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:

Tonight Park Plaza Mall switches on the world's toughest security force. Absolutely nothing can go wrong...

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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

Dick Miller: As Walter Paisley, the same character he played in A Bucket of Blood (1959), another Roger Corman production.

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Goofs

The gasoline can that Allison shoves towards the robot spreads a pool of burning gasoline, but nothing caused the can to rupture. To be effective, gasoline bombs need to be made from something breakable.

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Quotes

Big Eater: Waitress, more butter!

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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

References Dawn of the Dead (1978)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Predictable, but still a blast and a must-see.

This film isn't half as gory as it's name and the box (which shows a metal hand holding a shopping bag filled with dismembered parts,) would have you think. The victims here die by lazer blasts, or are electicuted, or are dropped off high ledges. One girl is burned to death. The film's dummy title,"Killbots", is probably far more appropriate for this particular movie. The plot: at a shopping mall, presumably sometime in the not-too-distant future, a super computer is installed which is activated at night. It activates solid steal doors which seal off the enterances, making breaking in (and getting out,) almost impossible. The computer also controlls three high tech security robots, known as "protector" units. Then, one night, there is a thunder storm. Lightning strikes the antena on the roof of the mall, scrambling the computer's circuts, and the computer turns the protector robots into killing machines. After offing two techinitians hired to operate the computer overnight, and a janitor, (B-movie vet Dick Miller,) the protector units go after four teenage couples who've decided to spend the night in a mattress store for an orgy. Anybody who's familar with the teen extermination flicks of the 80's, or who've seen "Scream", will figure out right when the couples get together who will live and who will die. But the film is still worth seeing just for Keli Maroney's preformance as Alyson. She manages to play a strong female heroine without becoming a male clone. Her charecter is comparable to Ripley from the "Alien" series. Also, unlike some splatter movies, this one's more interesting in that the young people find out right away what's going on, and then they all battle the robots together, instead of one person getting seperated and killed, one by one until there's only one left. This is a definete must-see.