or so full-length movies.

And finally, the film of discussion: "The Mangler". As has been said several times, Both Ted Levine and Robert Englund did their best to work with rather poorly designed roles. Englund especially; his character never existed in the story.

The plot idea of an evil industrialist sacrificing innocent girls to some unholy piece of machinery is not only idiotic, it's sickening. I had hoped that the one part of the story they'd change is that the heroes would ultimately win, but they failed to do THAT, too. And the chase scene where the machine's "head" pulls itself off the rest of the body and chases Levine and some girl is bizarre. Where did this big underground cavern they're getting chased through come from?!

The supporting acting is ridiculous, the FX are so-so, and the mangler itself is absurdly Gothic. It looks like it's made out of wrought iron, this huge piece of machinery the size of a trailer; nothing like in the King story where it was just a regular, rectangular shaped piece of industrial machinery.

All in all this film is something you MIGHT care to see if you've got a strong heart (for the parts that are rather disrespectful to God) and stomach (For the poorly acted and cheesy parts). Otherwise, ignore it.