Cult Classics: Killer Robots Run Amok in 1986’s ‘Chopping Mall’

This is a horror cult classic. “Chopping Mall,” directed by Jim Wynorski, released the same year as John Badham’s “Short Circuit,” and I wonder which inspired which. By 1986, we were firmly in the heyday of the slasher, and Wynorski and co-writer Steve Mitchell are capitalizing on that here. But along with it—and teenage debauchery—is some light commentary on sci-fi and the race towards unchecked technology that may have been ahead of it’s time. Yet amidst it all, the film’s premise… of mall security robots which malfunction, killing not thieves and robbers but mall staff instead… was a welcome change from the legion of human and/or monster killers that inhabited most of the genre since its birth. 

The plot is simple: a group of teenage mall employees plan to stay after hours at the shopping complex’s furniture story to drink, party, and, of course, fornicate. The teens are a mixed bag. There’s gum smacking Mike Brennan (John Terlesky), who appears akin to every frat douche you’ve ever seen yet will grown on you by the end. There’s also Greg (Nick Segal), who carries himself like a “professional” type who acts like a banker. And then there’s Ferdy (Tony O’Dell), a nerdy type who looks like a bookworm who’s overly anxious and likely never been with a woman. A fourth member (“Friday the 13th Part 2’s” Russell Todd) round out the guys. Along with them are accompanying women, played by Kelli Maroney, Barbara Crampton, Suzee Slater, and Karrie Emerson. 

Killer Robots

The characters are hit or miss. My favorites here were Brennan (who deserved more screen time) and Maroney, who’s a love interest for Ferdy and the film’s de-facto heroine. My least favorite was Slater’s Leslie Todd, whose father owns the store and was just a bear to be around. But this is a horror film, and comeuppance is the name of the game. The film also features “The Terminator’s” Dick Miller as a grumpy custodian, which skyrockets it into icon territory. 

Part of the fun of “Chopping Mall” is the shopping center itself and reliving the culture of the ‘80s when malls were everything. Filming took place at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, the same mall used for “Commando,” yet this time feels lived in and real. A two-story wrap around ordeal, it’s a throwback to witness the plethora of stores visible here, including hardware stores, paint stores, sporting goods stores (with guns, of course), the aforementioned furniture store, and, of course, the pizza parlor. Given today’s Amazon culture and the death of many brick and mortars, it’s truly a thing to behold. People had lives here; it wasn’t merely a place to stop for quick items.

Total ’80s Mall Culture Mixed with Horror

However, the abandoned mall that serves as the film’s setting adds an enormity to it, and an eeriness I wasn’t expecting. A few custodians finish their work before the mall “locks,” with impenetrable metal doors slamming down, keeping would-be burglars out. Anyone left inside is stuck, with the doors not opening until 6 AM. There are no security guards, just three security ‘kill bots,’ which we’ve seen in the film’s opening via a spectator-filled demonstration. They’re innocuous-looking things, short, on tank treads, with a wide LED panel on their “head” which answers for eyes. Of course, by this time we’ve seen they’ve malfunctioned due a lightning storm; instead of detaining trespassers they’re outrightly killing them. That they were built to detain and not kill is a plot hole we’re willing to overlook. By the film’s end they become a force to be reckoned with and invoke horror through their use of the innocent, “Thank you, have a nice day” after every kill. 

The SFX here are of course dated (the film’s budget was $800,000), but the robot’s kills are oftentimes quite grisly. Some are comical and involve eye lasers, while a few involving fire and electricity were more gruesome than you’d expect from a genre film. There’s s good amount of camp involved, however, and by today’s standards what we see is quite milquetoast. Still, it was often quite unnerving to see the robots chasing the various teenagers undeterred, increasing the speed on their treaded wheels as though running. And while campy as it comes, a scene as the mall doors close, one kill bot’s shadow thrown against the wall, snapping its pincer hands together like a mad scientist was one of the film’s most iconic. 

A Cult Classic

“Chopping Mall” is not without fault. Some of the kids can be grating (mostly the aforementioned Suzee Slater, who’s written thinly), and the synthetic score by Chuck Cirino can make it feel more exciting and less eerie. Some later scenes also push the envelope of believability, mostly when Russell Todd’s character arms himself with an assault rifle from the sporting goods store and opens fire on the robots, complete with a star-shaped muzzle flash. I don’t know if sporting goods stores in a mall would carry such a thing, but this is just being nitpicky. The camaraderie the film dredges up amongst the group of teen survivors is fun to see, and by the end you’ll see Ferdy go from a timid nice guy to kind of a badass, and it’s fun to witness. 

“Chopping Mall” is a decent cult film. I’ve watched it twice now as an adult, and it holds up. It’s not perfect, and features cliches on top of cliches—but hey, this was the decade that created those cliches. Killer security robots was a welcome update on the usual monster killers, complete with foreshadowing of modern AI scares along the way. The film sets up O’Dell and Maroney as a cute couple, and by the end of it we like them and want them to survive. One of Maroney’s attacks on the robots towards the end matches Arnold in the league of one-liners, and all-in-all, the film is just fun to watch. If you can wade through the film’s camp and production that is totally ‘80s, “Chopping Mall” is as good a horror pick as any.