CHOPPING MALL (REVIEW)

Dir. Jim Wynorski

Reviewer. Dan Cook

One of the more off-kilter horror comedies of the mid 80’s, CHOPPING MALL is an odd and rather tacky affair from future schlockster Jim Wynorski. A blend of DAWN OF THE DEAD and WESTWORLD, the film sees a bunch of horny teenagers trapped overnight in a large department centre where they are pursued by the malls’ advanced and now murderous security robots whose circuitry has gone fatally haywire following a lightning storm.

There are some pretty spectacular kills to enjoy throughout CHOPPING MALL and the presence of the absolutely stunning Barbara Crampton is always welcome. However, the characters are bland, the laser-firing robots look ridiculous, the performances are consistently ropey, it’s not particularly funny, it’s certainly not scary and overall, it’s just a forgettable and rather ugly mess. Hopefully the upcoming remake from director Robert Hall will do more with this cheesy yet potentially entertaining concept.