Scene Autopsy: Chopping Mall (1986) | Case File

[00:00:00]Is there anything else we could watch?

[00:00:01]>> I don't know. Do you want to watch uh shopping mall?

[00:00:04]>> I would love to watch shopping mall.

[00:00:25]>> We decided we're going to watch Chopping Mall.

[00:00:27]>> Love Chopping Mall.

[00:00:28]>> It's a great movie. How many times have you seen Chopping Mall?

[00:00:30]>> I've probably seen Chopping Mall like five times, >> but like each time is great.

[00:00:36]>> For those that have not seen Choppy Mall, how would you uh how would you describe it?

[00:00:40]>> Um, it is >> it is uh supposed to be a horror movie, but it's kind of funny. It's uh >> it's basically like a mall, which those existed in know what 198586 this was. And uh it's it is secured by three robots.

[00:01:01]>> Yes. Heavily secured.

[00:01:03]>> Heavily secured. Uh that their only protocol is to zap people if they're >> even present.

[00:01:10]>> And there's a group of employees that are supposedly teenagers in the movie, but they're clearly not teenagers. One is actually a married couple.

[00:01:17]>> Mid20s. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:01:19]>> But they all work at the mall, or some of them do, some of them don't. They decide after work that they're just gonna hang out in the king in the in the furniture store.

[00:01:28]>> Uh >> Mattress King.

[00:01:31]I forget the name, but it was they're hanging out in the furniture store. Park Plaza is the mall. They have a presentation. They show a video demonstration of the robot in action. Um and so we see the demo. You know, there's this really weird couple at the beginning that uh just say a lot of annoying things throughout the presentation. and they keep interrupting. The guy who invented the robot says that absolutely nothing can go wrong and that is uh quite the opposite of what actually does happen. I should also point out this is a mall in the suburbs. There's no crime that we know of or no nothing really >> to to um justify having gates cuz it's not just the robots. They have gates that close and seal up the entire mall at night >> cuz they're propagandized at the beginning of the film cuz it starts out as a movie within a movie which is this uh burglar jewel thief PSA that >> Yeah. No. And I don't think that's going on.

[00:02:27]>> Nothing's happening. It's a mall in the suburbs, so they have really no nothing to worry about. But they have maximum security. A lot of money went into Park Plaza, >> right? um between the robots that probably cost a million dollars each and then the gates that seal up. Also, I'm wondering if you have gates that seal the entire mall at night, then why do you need robots?

[00:02:49]>> Yeah, it is once it's so overkill to have these like death star panel doors.

[00:02:56]>> We see uh the actor um I think Rodney Eastman who played Joey in Nightmare Elm Street Dream Warrior. Uh he is in the opening credits as the shoplifter.

[00:03:06]>> Of the record store. We get to the restaurant where Suzie and Allison both work. So they're at a pizzeria in the mall and uh there's a chef barking orders. Uh he kind of looks like he bathes in marinara and he's just chain smoking cigarettes over the food >> on his shirt.

[00:03:23]>> His shirt has a lot of just grease and I'm not entirely sure what else. It's very dirty for for somebody that is uh you know I mean I don't feel like it should be that dirty. It looks like it is a curly being painted like it's a fresca or something.

[00:03:36]>> It almost looks like art the way it's kind of formed.

[00:03:38]>> It's kind of like an abstract. It's got a polic on his shirt.

[00:03:42]>> He doesn't wear an apron. Uh so there's no aprons happening at this particular restaurant. So everything is just kind of wiped on the shirt.

[00:03:49]>> You had mentioned uh earlier that the dish falls down as she's preparing it to bring to a table. And there's corn.

[00:03:56]>> There's corn. It's a slice of pizza.

[00:03:58]>> Yeah.

[00:03:58]>> And then corn like nibletts. So, she's, you know, mentioning the menu items, uh, Luigi Belly Busters, uh, garlic logs, and chovy pizza. I mean, doesn't sound terrible, but also just I love the name Luigi Belly Busters.

[00:04:14]>> Yeah. It's like they could have done Mario Belly Busters, but they knew that Nintendo was going to >> Yeah, Nintendo was going to get >> involved. Yeah. No, they were like Luigi, though.

[00:04:24]>> But how appetizing is it to have food called Belly Busters? Like, don't you just want to like gravitate towards that?

[00:04:29]>> It's I know it doesn't sound great for your actual body, but that sounds good.

[00:04:34]>> It does sound good. So, make I make fun of what they're called, but honestly, I would eat everything off that menu most likely, except for the corn. I don't want corn on my pizza.

[00:04:43]>> Yeah. No, and that's like a very like you're in a school lunch.

[00:04:48]>> I think it's the only time I can imagine getting corn and pizza at the same time.

[00:04:51]And then in the background, uh the post-p production guy, um he is asking for uh he's the more butter guy, >> waitress, more butter.

[00:05:01]>> He's like he's teetering a line of like uh yeah, objectifying these women and also uh just being a complete pig.

[00:05:08]>> And they make a joke about him uh about his mostly his appearance, but I guess also it's mainly because he kind of goes in there and hits on the waitresses while he's ordering his uh Luigi belly busters.

[00:05:18]>> Yeah. You know, it's it's in the same breath. He's asking for more butter.

[00:05:22]He's like, "Yeah, what are you doing?"

[00:05:24]>> That's pretty hot. You know, whenever you want to attract somebody, you go, "More butter." And then you pick up on them and ask for their phone number.

[00:05:31]>> You're like, "Oh, you like butter?"

[00:05:32]"Well, that's better than margarine."

[00:05:35]>> We get to the point of the movie where lightning strikes three times. Um, and apparently because the lightning strikes, it kind of messes with the robots. They're evil robots now because I guess in horror sci-fi logic if you see lightning then it's going to turn something evil.

[00:05:51]>> Exactly. It's especially kind of 80s ccentric I feel like you know that's a lot of >> plot points are just lightning.

[00:05:58]>> So I guess they were good robots up until the point when the lightning struck and now they downloaded evil essentially >> into their main frame.

[00:06:07]>> I like that more than even the other um security protocols being erased. It's like they downloaded evil.

[00:06:14]>> They just downloaded evil.

[00:06:15]>> It makes sense. I mean, I think uh for the logic of this movie, I'm good with that.

[00:06:20]>> They got a Ultron on it. We're like, human beings have to be killed.

[00:06:24]>> I think it works. And one other thing I love about these robots, too, is they have like this kind of bro vibe happening where throughout the movie, they kind of just look at each other and turn their heads and just kind of check in like, "Bro, do you see what's happening?

[00:06:38]>> Do you see what's going on?"

[00:06:39]>> I never thought about them. Yeah, they're all just kind of like >> they kind of communicate but like non-verbbally just kind of look at each other every once in a while just to are we on the same page? Is this actually happening?

[00:06:50]>> Yeah. No. Or it's like you know it's both their first days on the job.

[00:06:53]They're like do you think this is this is going okay, man? Like >> are we doing okay? I mean people are showing their identification and we're still killing them. Is that is that what we're supposed to do?

[00:07:03]>> Do we Yeah. How loose is the identification rule? What's going on? um >> they kill multiple people and the idea is the presentation earlier the doctor had mentioned as long as you show your identification they'll scan it >> you're you're cleared you're good to go >> your identification badge please >> uh but that's not the case in this movie so they >> you need one supervisor robot that's like you guys are really [ __ ] up your job >> you guys got to stop [ __ ] up you're not supposed to kill people show your identification >> so now I wonder if the robots are just not good at their job or they just like killing people or maybe it's both.

[00:07:41]>> I think it's a little bit of I hope it's a little bit of both or they're just evil robots.

[00:07:45]>> I think they're evil and they're also just like really sarcastic because once they kill people they say thank you.

[00:07:50]Have a nice day.

[00:07:51]>> Thank you. Have a nice day. I think they know that they >> they know >> it's ironic to say as they sarcasm. I mean it's good customer service to say thank you. Have a nice day but generally not after you murder somebody.

[00:08:02]>> Thank you. Have a nice day.

[00:08:06]Oh, but you can in customer service, you can put the right like stank on it.

[00:08:10]>> They hire three full-time technicians to control the robots.

[00:08:14]>> And are they there all night?

[00:08:16]>> They're just chilling all night.

[00:08:17]>> Are they or are they I guess Well, I guess if they the robots didn't kill the technicians.

[00:08:23]>> Yeah.

[00:08:23]>> Would they just be up all night making sure nothing in this movie happened?

[00:08:29]>> So, we get to the part where we see the the technicians. One of them is uh just reading a Playboy at work and then instantly within a matter of seconds he gets killed. The robot just throws like this uh >> what do you call it?

[00:08:43]>> What is it? Like a knife through the >> Yeah, like a dagger or something. Well, goes through the magazine >> centerfold into his neck or whatever.

[00:08:51]>> It was a very quick scene. Um you know, it was fine. Um, but then the other guy, he's reading um a sci-fi novel and uh and you know, same situation. He gets killed off pretty quickly. And uh you know, it just with with these robots, I'm seeing that maybe they don't like uh pornography very much or literacy. They don't like people that are reading or having any kind of downtime.

[00:09:13]>> Cuz it was like both pornography, definitely pornography.

[00:09:17]>> Yeah.

[00:09:17]>> But pornography and also a novel.

[00:09:20]>> Yeah. Sci-fi. You're reading a sci-fi novel and then the other guy's reading pornography.

[00:09:25]>> You know, if it is a sci-fi novel, that might be >> Yeah, >> they might see that as propaganda or some kind of blasphemy.

[00:09:32]>> They weren't having it, but the guys were just there doing their jobs just relaxing. You know, I do have one question though, cuz I' I've never had the sensation to bring porn to work. Is that something that people do or >> Well, I think, you know, technically we're all bringing porn to work now.

[00:09:46]It's a couple buttons away and you're there, you know. Um, >> we have access to it. Yeah.

[00:09:52]>> But to physically bring it in, >> yeah, >> I'm sure they were like, "Bring your reading materials." There's a lot of downtime.

[00:09:59]>> And then we transitioned to the full-on um orgy session that essentially happens in a furniture store. And they brought warm beer. So, they're drinking warm beer, they're playing music, they do a little bit of minimal dancing. Their friend is introduced to Allison. And it's the most awkward, weird introduction between two people. It is a long take.

[00:10:20]>> And she's in her chair and she's like her back is turned for some reason. Like she's like doing like a great reveal.

[00:10:26]>> It seems uncomfortable for anyone. Yeah.

[00:10:28]If you to just be like this for like a while.

[00:10:32]>> I honestly if if someone held a gun in my head and was like, "What's the worst meat cute in film history?" Like this is up there.

[00:10:41]>> Hi And then there's the music that there's this dramatic music that's playing. It's just a weird >> very over the top. Yeah. Cheesy.

[00:10:59]>> It's a weird scene. So yeah, the couples are all meeting. They're rendevuing.

[00:11:05]They're hooking up. They're like 6 ft apart from each other on display mattresses. They're ruining the uh the nonsex mattress clause of the store.

[00:11:16]>> You smell like pepperoni.

[00:11:18]>> You know, I don't mind the smell of pepperoni. Obviously, >> craziest line of dialogue in this movie, honestly. I think >> what was it? He says something like uh she said you smell like pepperoni or >> Yeah. He's like, "Yeah, you still smell like pepperoni." And she's like, "Oh, well, if I smell like pepperoni," he's like, "Well," >> and then she starts to hum. She busts out a tune.

[00:11:37]>> Yeah. And then she takes her top off.

[00:11:39]Yeah.

[00:11:49]And so all the couples are hooking up.

[00:11:51]You've got the gum chewer guy hooking up with his girlfriend, >> right? No, we talked about Yeah. This guy he he's chewing his gum at the beginning of this movie. It I imagine it's the same piece.

[00:12:04]Let's just judging from this guy's >> How many sticks of gum? One, two, or three? Oh, I think he's been I think he just does like 12 hours per per stick.

[00:12:18]>> Hand me my badge, please.

[00:12:20]>> Even this first scene, it's just like real present.

[00:12:23]>> FY and Allison, who just recently met, are watching a Roger Corman film, a black and white film, uh, on television.

[00:12:31]It was like a crab Oh, crab monsters.

[00:12:34]>> Tack of the crab monsters.

[00:12:35]>> Attack of the crab monsters. And I think this kind of gives us an indication that they're most likely going to survive because the they're the two nerds that are not hooking up. They kind of act like they're more or less on a date and they're watching this black and white film and um yeah, I think that kind of lets you know early on that. And you know, Roger Corman probably is a fan of >> the spared virgins. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:12:59]>> Um >> Oh, yeah. That's how they got away with it is if they would have watched a Roger Corbin movie. Yeah, I think that was I think that was the standard for them to survive. So, one thing I noticed, too, is uh while everybody's hooking up in a furniture store, the robots, they're aware of what's happening.

[00:13:15]>> They passed by once before, they're scoping out the scene, >> but they're nice enough to wait outside, >> right?

[00:13:21]>> Like to wait around for everybody to kind of wrap up the the situation >> or like I don't know, maybe they just don't understand what's going on cuz they're robots.

[00:13:30]>> They could be very confused by what's confuses them. That could be it, too.

[00:13:33]Maybe it's kind of melting their robot brains. They're shortcircuiting.

[00:13:36]>> We have no idea what's going on right now. Let's just give it like 20 minutes and we'll be right back.

[00:13:40]>> Yeah. Let's just let's just time it out.

[00:13:42]You guys want to go to lunch? And then they have their robot lunch, which I guess is they eat bolts and >> they just get like plugged in.

[00:13:49]>> Yeah.

[00:13:49]>> For a bit.

[00:13:50]>> It's like the sock on the door type of situation.

[00:13:52]>> Very courteous. Absolutely.

[00:13:55]>> And they still they are about customer service cuz they even say, "Thank you.

[00:13:58]Have a nice day." So they're polite about They're cordial. They're nice.

[00:14:01]Right. They're like, "We have no problem killing, you know, people, but we're not going to [ __ ] block anybody. That's a little much for us."

[00:14:07]>> The robots don't don't [ __ ] block in this movie, which is nice of them, >> right? No, no, no. I I hope that also when they go to Sorry, I just thought when they go to robot lunch, it's like all the other robots from movie history also are in a lunchroom. It's like Rosie Robots there.

[00:14:24]>> I'd imagine uh Johnny Five from Short Circuit would be in there, too, cuz I think they're kind of modeled after him.

[00:14:29]They look very very similar.

[00:14:31]>> Yeah. Robocootcops in there just eating baby food or whatever.

[00:14:35]>> Tastes like baby food.

[00:14:37]>> Yeah. They got like their little locker room with all the 80s robots. Um they even have like the Lost in Space robot there. I'd imagine >> with a Will Robinson robot.

[00:14:46]>> Yeah. I'd love to see uh just a whole bunch bunch of robots having lunch in the break room just talking about their day. Oh man, this is exhausting.

[00:14:55]Robocop's got to have a lot of stories.

[00:14:57]>> Yeah. Oh, dude. Just uh C3PO is just like everyone's like energy vampire.

[00:15:02]>> What are you talking about? I'm going to regret this. Are you sure this thing is safe?

[00:15:07]>> Yeah, people [ __ ] hate him.

[00:15:08]>> Everybody's like, "Do not sit at our table." C3.

[00:15:10]>> He comes in the room. People just Yeah, the the robots are just uh they're not having it. So then the next set of kills after we've uh established the technicians that are just working, hanging out, trying to do their job, uh we we meet Dick Miller who's been in a whole bunch of uh Roger Corman films and just a lot of movies in general. He always seems to play like just kind of a bluecollar worker and he's in everything. He's in he was in Gremlins uh uh he was in Roger Corman's film A Bucket of Blood. Like tons and tons of stuff. And so yeah, here he is playing a janitor and he's a janitor at the mall and he's mopping up. I think it's vomit.

[00:15:47]I'm not entirely sure. They didn't really stand.

[00:15:48]>> He looks kind of whitish or a pale color. I don't know.

[00:15:52]>> But he's mopping and then his janitor um I guess his co-workers. Uh >> yeah, his co-workers, colleagues.

[00:16:00]>> Yeah. They're drinking beer. They're heading out for the night. They're clocking out and they start making fun of him and they're like bullying him because he's doing his job, but it's the job that they do as well.

[00:16:10]>> Yeah. It's like, why are they clocking out so early? There's still a job to be done, guys.

[00:16:14]>> And they're drinking beer as they're heading out.

[00:16:16]>> I think you should allow janitors to drink beer. I think that should be a part of the job.

[00:16:20]>> I think they should. Yeah. I mean, I I actually would agree. I think that it's kind of not a fun job. So, if I were a janitor, I'd probably want to be drinking alcohol.

[00:16:28]>> I try and I try and drink a little bit when I clean my bathroom. So, I assume if you did someone else's, you'd want to like get a little drunk. I think any kind of manual labor, especially when it comes to cleaning, it's just nice to have a couple of of cocktails and just get wasted. One of the robots uh dumps or uh kicks over his mop bucket >> and that was like a big no no. So Dick Miller is very upset about it cuz he just, you know, he's working on the floor. He's almost done. The robot messes everything up. Uh so he kind of gives the robot some uh some flak. He's a little mouthy with it, you know, >> and uh right rightfully so.

[00:17:03]>> Rightfully so. You get me with a robot.

[00:17:05]It's a robot.

[00:17:06]>> It's a robot. So he shows him his uh his badge cuz the robot's asking for the badge. Everybody almost everybody that it kills off in this movie, it's asking for your identification first, >> right?

[00:17:17]>> So then he shows off the identification and that didn't matter cuz the robot just decided you're gone. You're done.

[00:17:24]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:17:25]>> It's very it's very dirty cop of these robots. Like what? I didn't >> Yeah.

[00:17:29]>> Looks like a fake to me. I don't pow you know.

[00:17:32]>> So he gets electrocuted. It's probably one of the more standout scenes in this movie is the electrocution. It happens very quickly. He's pretty much on smoke and it's a good transition into the next scene uh when Mark is asked by I believe Leslie to get a pack of smokes from the vending machine.

[00:17:48]>> Mark is the gum chewing guy.

[00:17:49]>> The gum the gum chewer. We just call him gum chewer.

[00:17:51]>> Gum chewer. Yeah. It's like on the IMDb.

[00:17:54]Uh we he has Camels, right? Which is a fine cigarette. I've from Winston Salem, North Carolina myself, but she uh only smokes Virginia Slims like my mom. I've been there before.

[00:18:07]>> Yeah.

[00:18:07]>> Um >> those like the they're like very skinny cigarettes.

[00:18:10]>> Very skinny.

[00:18:11]>> And I guess they look like um I guess they look fancy when you smoke them.

[00:18:15]Like I guess you got >> you can hold it like all fancy or Yeah.

[00:18:18]Maybe French or something >> like a southern bell or something.

[00:18:21]>> Yeah, exactly. Like I imagine if you smoke Virginia Slims, you have to have like an Al Arnold Palmer and sit on the porch and just kind of have like a southern accent.

[00:18:31]>> Big southern hat, like a big durable hat or something like that. Yeah. So they got a v a cigarette vending machine, which if you were born after, >> I don't know, like 2000, probably don't know what those are. Uh >> they were in every mall and every restaurant. And I remember I used I used to sneak into uh well I didn't have to sneak into it. I just go to a restaurant lobby and in the lobby they had a cigarette machine and I could just after school like during high school I would just get off the bus, walk down to the restaurant, go in there, get a couple packs of cigarettes. Nobody said anything. It was uh it was very easy to >> machine doesn't ID you at all, you know.

[00:19:10]>> Yeah, it was amazing. And even then I was like I can't believe I'm getting away with this because this is so stupid that they just leave it out in the open for everybody, >> right? a robot approaches him as they do. They're just they're doing their job or the job they think they're supposed to do. So, he gets uh >> for his badge.

[00:19:26]>> Yeah. They that didn't work out for him either.

[00:19:28]>> And uh yeah, I mean cuz uh I don't know this honestly he's lucky he had it. If I was in his shoes just got you're in a rush, I wouldn't have had I would have forgot my badge.

[00:19:39]>> Uh but he was eager to get back to what they were doing. Um, so clearly I understand, you know, the need to get the cigarettes, show the badge, and get going. But, uh, stopped dead in his tracks. The robot, uh, launched some kind of harpoon.

[00:19:53]>> It seemed like he like grabbed him by the clamp him on the throat. Um, all after, um, you know, dropping that, uh, that the >> Yeah, >> the Ursa is still lying at him. I love >> I love how that has still influenced like a pantheon of like later movies, including Chopping Ball.

[00:20:13]Platu bar nicu. Okay.

[00:20:18]>> Army of darkness as well.

[00:20:19]>> Platu bar nectai nectar and nickel.

[00:20:26]>> It seems like it clamps him and then like eventually maybe cuts his throats.

[00:20:30]>> Yeah. So Leslie uh she got tired of waiting around for her cigarettes cuz they never came. So she goes uh looking for him and discovers that he's dead.

[00:20:39]And then uh not too soon, not too long after that uh the robots come after her.

[00:20:44]We have this cool sequence where she's uh you know running down I guess near the escalator um and the robots chasing her. It's uh shooting lasers at her >> and then eventually we have that awesome sequence and probably the most famous scene in the movie and I call this like the the Gallagher special effect because her her head just becomes a watermelon and it just you know blasts right through it.

[00:21:06]>> It's it's a great shot. It's a very good the way the blood hits the window like in front of them.

[00:21:13]>> I'm sure it's been explained how that sequence was done, but >> there's got to be some DVD commentary somewhere.

[00:21:18]>> It's so quick but very effective and especially for a low budget cuz this movie cost I think $850,000.

[00:21:25]It was very low budget >> even for then. So, and they shot it in 22 days I believe.

[00:21:31]>> Wow.

[00:21:32]>> Uh it was shot very quickly.

[00:21:34]>> Like all the footage they cut out of it.

[00:21:36]That's pretty pretty impressive.

[00:21:37]>> It was It's 77 minutes. So, it's a pretty miraculous what they had to work with, which was not much. And then to have a scene that just paid off so well.

[00:21:46]And I think anytime you see trailers or people mention shopping mall, that's the scene that they cut to. So, >> for me, it's this and then the I've heard the Dick Miller sound cut. Just dead meat.

[00:21:58]>> Yeah.

[00:21:59]>> Dead meat.

[00:22:00]>> Dead meat.

[00:22:00]>> The robots uh they go after everyone.

[00:22:03]when they discover everybody is in in the store. Uh they're still hanging out there. So they just blast through the uh the storefront, break down the windows.

[00:22:13]>> Yeah. There's that plate window in the front. You just run through it through it and [ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:17]>> Pretty cool effect. They start just blasting their lasers everywhere.

[00:22:21]>> Yeah. Like literally everywhere. It's It's >> too many honestly.

[00:22:25]>> It's a pretty cool sequence. Uh, and you know, I love the uh the sound effect because it sounds like like battery operated robot toys.

[00:22:35]>> It's like if Yeah. you you got Robocop on sale at Chasing Penny.

[00:22:39]>> After everything we've seen, Allison uh lures one of the robots into a paint store, throws a bunch of paint on the floor, >> so it spins around.

[00:22:49]>> And I I'm glad she got to uh repeat back to these robots their cash phrase.

[00:22:54]>> Have a nice day. She's like, it's like a mic drop moment.

[00:22:58]>> Yeah, I would have thrown a [ __ ] in there probably somewhere. Have a nice [ __ ] day.

[00:23:02]>> Yeah, that would have been a little bit better, more impactful, I think. Yeah, high explosion. The entire store just blows up and >> it's honestly a great explosion shot.

[00:23:15]>> And so that's it. Her and Fie are the the last remaining survivors of the movie.

[00:23:19]>> It's a bit of a fake out. You think FY is dead.

[00:23:26]It's kind of the same story as that guy who has the head injury in Billy Madison who comes back.

[00:23:31]>> That's right.

[00:23:31]>> And that one way in this song, it's kind of the same.

[00:23:34]>> Same same situation.

[00:23:35]>> Same situation.

[00:23:39]>> I don't know. What would you give this if you had to rate the movie? What would you give it?

[00:23:43]>> Ah, what's it out of? Out of five?

[00:23:45]>> Yeah. Like uh five bags of popcorn or five um >> five killer robots. I give this I give this like three Killer Robots.

[00:23:55]>> Yeah, I think I'll give it a maybe like a four.

[00:23:58]>> I'm happy with it. The logic is fine. I mean, some of the best horror movies in my opinion have like the worst logic.

[00:24:03]>> I convert it out to a four. You're right.

[00:24:05]>> Yeah, it was a good one. Well, shopping mall. This has been Scene Autopsy. Case closed.

[00:24:28]Heat.