Chopping Mall

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Rating 2


Directed by Jim Wynorski

Written by Jim Wynorski and Steve Mitchell

Starring 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), Dick Miller (Walter Paisley), Paul Bartel (Paul Bland) and Mary Woronov (Mary Bland)


Four young couples plan a wild party in the Park Plaza Mall after it has shut for the night, but they are menaced by three deadly security robots that have gone haywire following an electrical storm.

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‘Chopping Mall’ is a 1986 horror film. It was produced by Julie Corman, the wife of the celebrated low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman, the film’s executive producer, and was originally released under the title ‘Killbots’. Basically, it’s a kind of horror version of ‘Short Circuit’, although it pre-dates that film by a couple of months.

There isn’t much to say about the film. It’s cheap and cheerful and doesn’t outstay its welcome. The script is threadbare and the robots are not threatening looking in the slightest, but Kelli Maroney (who also starred in the cult favourite ‘Night of the Comet’) runs around the deserted Mall with commendable enthusiasm.

It’s silly and not remotely scary, but the exploding head is effective and the film is quite fun to watch once. I cannot imagine needing to watch it a second time.

Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov have cameos playing their characters from Bartel’s cult 1982 film ‘Eating Raoul’. Perhaps these cameos are amusing if you are familiar with the earlier film, which I am not.

Review posted 21 January 2010

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