Chopping Mall (1986)

Eight teenagers are trapped after hours in a high-tech shopping mall and pursued by three murderous security robots out of control.

Director:

Jim Wynorski

Writers:

Jim Wynorski, Steve Mitchell

Stars:

Kelli Maroney, Tony O'Dell, Russell Todd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelli Maroney	...	Alison Parks
Tony O'Dell	...	Ferdy Meisel
Russell Todd	...	Rick Stanton
Karrie Emerson	...	Linda Stanton
Barbara Crampton	...	Suzie Lynn
Nick Segal	...	Greg Williams
John Terlesky	...	Mike Brennan
Suzee Slater	...	Leslie Todd
Paul Bartel	...	Paul Bland
Mary Woronov	...	Mary Bland
Dick Miller	...	Walter Paisley
Gerrit Graham	...	Technician Nessler
Mel Welles	...	Cook
Angela Aames	...	Miss Vanders
Paul Coufos	...	Dr. Stan Simon

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

topless female nudity | mall | screaming teenage girl | bare breasts | person on fire | 

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Taglines:

Chopping Mall - Where they slash their prices - and their customers!

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Killbots

Filming Locations:

Beverly Center - 8500 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Concorde Pictures, Trinity Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min 95 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dana Kimmell was originally cast as Allison Parks but left the film due to its sexual content.

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Goofs

Unless incendiary ammunition is used, bullets puncture propane tanks but do not cause them to explode.

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Quotes

Ferdy: Look, I'm sorry if I made you angry, Linda.
Linda: It's not you, Ferdy. I'm just not used to be chased around a mall in the middle of the night by killer robots.

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Crazy Credits

Robot rolls up to camera and says: "Thank you. Have a nice day." (Movie's plot is that security robots run amuck at a shopping mall and that's what they said after they'd killed somebody).

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Alternate Versions

The TV network version has some minutes of aerial stock footage of Los Angeles added, as well as some more voice-over dialoge between the robot technicians and more scenes of Alison and Ferdy watching Attack Of The Crab Monsters on the TV set.

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Connections

Featured in Popatopolis (2009)

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Soundtracks

Streetwalkin'
(uncredited)
Written and Produced by Michael Ender and Odette Springer
Performed by Sylvia St. James

User Reviews

Unbelievably Cheesy, Mildly Entertaining.

From the film's title - "Chopping Mall", I was expecting a movie along the lines of a slasher film. And, well, I was completely surprised. While "Chopping Mall" is in a way a slasher movie, it's of a different kind. The movie basically revolves around a group of eight teenagers who are hanging out in a high tech security mall after closing time. The kids are enjoying themselves, having sex and whatnot, when suddenly one couple is murdered by the mall's high-tech security robots. The steel doors to the mall slam shut, leaving the remaining teens trapped in the mall with a gang of killer robots mercilessly attacking them. The doors don't open back up until six a.m. the next morning - can they make it through the night?

This film has complete B-movie cheese written all over it. The story for this movie, for one, is creative but flat-out silly if you really think about it. The acting - well, let's not go there. I'll just say that it was pretty bad overall - bad delivery, and they were completely unbelievable. There were typical archetype characters, including the promiscuous girl, the nerdy guy, and the good girl. The film's special effects are another thing. The CGI is completely horrible, although back at the time this was made (1986), I suppose that this could have been looked at as some high-quality technology. Viewers today though will be able to see how unbelievable it really is. The robots also kind of reminded me of vacuum cleaners, but that was just me. Aside from this movie's negative points, it's got one good thing going for it - it's really entertaining, in all of it's cheesy glory. It's not scary in any way, just entertaining, and may please gore fans for some of it's murder scenes - I have to admit, the head-explosion bit was classic.

Overall, "Chopping Mall" is nothing but a corny B-movie. It's campy, the acting was far below average, the strange techno music was annoying, and the special effects are unconvincing - but despite that, it's entertaining for the most part. You'll have a fun time watching it, but it's hard to take any of it seriously at all. 4/10.