Chopping Mall (1986)
HORROR-THON 2022 • HOUSE PARTY
7/10
DIRECTOR: Jim Wynorski
STARRING: Kelli Maroney, Tony O’Dell, Russell Todd
RELEASED: 1986
RUNTIME: 1 hour, 17 minutes
WATCH ON: Shudder, AMC+, Amazon, The Roku Channel, Apple TV
SCARE LEVEL: Low
HAVING A NICE DAY: Not guaranteed
The mall just installed three new security robots. They’re programmed to keep their place safe after hours and to say “Thank you, have a nice day” after they’ve done their job. A lightning storm scrambles their programming. Their job is now murder.
A group of young mall employees decides to throw an after-hours party inside a furniture store. There’s beer, couples pairing off, and a lot of very good 80’s hair.
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They plan to sneak out in the morning.
That night, lightning hits the mall’s control room and the security robots go haywire. The doors lock. The robots start sweeping the halls, and anything that moves is a target. The surviving employees have to make it till morning using whatever they can find in a shopping mall.
MY HUMBLE OPINION
This movie is 77 minutes long and knows exactly what it is. It’s a Roger Corman production that was originally released as Killbots. It flopped, got renamed Chopping Mall, and found its audience.
The robots look like rolling trash cans with laser eyes, and I love them. The “have a nice day” line is chilling and hilarious every time.
Then there’s the mall itself. Neon storefronts, a food court, and an escalator that’s honestly the real star. It’s a time capsule of the American mall at its peak.
The heroine, Alison, is played by Kelli Maroney, who also played the cheerleader in Night of the Comet. Barbara Crampton is in it, too. Horror fans, you know.
FUN FACT FOR YOUR NEXT DINNER PARTY
Chopping Mall was originally meant to be filmed at the Beverly Center, but they charged too much money, so it ended up being shot at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, where Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Commando were filmed. The Sherman Oaks Galleria allowed them to film as long as they didn’t damage any facilities and were out of there by the time the mall opened in the morning.