X-Men Days of Future Past

Entertaining masses with heavily altered stories.

Hello, fellow connoisseurs, today's entry, as our blog follows all sorts of exploitation films everywhere,  will  be about the recently premiered X-Men Days of Future Past Which would be the immediate sequel to 2011's X-Men First Class making it the fifth installment in the mutant franchise (that is without considering the two solo movies about Wolverine) but, before we get into the film review we'll start by posting the original Days of Future Past comic book story arc. The following list of facts is essentially a list of differences the film has with the original source and its intended to be a statement against film makers who are always trying to improve what's already perfect enough the way it is so, if you have read the comic book like me, you will find that the film is both entertaining and disappointing at the same time.

What really happened in Days of Future Past (The Uncanny X-Men #141, #142)

The original story arc.

The only hero in the movie.

Changing dates.

The Uncanny X-Men #141 shows the future as 2013 and they send Kitty Pryde back to the (then) present year of 1980 which is one year before the comic book was originally published.

Kitty Pryde is the Main Character.

Kitty Pryde, AKA, Katherine “Kitty” Pryde-Rasputin is the one whose mind travels back in time and into her younger body and boy that's the big main difference between comic book and movie.

Kitty Pryde never had Time-Travel Powers!

In the comic books, Rachel Summers, is the one who sends Kitty Pryde’s mind into the past.  And if that name sounds familiar, you’re right.  She is the future daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers whose mental powers run strong in the family.

Kitty Pryde is no longer a kid, she's a married woman.

I already gave this little factoid away.  In the comic books, the future Kitty Pryde is married to Piotr "Peter" Rasputin who saves the day under the alias of Colossus. 

X-men from the past and the future united!

Character who did make it out alive in the future.

  

Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Magneto, Franklin Richards, Rachel Summers (both absent from the film)

Characters who are dead in the comic book.

Charles Xavier, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, The Thing, Jeremy Storm, Angel, Mr. Fantastic, Beast, The Scarlet Witch, Iceman, Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Panther, The Human Torch, The Invisible Woman; in other words, lots of people are dead and the film obviously decided not to kill the underlined character and not to mess with other copyrighted characters (LOL)

Characters helping Kitty in 1980's original comic book story arc.

Charles Xavier, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, Angel (Obviously, the underlined characters are not in the film to give the cinematic X-Men universe continuity)

Characters trying to get rid of Kitty in 1980's original comic book story arc.

Mystique, Pyro, Avalanche, Destiny, The Blob (not seen in the movie) In addition, the film has Magneto and the US government as the only people standing in the way of the X-Men.

X-Men, second or third class, who cares about them anyways?

Sentinels on fire in the future!

Who Killed Senator Kelly?

Kitty Pryde is sent back to prevent the assassination of Senator Kelly (not on this film but seen on X-Men & X-Men 2).  It’s also not known which of the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants kills Senator Kelly. However, in the film Wolverine is sent back in time to prevent Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask.

There is No Bolivar Trask

The one in control of the Sentinels is an industrialist named Sebastian Shaw, a mutant, who also doesn’t make much of an appearance until the end.

Magneto is Not an Antagonist

In the comic story arc, Magneto, in a wheelchair, is only seen in 2013 assisting the X-Men.  He doesn’t play a part in the past.

70's Dress code.

The Sentinels Talk!

Anyone who's read a storyline involving these giant mayhem of anti mutant robots knows for sure that Sentinels speak! and they do it very often. However, their movie edition don't utter a single sound.

An Impending Nuclear Strike

Kitty Pryde is sent back to prevent this timeline from ever happening.  The motivation is that this timeline leads to a nuclear strike which is neither seen nor mentioned in the film adaptation.

Mutants are Put in Concentration Camps

Mutants aren’t necessarily killed right off the bat.  They are classified and placed into concentration camps.  Mutants also wear a sort of governor around their necks to prevent them from using their abilities. This also is not happening in the movie, what a let down!

The end is near.

Nude Mystique my oh my.

No Sentinels in the Past

There are no Sentinels to fight in the past.  They were yet to be created in the future, yep this is like taking a shit and wiping your ass with the bible being Christian.

The Story is on a Smaller Scale

The story arc is contained in New York and Washington D.C. for both the future and past.  The fight between the X-Men and the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is contained on the Great Mall while on the movie the world is somehow under a black sky and every city of the world is under the Sentinels control.

The Ending is Unsure

When Kitty Pryde’s younger mind returns, we are unsure if the timeline has actually changed. Predictably, this is not seen in the film as we're expected to crave for more X-Men movies following the already established cinematic universe for our favorite mutants.

We Meet Sebastian Shaw

At the end of the comic (You can pretty much call this the post-credits scene.) we meet Sebastian Shaw and he meets is destiny.

The Sentinels live in the 70's.

Mystique steals the show.

The X-Men cinematic universe was born in the year 2000, that is 14 years ago with a lot of water under the bridge. First of all, the movies are only based in certain story arcs from the comic books, they're in no way faithful to the original source. Secondly, Bryan Singer returned to directing an X-Men movie because he wanted to re-organize what he had originally started. X-men (2000) only told us half the story, that is why it had a sequel X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003) 

By the time Singer chose to direct Superman Returns (what the fuck was he thinking about!) instead of another X-Men film things got a little out of hand. 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, was heavily criticized despite the fact it was based on the popular Dark Phoenix Saga. Anyways, time went by and we had 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, another big let down. Finally, in 2011 an excellent sequel was made: X-Men First Class, and today's entry is the direct sequel. In addition 2013's The Wolverine, had an after credit scene which lead directly into the events of X-Men Days of Future Past... 

Quicksilver, the coolest character of the film.

Confused? Well, in that case you can watch this illustrative video that explains the history of Wolverine (the main character of the franchise, c'mon!) 

 

Now, let's get down to business and see what the movie adaptation has to offer. 

Wolverine gets sent back to the 70's to prevent Trask from being assassinated so the future won't turn out so bleak for mutants and mutant supporters alike. In the immortal words of David Tennant's Doctor: it's a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey...stuff. Original director of the first two X-movies, Bryan Singer, knows what this franchise is all about. It's not only nice to welcome back the original X-movie theme/DNA strand opening credits/Cerebro door closing bit, but also he who kick-started all this. Oh, what could have been if he had done the third movie. Speaking of, this film (to the gratefulness of many) remedies a good chunk of what transpired in The Last Stand and made so many unhappy. But don't fret, Singer has said he's not erasing the past movies and he believes in "multiverses" (let every film maker make money!)

After a beginning, where a handful of new X-Men characters who we don't give a fig about die, we learn it's a total "psyche!" moment and they're all good. This happens again near the end of the movie. It really doesn't have much effect, as all the new mutants are forgettable and the only ones we care about are from the previous films. Stewart and McKellen are what really grounds these future scenes. More of Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde, complete with potty mouth, is welcome after she was underutilized in Last Stand, but she's more just a means to an end here. It's Logan who gets to do all the time travel. His visit to the 70's allows for some nice/funny moments acknowledging the era he's in (lava lamps, water beds, the music!). Things are much more interesting in the past, with McAvoy as young Charles, Fassbender as young Erik and Jennifer Lawrence as young Mystique (sadly, she only really shares one moment with Hank/Beast). These actors are what made X-Men First Class so enjoyable/successful, so it's a good thing we spend the bulk of the movie with them. 

Hello Mystique!

Friend or foe?

McAvoy brings so many depths to Charles (who has found a serum that allows him to walk, but doing so takes away his abilities). He and Jackman play well off each other, and Charles gets to repay Logan for his telling him to fuck off in the last movie. Michael Fassbender, meanwhile, plays a much more angrier Magneto here. So much so that he's willing to kill Mystique, the one whom he brought over to his side last movie. What scenes the two of them share are really good, it's just a shame they were opposing each other. No disrespect to Rebecca Romijn, who was a welcome cameo in First Class and did a decent in the previous movies, but Jennifer Lawrence imbues her character with so much more nuance. One can understand her motivations/conflict, and the big moment between her and Trask has suitable weight to it, given what's at stake. Not to mention she's picked up a slew of kick-arse moves that she uses to take down large numbers of enemies all at once. Her fight scenes are some of the stand-outs in the film - they're so imaginative/creative and never boring. Describing her as quite flexible/bendy is an understatement.

Awesomeness! the past meets the future!

Hugh Jackman, as always, is easily likable in his most recognized role. He's gotten playing Logan down to an art by now. Despite the lack of 'snikt!' (as his past self's bone claws are adamantium-less), he still kicks a fair amount of arse. He shares some good scenes with Xavier, Lehnsherr and Hank. The past cast certainly elevates the movie. New character Peter/Quicksilver is mostly played for some funny visuals, though he does come in handy with his super speed. However, the scene in X2 when Nightcrawler attacks the White House remains the better of the two. Judging by my audience's reaction, this Quicksilver may indeed prove a hit with film goers, though I personally am more looking forward to seeing what Whedon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson do with the character in Avengers 2. I imagine/am hoping he'll have more character depth. Dinklage, who we all love, naturally makes the most of his role and does not feel like some cartoonish villain or anything. 

I'm here to end fear.

Stop doing drugs Charles, for god's sake!

The most note-worthy thing, cast-wise, is all the cameos we get of characters long-thought lost. It's an emotional/highly effective moment when we see Famke Janssen's Jean Grey again (Apparently, no longer the Phoenix but wearing a red dress that reminds of her), James Marsden's Cyclops (who's still got that great dynamic with Logan) and Anna Paquin's Rogue. While the first two prove that the events which made so many mad in The Last Stand have been corrected, the last one is a bit of a shame only because of how minuscule her screen time is. Sadly, Paquin's Rogue has always been criminally underused and (especially in Last Stand) done a disservice by the writing, but at least she and Bobby/Iceman (who finally does some ice-ramp forming/surfing in this film) get a happy ending. Actually, it seems almost everyone gets one, more or less (except for the poor X-Jet, which gets destroyed every movie), while the very end promises interesting things to come. While it's a shame Matthew Vaughn, who directed First Class (which I thought rejuvenated the series after it had gone stale), declined directing this one, Singer does a good job of bringing back the positive memories of the first two films. While I do prefer First Class and feel this film had some unnecessary characters/got a bit muddled, the good mostly outweighs the bad. This is an X-Men sequel right up there with X2 on the successful scale and should make most X-fans happy enough to crave for a sequel.Nevertheless, the X-Men from movies are very different from the ones in the comic books so I strongly, encourage you to read the comic book before watching the movie to have a more educated experience when watching this adaptations. Also, I'm thinking of calling all these superhero movies a part of a new exploitation sub-genre: Comixploitation!

Here's the movie trailer:

Vanishing Point

And so begins, carsploitation!

Richard Sarafian's 1971 film "Vanishing Point" is, for starters, a fascinating study of those persons anthropologists sometimes term "marginal men"--individuals caught between two powerful and competing cultures, sharing some important aspects of both but not a true part of either, and, as such, remain tragically confined to an often-painful existential loneliness. Inhabiting a sort of twilight zone between "here" and "there," a sort of peculiar purgatory, these restless specters cannot find any peace or place, so they instead instinctively press madly on to some obscure and unknown destination, the relentless journey itself being the only reason and justification. In addition, this movie has been addressed many times as the quintessential film that defined the Carsploitation genre, wait, the what? 

Carsploitation is a Grindhouse subgenre which features automobiles as the main showcase. In these exploitation films you’ve got scenes of car racing and crashing, usually with sports and muscle cars that were popular during the time. Classic examples of this genre are Bullit, Duel, The Car, Death Race 2000 and Christine. Modern examples of the genre could be the Fast and Furious saga and the Transformers movies but, the genre not only includes films but also TV serials and even cartoons (The Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider just to name a few)

Your bike is no match for my Challenger.

Boom, shakalaka!

After, the brief definition of the Carsploitation genre, let's move on to the movie being reviewed today. 

Disc jockey Super Soul (Cleavon Little) and delivery driver Jim Kowalski (Barry Newman) are two of these specters, marginal but decent, intelligent men who can't or won't live in burgeoning competing cultures which in reality have offered them very little of worth or substance, despite their own personal sacrifices. Kowalski himself had tried to "fit in" with the Establishment as a soldier and police officer and later, attempted to do the same with the blossoming 1960s counterculture, but soon disappointingly found that they both were ridden with their own various forms of dishonesty and insincerity. Personal honor, self-reliance and genuine respect--Kowalski's stock in trade--were tragically valued very little by either, despite each one's shrill and haughty claims to the contrary.

Meet Kowalski...

...and his wife.

Moreover, it's no accident Newman's character has a Polish surname; the Poles throughout their history have created a very rich and unique Slavic culture largely based upon just such a "marginality"--being geographically jammed between powerful historic enemies, Germany and Russia, and never being able to fully identify with either one, at often great cost to themselves. It's also no accident Little's character is blind and black, the only one of his kind in a small, all-Caucasian western desert town--his sightlessness enhancing his persuasiveness and his ability to read Kowalski's mind, the radio microphone his voice, his race being the focus of long simmering and later suddenly explosive disdain--all of the characteristics of a far-seeing prophet unjustly (but typically) dishonored in his own land.

The desert environment also plays a key role in cementing the personal relationship between and respective fates of these two men--to paraphrase British novelist J.G. Ballard, prophets throughout our history have emerged from deserts of some sort since deserts have, in a sense, exhausted their own futures (like Kowalski himself had already done) and thus are free of the concepts of time and existence as we have conventionally known them (as Super Soul instinctively knew, thus creating his own psychic link to the doomed driver.) Everything is somehow possible, and yet, somehow nothing is.

I'm here for speed.

We're here to uphold the law.

Finally, VP is also a "fin de siecle" story, a unique requiem for a quickly dying age- a now all-but-disappeared one of truly open roads, endless speed for the joy of speed's sake, of big, solid no-nonsense muscle cars, of taking radical chances, of living on the edge in a colorful world of endless possibility, seasoned with a large number and wide variety of all sorts of unusual characters, all of which had long made the USA a wonderful place--and sadly is no longer, having been supplanted by today's swarms of sadistic, military-weaponed cop-thugs, obsessive and intrusive safety freaks, soulless toll plazas, smug yuppie SUV drivers, tedious carbon-copy latte towns, and a childish craving for perfect, high-fuel-efficiency safety and security.

The just-issued DVD contains both the US and UK releases of the film; the UK release, I believe, is a much more satisfying film, as it has the original scenes deleted from the US version. As an aside, Super Soul's radio station call letters, KOW, are in fact the ones for a country & western station in San Diego. 

This should be the standard for women in bikes.

Yeah, she's only in the nude in the film.

Overall, a film that will only appeal those who have a thing for muscle cars and/or Mopars. Despite the long description about the characters, the film itself is not deep in dialogue. Characters interact briefly and the whole setting of the movie is just Jim Kowalski trying to deliver the car in pristine condition in record time. If you're not into cars and extended car chase scenes you will definitely not enjoy this movie. Carsploitation is actually a very special film sub genre, most of the films that fit into this category, are usually about the same: car chases where the plot is the chase itself. Some other films of the genre have mixed a horror story to get to wider audiences and sooner than later, we'll be checking them out here.

Kowalski gets the girl.

Here's the movie trailer, and do not try this at home kids!

They Live!

The end is near.

THEY LIVE (1988) is one of those "80s" movies that eluded me as I was growing up. The two adjectives that you hear most about "80s" movies are 'dated' and 'trivial'. But a funny thing has happened to movies in the 00s. Most movies now are really indistinguishable from each other, no matter what the genre. Summer movies are big on special effects, with no story or good characters. Non-summer movies are either boring Indie flicks or dull mainstream bids to win Oscars. And every other movie is now a remake or a reboot! But in the 80s, it seemed like a movie could be about almost ANYTHING and still be entertaining! Even a lot of "bad" ones are getting re-discovered as cult classics! Go figure.

They Live is another 80s movie that has managed to reach the level of cult status, but that's not surprising given the source...John Carpenter! Who is fast moving up my list of favorite directors! I already had been a big fan since the 80s of his no-holds-barred cult action comedy Big Trouble in Little China and have recently gotten around to watching (and loving!) his atmospheric and spooky horror flick The Fog. There's a nonchalance and unassuming quality with which Carpenter directs his flicks that is really inviting. He doesn't overdo it with camera action or music. Rather, he focuses on the characters and dialog allow them to drive the action, rather than the other way around, and sets a tone and mood that permeates throughout his movies. 

Are you sure this is a Sci-Fi film?

I mean, really.

They Live starts off very methodical and slow, establishing the main character and a couple of minor ones very well while setting an ominous, foreboding tone, and once it gets going, it REALLY gets going! It had been years since I'd seen it until recently, but I remember totally liking this effort and now have come to appreciate for how psychic and clever it really is!

They Live stars 80s wrestling icon Roddy Piper (in a surprisingly persuasive performance) as a "John Doe" style drifter who finds work at an LA construction site. There he meets fellow worker Frank (a solid Keith David) and the 2 live at a local shelter that is run by Gilbert (reliably played by Peter Jason, who later played a role in Carpenter's anthology flick Body Bags). Piper's character finds out that the shelter is a front for a secret organization, that gets raided by the police, but not before Piper finds a box of sunglasses in the group's hideout. After donning a pair of the glasses, he sees the light! The world has been infiltrated by aliens who have worked their way up through societal ranks and hold key positions of power and authority (businessmen, police, newscasters, politicians) and all the signs and media carry subliminal messages that force the general populace to conform, submit, and obey! Then there is this long sequence where Piper discovers the magnitude and scope of the alien threat via the sunglasses that is truly spooky and scary, and he proceeds to go on an alien-killing spree! During his escape, he kidnaps a local yuppie named Holly (played by the beautiful Meg Foster in an all-too-small role) and tries to convince her of the alien threat.

WTF! mineral water is more expensive than a can of pop??

You're so fucked Nada!

While They Live has several moments of hilarity (most notably in some of Piper's dialog) and has a comic air about it at times, it is mostly a serious film with an important message. Piper's blasé dialog actually complements the horror and action scenes as it's coming from a character that is at a crossroads in his life: he's homeless, with little to no hope of a good future, and is in "last straw" mode, BUT he also has a heart (as illustrated in his connections with both Holly and Frank) and morals and defeating the aliens is his way of saying that he does count and can make a difference.

Yeah, I know it all sounds cheesy and cliché, but the movie never feels like that to me. While the effects are cheap (which is intended since this is a very low budget B movie) and the dialog is purposefully tongue-in-cheek, the message and the way Carpenter tells the story is most certainly NOT cheesy or cornball! They Live is actually one of the more provocative low-budget flicks I've ever seen! The drab black-and-white world that is relayed through the sunglasses is actually pretty scary-looking, relaying a cold and empty feeling. The movie is actually pretty disturbing and violent, with the big alleyway fight scene, as well as the attacks on the shelter and the underground basement, and of course in the climax. The main stars Piper, David, and Foster really do a great job with the serious moments and making the viewer believe in the imminent threat.

There's no such thing as global warming.

I'm a sellout & I suck alien dicks.

The film's ending is simply smashing, simultaneously ambiguous and yet somehow uplifting. They Live is a pleasing blend of horror, satire, comedy, action and is grounded in a lot of truth! My fave from John Carpenter! 

Overall, a classic only the 80's could have delivered so brightly. Besides, John Carpenter's vision on how we live our lives is very accurate as we're somehow secretly enslaved by the powers that be. Nevertheless, there are countless films dealing with all sorts of conspiracies but, believe you me, this is the one, the ultimate. Not even the Matrix trilogy can show you how deep the rabbit hole is. They live, and they've always have. Be careful my fellow readers...  

Let's kick ass!

a True American hero.

Now, since They Live is a cult classic, this review wouldn't be complete if it didn't come with the usual trivia section everyone likes so, 

They Live and their 16 Trivia Facts you probably (already) know.  

3 Weeks fight.

The fight between Nada (Roddy Piper) and Frank (Keith David) was only supposed to last 20 seconds, but Piper and David decided to fight it out for real, only faking the hits to the face and groin. They rehearsed the fight for three weeks. Carpenter was so impressed he kept the 5 minute and 20 second scene intact.

Poetry.

The line "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum" was ad-libbed by Roddy Piper. According to director John Carpenter, Piper had taken the line from a list of ideas he had for his pro wrestling interviews.

Who ya gonna call?

 

The communicators that the guards use are the P.K.E. meters from Ghostbusters (1984).

an Unnamed lead role?

 

Roddy Piper's character never gives his name nor is he referred to by name throughout the entire movie. He is simply referred to as "Nada" in the credits, which means "nothing" in Spanish. The name is most likely a reference to George Nada, the main character of Ray Nelson's short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning," which was the basis for 'They Live'.

Southpark's homage. 

 

The eponymous scene in South Park: Cripple Fight (2001) was taken blow-by-blow from the fight between Frank and Nada in the alley.

We're in this together pal.

Kick ass!

Tough & Married.

 

Roddy Piper, being a married man at the time of filming, refused to take his wedding band off. That's why in several scenes you can see a wedding ring on.

Obey.

Graffiti artist Shepard Fairey got his "obey" name from this film.

Homage?

 

There is a thinly veiled jab at Siskel & Ebert (1986), with both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert as aliens. "Siskel" is denouncing George A. Romero and John Carpenter as too violent. (In fact, Siskel had written a scathing review of Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968).)

Full name, please.

 

The only character given a first and last name is Holly Thompson (Meg Foster).

 

The Chosen one.

 

John Carpenter wanted a truly rugged individual to play Nada. He cast wrestler Roddy Piper in the lead role after seeing him in WrestleMania III (1987). Carpenter remembered Keith David's performance in The Thing (1982) and wrote the role of Frank specifically for the actor.

Alive Films partnership.

 

The second and final time that John Carpenter worked with Alive Films. The first was Prince of Darkness (1987).

Carpenter, the voice behind mind control.

 

John Carpenter does the voice that says "sleep."

The Ultimate Quote.

 

The line "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I'm all out of bubble gum" was used in the classic 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D (by Duke himself).

Even Stuntmen are aliens in this movie!

 

Stunt coordinator Jeff Imada appears as various aliens throughout the movie.

Revelation scene reference.

 

SQ1's video for "Can You Feel" references the scene of revelation in "They Live".

 
Here's the movie trailer and don't forget to get your sunglasses to make sure you're surrounded by evil aliens from outer space!

Chopping Mall/Killbots

Formerly known as Killbots.

Chopping Mall (originally known as Killbots) is a 1986 sci-fi horror film produced by living legend Roger Corman and directed effectively by Jim Wynorski the films follow the survival story of a group of teens that are locked inside the mall which is protected by five state of the art robots known as "the protectors". 

I have to say this is a very entertaining movie. There were a few Andy Warhol factory people in the movie but mainly the stars were unknown other then Kelly Maroney who had built up a following from her role on the soap Ryan's Hope. I think the lack of marquee names are always a advantage in horror or thriller movies because that means anyone can be killed, murdered, and torn to pieces with no hesitation.

In the beginning of the movie we see a businessman giving a videotaped demonstration about this new security system that he and his crew have built in order to replace the apparently less effective human security guards from shopping malls. Among the demonstration guests you can see almost every single shop owner from the unnamed mall in which such weird meeting is taking place. Now, movies involving computers or robots in the 80's could only mean one thing: mayhem!

We need to protect our business from mall rats.

Enter, the Protectors.

In the city where the mall is, there is a bad electrical storm that hits the mall several times with lightnings that cause the main frame computer that runs the robots to malfunction and bingo! the robots go haywire. In the meantime, unaware of the forthcoming tragedy,  there's a big after hours party  going on behind closed doors. Predictably, these unaware workers will meet their way with the killing machines sooner than later. Now, these protector robots are supposed to recognize the mall workers by asking their ID cards but, since the storm hit their program source hell is about to begin...

This film clearly, follows the path of other successful  movies of its time but, I dare to say Chopping Mall improves the original ideas positively delivering  a fast paced story with no fillers.

This is a textbook movie about how to make a good thriller. It only last 75 minutes and that is all it needs to be. So many thrillers are so over blown and bogged down with stories that you even forget you are supposed to be scared, thrilled and on the edge of your seat. Yes, the the kill bots are really cheesy. But there is always something creepy about machines going bad, don't deny it!

This movie has all of the qualities that you need in order to enjoy a cheesy 80s flick: quite a bit of female nudity, (including a breast shot of Barbara Crampton from Stuart Gordon's classic film RE-ANIMATOR) bad acting, wacky music, and some nice but quick shots of gore and violence. Because of the fact that this movie has sci-fi elements to it, it has a bunch of horrible looking CGI laser effects that are so bad that they are good.

Protect the rich, blast the mall rats!

it's morphin' time! oops! wrong movie pal!

The writing and direction isn't as bad as you would think. There are some movies from the 80s that are so terrible that you can't help but love them. This isn't one of them. You can actually sit back and enjoy Chopping Mall as a horror film, but you can't set your expectations too high. You will also want to keep in mind that it isn't suppose to be a horror film all the way around. It is meant to be a horror/sci fi/ action flick.

Fans of old 80s horror movies will enjoy the cast of actors in this film, which include: Barbara Crampton from "Re-Animator," Kelli Maroney from the crime film "Slayground," Tony O'Dell from "Evils Of The Night," Russell Todd from "Friday The 13th Part 2," and Karrie Emerson who is also from "Evils Of The Night." Even Dick Miller came through the give a quick cameo. (This movie was produced by Roger Corman, after all.) The special effects by Robert Short are cool, but unfortunately most of them were chopped down to quick cuts, therefore leaving most of it in the dark. The movie was directed by Jim Wynorski, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Wynorski went on to make a career out of doing cheesy nudie films. After the 80s, the majority of the actors pretty much disappeared from the film business.

The movie was originally theatrically released in March 1986 under its original title, "Killbots." It performed poorly during its initial release. The producers felt the movie's title might have disinterested audiences, who might think based on the original movie poster that it was a "Transformers"-like children's cartoon instead of a violent exploitation movie. After some time, the movie was re-released on video under its new title with over 15 minutes cut. 

 
It definitely isn't "The Terminator," but it is enjoyable. Recommended for all of the fans of old cheesy 80s flicks.

yeah, boobs!

By the way, boobs!

Chopping Mall behind the scenes.

Director & Stuntman.

When the stunt crew was setting up a scene involving a character being thrown to his death from the third level of the mall, director Jim Wynorski volunteered to try the stunt himself as long as they set him up from the second level. He completed it successfully but found out he'd broken a rib in the process; Wynorski did not tell anyone he had gotten hurt and no one found about it during the remaining production time. 

Spam!

A movie poster of another Jim Wynorski film, The Lost Empire (1985), is seen in the background of many shots in the restaurant.

Kelli the action lady.

Kelli Maroney did most of her own stunts.

Evil claws.

The Killbot claws were made from plastic toy grippers adapted with electric solenoids 

The voice behind the robots.

Director Jim Wynorski provided the voices of the three Protector robots.

VHS to DVD.

The film's negative was tied up in legal limbo, so the Lion's Gate DVD edition of the film was mastered from a Lightning Video VHS master.

Roger Corman Movie Cameo.

The horror movie that Allison (Kelli Maroney) and Ferdy (Tony O'Dell) are watching in the furniture store is Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), another Roger Corman movie. 

They Came From Outer Space.

The book Gerrit Graham's character is reading is "They Came from Outer Space" which was edited by the film's director, Jim Wynorski. One of the stories in the collection is "The Racer" which was filmed as Death Race 2000 (1975) featuring Mary Woronov. 

Fatality!

Eat lead tinman!

Sequel. 

There were talks about making a sequel after the film rallied to do earn decent office returns. 

Special Effects.

The special effects crew actually built five remote controlled robots to serve as the Protector killbots. Three were required for the scenes of the robots together in the first half of the film, with two extras as backups in the event that the originals were damaged during any of the action sequences. In order to keep the robots looking realistic (as well as due to the film's budgetary constraints), they were constructed out of such items as wheelchair frames and pieces of conveyor belt. Excluding shooting laser beams, most of what the killbots are seen doing onscreen was the result of the effects crew operating them via remote control. 

California Mall.

The film was allowed to shoot at a real California mall as long as they did not damage any facilities and had removed any traces of their presence before the mall opening time of 9AM. While the mall's head of security didn't like the filmmakers and was constantly accusing them of causing disrepair, the mall's owner was supportive of the film and made sure the production was able to complete its work on schedule. 

Game over!

Budget.

The budget for the film was very limited (around $800,000 total) but the director had no problems with this, as he was happy to work on a Roger Corman film and knew beforehand that Corman always kept expenses to a minimum. 

Here's the movie trailer:

and here's the movie, courtesy of Youtube: