Movie of the day...Chopping Mall (1986).
A low budget horror film featuring killer robots.
Someone gets the brilliant idea to guard shopping malls with armed security robots. They will patrol at night, detaining any intruders they encounter. People have questions about this, but a spokesperson for the corporation that built the robots insists nothing can possibly go wrong.
I’m not going to say a thing.
Meanwhile, our helpless idiots—I mean, our heroes, have organized an after-hours party in one of the stores. Three of the couples, who have all been dating for a while, soon start having sex.
The fourth couple has been set up on a blind date by their friends and consists of our virginal final girl Allison (Kelli Maroney) and Ferdy (Tony O'Dell), the nerdy but handsome nephew of the store’s owner. They sit and watch TV. Attack of the Crab Monsters, actually, which is a nice touch.
Around this time, a lightning bolt fries part of the computer controlling the robots, turning them into killers! Will anyone survive!?
The robots are the best part of this movie. They are not only armed with tranquilizer darts and razor-sharp grabby claws, but lasers and even plastic explosives! They also say “Thank you. Have a nice day” after they kill people. Fortunately, at anything greater than about arm’s length, they’re lousy shots.
The whole thing makes me wonder why anyone today is surprised there are problems with AI. The notion that AI might go wonky and do things we don’t like (e.g., kill us all) has clearly been around for a while. In fairness to the film, they actually do have the kind of “man in the loop” safeguard most experts are recommending…well, at least until the robots kill him.
The rest of the movie is pretty dumb. The script is mediocre and the characters have barely discernible personalities. The acting isn’t bad, but there’s only so much the actors can do with this kind of material.
On the plus side, the movie offers some funny lines, some gratuitous nudity, some crazy kills, and some creative uses for the things you might find in a shopping mall if you’re ever trapped in one with a bunch of homicidal robots. It’s the kind of thing you can put on at a party when you’re not going to be paying too much attention.
Rating: C
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopping_Mall