Flicks: Chopping Mall (1986)

In the exciting, go-get-'em, futuristic world of 1986 America evil robots run amok!

My puny hu-mon translator has been very "stressed, Bro". He insists that his meager tasks are so much that he has not been able to keep up with transcribing my evil will onto the blog reading universe. Try exterminating the population of a large island nation, pathetic hu-mon! That is a difficult task, indeed.

Now, to the next frightful feature on the Sleaze Blender: Chopping Mall (1986) a classic nugget of consumer culture which takes place in the temple of capitalism - the North American shopping mall.

Roger Corman's daughter Julie Corman produces this American International picture, originally entitled Killbots. In it the World's Oldest Teenagers making time in a top of the line mall in idyllic Beverly Hills at the apex of the the 80's. Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator and From Beyond) and Kelli Maroney (Night Of The Comet) star beside Corman mascot Dick Miller (Gremlins, Premature Burial) who is playing "Walter Paisely" the same name of the character Miller played 30 years prior in 1959 in the lead role from Bucket Of Blood.

To sum up one hour and 20 minutes: this is a film with all too much shopping and not enough chopping.

For a Corman formula flick that usually relies on titillation in order to draw in an audience there are precious few tits. Whether this is a reflection of contemporary culture or censorship it's hard to say definitively. The "rampaging robots" which look suspiciously like over-sized remote controlled 4x4 trucks with the robot from Rocky II's head mounted on top of them - are armed with sleep darts and "lasers" for the purpose of preventing "teens" from indulging in sexual congress. Thankfully, the Killbots manage to exterminate nearly all of the sweaty hu-mon yuppoids before the titles roll.

A really awful film. Even for Corman. But it features actors from previous horror films in bit roles like Julian Burton, the poet from Bucket of Blood (1959), and Mary Woronov better known as Calamity Jane from Death Race 2000 (1975), Miss Evelyn Togar from The Ramones Rock 'N Roll High School (1979) and her role as a driver in Cannonball! (1976).

References:
IMDB, Chopping Mall (1986)
Wikipedia, Chopping Mall

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Directors: Roger Corman

Sundance Film Festival 2011 Corman bio hits the indie movie theater circuit.

Documentary film CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL prolific writer-director producer, and seminal influencing force in modern movie making over the last 60 years.

Featuring interviews with Hollywood icons and cinematic luminaries, some who launched their careers within Corman's unforgettable world of film-making, including Paul W.S. Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, Ron Howard, Eli Roth, Martin Scorsese, William Shatner and Jack Nicholson, along with many others, this documentary chronicles Corman.

References:
IMDB, Trailer Corman's World (2011)
IMDB, Corman's World Movie Info

Flicks: Death Race 2000 (1975)

In the futuristic of year of 2000 road rage is America's fastest flowing blood sport.

The original Death Race 2000 (1975) remains an awesome Roger Corman fantasy-violence epic. Death Race stars Sylvester Stallone, before Rocky and Rambo, as Machine Gun Joe while Kung Fu and Kill Bill's David Carradine stars as the eccentric cyborg Frankenstein - the movie also co-stars Mary Woronov whose credits include Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), Chopping Mall (1986) and Prison-A-Go-Go! (2003).

Tons of unnecessary neo-Apocalyptic heavy shit takes place in an American dictatorship where all out Vehicular Manslaughter is the country's most revered sport. In fact, the Death Race takes place in the city streets of America, where racers battle for points by making Kills. These Kills are dutifully recorded in the best of CBS's Wide World of Sports telegraphics tradition with a scoreboard that contains outlines of deceased nurses, the elderly and of course fellow Death Race drivers.

This script comes from long-time exploitation writer Charles Griffith, who started working with Corman on the wretched Monster From The Sea Floor (1954). Griffith's screen play takes a campy approach into state-sanctioned Vehicular Manslaughter as a society wide spectator sport.

References:
IMDB, Death Race 2000 (1975)
Wikipedia, Death Race 2000
IMDB, Writer Charles Griffith

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Flicks: Galaxy of Terror (1981)

In space, no can hear you plagarize better scripts.

1981 drive-ins in America were assaulted by Roger Corman's classic shocker Galaxy of Terror (1981) aka Mind Warp. In his classic ear-to-the-ground form, Corman's New World Pictures cashes in on Star Wars, Star Trek and Alien by putting together a sci-horror film featuring future horror star Robert "Freddy" Englund and perennial Sleaze-A-Saurus favorite Mr. Sid Haig (House Of 1000 Corpses (2003) and Spider Baby (1968)).


Honey, does this make-up make my face look weird?

The FX scenes for Galaxy of Terror are largely what hold the film together. Several crew members of this doomed spaceship, this one skippered by Eddie Albert (yep that one) and helmed by Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian) being skewered, munched, and even Joanie from Happy Days gets her unwary ass perforated!

Scaless manlings, two beautiful words will make up for the series of hackneyed performances and stilted dialogue carpet bombing Galaxy of Terror: Giant ... Maggot.


References:
IMDB, Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Internal Bleedin', Mind Warped!
Mad Mad Movies, In space, no one can hear you ralph...

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