Chopping Mall (Killbots)

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Cast

Kelli Maroney
as Alison Parks

Tony O'Dell
as Ferdy Meisel

John Terlesky
as Mike Brennan

Paul Bartel
as Paul Bland

Russell Todd
as Rick Stanton

Karrie Emerson
as Linda Stanton

Barbara Crampton
as Suzie Lynn

Nick Segal
as Greg Williams

Suzee Slater
as Leslee Todd

Mary Woronov
as Mary Bland

Dick Miller
as Walter Paisley

Gerrit Graham
as Technician Nessler

Angela Aames
as Miss Vanders

Larence Guy
as Dr. Carrington

Paul Coufos
as Dr. Simon

Arthur Roberts
as Mr. Todd

Ace Mask
as Janitor

Mel Welles
as Cook

Will Gill Jr.
as Janitor

Lenny Juliano
as Burglar

Angus Scrimm
as Dr. Carrington

Morgan Douglas
as Technician Marty

Toni Naples
as Bathing Beauty

Robert Greenberg
as Big Eater

Maurie Gallagher
as Girl in Restaurant

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Critic Reviews for Chopping Mall (Killbots)

Audience Reviews for Chopping Mall (Killbots)

• Jan 21, 2017

  Was there a bit of a robot craze in the 80s? You had films like Short Circuit 1 and 2, the RoboCop franchise and I do remember there being a robot in Rocky IV (though that one was for a small scene, I think) and this one of course. All of these movies (at least the first movies for both Short Circuit and RoboCop) came out from around 85-87, so there was a bit of a "craze", if it can be called that. Obviously, this movie was the least successful of them all. It's a low-budget horror movie featuring robots in the era when Jason and Freddy, among other slashers ruled the horror landscape, there was no way that this movie was gonna be a hit. I mean, the movie is about as absurd as it gets, conceptually speaking, but there's no way that robots, as villains, are just gonna match up with any of the big monsters in the scene at the time. Unless you're one of those conspiracy theorists that believes that machines will eventually reach a state of intelligence and self-awareness that they'll realize humanity is useless to them and kill us all off, then maybe these robots are a terrifying preview of the future. But, for everyone else, they're just robots. There's nothing threatening about them, even though they have the capacity to murder people. Then again, I don't assume that they ever meant the robots in this movie to be anything more than just B-movie villains, like something you'd see in a 50s sci-fi movie. And, as far as that's concerned, they're effective. The movie, obviously, isn't any good. The acting is really bad, the gore is meh, the special effects are not particularly good either. But I'll be damned if this wasn't charming as all hell. I mean charming by the standards of a cheesy 80s horror movie. Unlike the last movie I reviewed (The Rezort), which took itself way too seriously, this one is shameless in how much of a joke it thinks its own story is. And, really, with a movie about security robots, who guard a mall, losing their 'minds' and murdering the people in the mall, you can't really be taking yourself all that seriously. This is a horror movie that invites you to laugh at it and with it at the same time. Part of me just wishes that the gore would have been better than it was. Outside of one preposterous scene, you'll know the one, the gore here is surprisingly lackluster. If it had been better, I might have enjoyed this movie even more, even if I wouldn't say it was actually a good movie. Another thing is that the movie, even at 77 minutes, 4 minutes of which are credits, does drag a bit. And this is an edited version of the movie. Apparently the original cut goes over 90 minutes, which I just find impossible to believe. The movie loses a lot of steam the more characters start dropping like flies. It hurts when the last two people alive are the least interesting characters in the entire movie. Now, don't get me wrong, there are no great characters in this movie, so it's not like any of all the other possible combination of characters would have been any better. The characters are just 80s stereotypes. There's the dork, the hot chick, the goody-two-shoes and the jock douchegbag. And that's all there is to the characters in the movie, no substance whatsoever. Which was to be expected given what this movie ended up being. But, still, some sort of effort could have actually been made to write likable characters, given the limitations. Really, at best, this is a bad movie that glides to an average rating based on the fact that it's quite entertaining in its badness. It's not quite a masterpiece of awful, but it's an enjoyable little piece of cheesy 80s horror. Get a group of friends together and you'll have a blast watching this.
  Jesse O Super Reviewer
• Dec 23, 2011

  Silly, cheesy fun that's sure to raise a smile among 80s b-movie horror fans. The plot has three new security robots go on a manhunt around a shopping mall after malfunctioning during a lightning storm. Very 80s stuff with the typical cliched cannon fodderof horny teens. It's actually more action that horror as the would-be heroes amass a sizeable arsenal to defeat the crazed Killbots... but that doesn't stop some of them meeting a bloody end. It's laughably bad but entertaining for sure.
  Lee ? Super Reviewer
• Dec 23, 2011

  Cliche 80s slasher, the robots looked harmless... stereotypical characters that are expandable, the explosion-of-the-head scene was marvellous, but everything else was crap.
  

  Sylvester K Super Reviewer
• Oct 19, 2011

  After a 'Robocop'-esque infomercial satirizing the "neutralization" of a criminal, 'Chopping Mall' is a wacky B-movie that exudes a jovially fun attitude that removes the drive-in idiocy of the high-concept. Like the Universal classic 'Frankenstein' and, to a lesser extent, 'Friday the 13th: Jason Lives', lightning is the catalyst for the robot's blood-soaked carnage. The mall setting is perfect for eclectic locales and weapons to duel against the robots such as gasoline cans, a paint store and automatic machineguns in a hunting store. The film is concise, explosively self-effacing in it's humor (with a cameo from Joe Dante regular Dick Miller who scolds the robot for spilling his mop bucket) and truculently aware of it's absurdist plotline ("It's alright. I guess I'm not used to being stuck in a mall, chased by killer robots.").
  

  Cory T Super Reviewer

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