Worm Hole Review logo
for
CHOPPING MALL




   Evidently, 1986 is a banner year for robots getting zapped from lightning storms. It happens to No. 5 from "Short Circuit", and it happens again to three more robots in "Chopping Mall" (a.k.a. "Killbots"). The major difference is that No. 5 becomes a peaceful, wisecracking sort while the security droids from "Chopping Mall" merely acquire the homicidal habit of blasting teenagers with ultra-cheezy lasers. Luckily for the teens, the robots miss 99% of the time and their shots are often non-lethal. In one scene, they attack a curvaceous blonde running around in her underwear and shoot her in the butt, though it hardly makes a dent (perhaps it's meant to be a playful spanking?). However, the results are insanely different when they shoot her in the head, which promptly explodes into a gory mess. Although the exploding head scene is gruesome, there is minimal gore overall (and even less chopping, despite the title). Nevertheless, fans expecting the usual gratuitous elements will still get to see a good amount of nudity (at least the T from the T&A department anyway), which is almost always the case with any movie directed or produced by Jim Wynorski ("Vampirella" is an odd exception to the rule). As with "Dawn of the Dead", most of the movie takes place in an indoor mall, which is a great setting because there are so many things lying around and thus so many plot possibilities. While "Chopping Mall" doesn't approach the greatness of "Dawn of the Dead", it still exploits the mall elements with moderate effectiveness (the scenes with the paint store and pet shop are pretty good). On top of all this, horror veterans Dick Miller and Mary Woronov make brief but welcome appearances.

The bottom line: "Chopping Mall" isn't too shabby, one of the better films directed by Jim Wynorski.



QUARTER BY QUARTER ANALYSIS OF MOVIE

 OVERALL RATING

7 out of 12

** NOTE: 12 dots on the domino is the best rating while no dots on the domino
means the movie is about as pleasurable as scrubbing the poop out of an overloaded septic tank. **

Click here to see the list of other movie reviews.
Or go to the Worm-Hole home page to see some other amusing stuff!

The Worm-Hole Reviews are written by Matt Barnes.

1