Line #23 Film/ChoppingMall


1	[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ChoppingMall_4234.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:274:[[PreMortemOneLiner Have a nice day]].]]
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4	A 1986 horror film involving malfunctioning killer robots chasing people through a mall.
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6	Eight teenagers get locked inside a mall and think they're in for a night of debauchery. The mall ''also'' has a shiny new robot security system. The creator of the system says "[[TemptingFate nothing could go wrong]]". [[GoneHorriblyWrong Things go less than stellar]].
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8	Thanks to [[LightningCanDoAnything a lightning strike on the mall's transformer]], the computer running the security robots begins to malfunction, deciding all humans in the mall are intruders and in need of [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine removal with extreme prejudice]]. This leads to a running SternChase throughout the shopping center as the humans try to evade detection and destroy the robots.
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10	A classic Creator/RogerCorman BMovie from TheEighties, which has gained a cult following due to its hokey plot, tongue-in-cheek dialogue and gruesome robot kill scenes. Also known as ''Killbots'', the film's original working title, used when it was syndicated to television.
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12	----
13	!!Tropes seen in ''Chopping Mall'' include:
14	* ActorAllusion: Dick Miller plays Walter Paisley, named after his character from ''Film/ABucketOfBlood''.
15	* AIIsACrapshoot: A lightning-induced power spike is all that it took for the security robots to go into full-on "KillAllHumans" mode.
16	* AirVentPassageway: The girls crawl through the ducts to escape the robots. However, the AI controlling them and the mall cranks up the heat, causing Suzie to have a FreakOut and the girls abandon the ducts.
17	* AssInALionSkin: For the scene where one of the killbots uses an escalator, the production team had a crew member wear a cast of the 'bot because the actual ones were too wide for the escalator.
18	* AttackOfTheKillerWhatever: Homicidal security 'bots.
19	* BaitAndSwitch: The very first on-screen kill of the film was some guy in a demo film that showcased the lethality (and thus utility) of the Protectors as security measures. It's not made apparent until the words "THE END" appear on-screen, about five minutes into the movie.
20	* BigBad: Protector One is the leader of the killer security robots.
21	* BlackComedy: For the end credits where they show each character along with their actor, the image for Leslie is of [[spoiler:her head being blown up]].
22	* TheCameo: Creator/PaulBartel and Creator/MaryWoronov appear briefly at the beginning of the film as their characters from ''Film/EatingRaoul''.
23	* ChekhovsGun: The road flare.
24	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The three killbots shoot differently colored bolts: Protector 1 has pink, Protector 2 has blue and Protector 3 has green.
25	* CoversAlwaysLie: The robots do not have humanlike, scaly looking arms (instead they have stubby, robotic claws), and no-one's body parts get stuffed into a shopping bag.
26	* DeathByCameo: Creator/DickMiller shows up as Walter Paisley, a character he has played in multiple films. He's the third one to die to the robots.
27	* DistractedByTheSexy:
28	** A customer ogles a group of girls in bikinis on an escalator, and falls over, crushing the boxes he was carrying.
29	** Likewise, one of the technicians becomes the first casualty while ogling up a pin-up.
30	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: After Linda is killed by a stray laser beam, Rick deliberately crashes a cart into one of the robots, electrocuting himself]].
31	* EnergyWeapon: The Protectors' main weapon. They fire them from their visors. The effects are wildly inconsistent; [[spoiler:Leslie]] is shot in the back twice, ShotInTheAss twice, keeps on running, and it [[YourHeadAsplode takes a shot to the head to kill her]]. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Suzie]] is shot in the leg and barely able to crawl, while [[spoiler:Linda]] is [[InstantDeathBullet shot once in the torso and killed]]. [[spoiler:Allison]] also gets shot in the shoulder but it doesn't really stop her from using it.
32	* ElevatorFailure: How Protector 2 meets its end, thanks to the humans rigging it to blow.
33	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The film's main events take place over the course of a little more than 12 hours, starting in the late afternoon and ending at dawn the next day.
34	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Played with. After Susie's death, Greg goes into severe SanitySlippage, threatening Ferdy with his gun at one point when he's defending Allison. He stops before he does anything truly evil, however.]]
35	* FanserviceExtra:
36	** Several beauty pageant contestants wearing bikinis are seen on an escalator in the opening credits.
37	** In the waitresses' locker room, a topless waitress wearing a ModestyTowel is seen behind Suzie and Alison.
38	* FauxAffablyEvil: While they're not technically evil, whenever a killbot, well, kills someone, it wishes its victim a nice day.
39	* FinalGirl: Subverted; Alison has to fight the last killbot alone, but it turns out her boyfriend was only stunned.
40	* FiringOneHanded: Ferdy attempts to shoot at one of the killbots with a pistol in one hand and a propane bomb in the other.
41	* GenderEqualEnsemble: Four guys, four girls. [[spoiler:And three each are killed throughout the movie]].
42	* GenreSavvy: Having seen his fair share of horror movies, Ferdy counts as this. He definitely knows the stupidity of the LetsSplitUpGang trope when it comes to them, as shown when Alison suggests she and him split up to look for the computer mainframe:
43	-->'''Alison:''' Okay, you try over there, and I'll try over here.\
44	'''Ferdy:''' No, I don't want to split up!\
45	'''Alison:''' What can happen?\
46	'''Ferdy:''' You want a list?
47	* GoryDeadlyOverkillTitleOfFatalDeath: Both "Chopping Mall" and the original title, "Killbots", showcase right off the bat that people are going to die in this film.
48	* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler: Greg goes through this after Susie's death. His increasing recklessness gets him killed.]]
49	* HighVoltageDeath: Walter Paisley is electrocuted with a taser into a puddle of water at his feet.
50	* IdiotBall: Everyone who works in the mall is aware that there is a new robot based security system acting as the night watchmen. Mike even HAS his special pass which will prevent the robots from taking him in (it just doesn't work because they are malfunctioning). Despite this, the hot-blooded teens decide that the inaugural night of the new security system would be the best time to bring have an after hours party in the Furniture store. Even if the robots were at 100%, half of the partygoers would have been captured by the robots and presumably arrested.
51	* IronicEcho: "Hey! Have a nice day!"
52	* IKnowMortalKombat: when asked if he knows how to shoot a gun Ferdy says he's watched ''Film/DirtyHarry'' twenty-four times.
53	* KillerRobot: The Protector 101 series security robot.
54	* KlaatuBaradaNikto: Spoken by Mike when he showed one of the killbots his security badge.
55	* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Greg gets a fatal case of this while running through the mall blindly, leaving his friends far behind. One of the bots ambushes him while they're too far away and kills him.]]
56	* LightningCanDoAnything: Apparently, the mall being struck by lightning is all it takes to make the robots murderous.
57	* LockAndLoadMontage: The guys stocking up with weapons and ammo at the sporting goods store.
58	* MadeOfExplodium: Sure, a hardware store holds a lot of volatile chemicals, but still the explosion that demolishes the final Protector was caused ''mostly'' by spilled paint and created an absurd fireball, to boot.
59	* MaleGaze: In the beginning of the scene where Leslie gets her head blown up, the opening shot gives us a slow close look at her butt, complete with green bunny panties.
60	* TheMall: The setting for the entire movie. Even the few exterior shots (so we can see the lightning strikes) are all of the mall.
61	* ManOnFire: Suzie dies when a killbot blows up the gas can she's carrying with incendiary results.
62	* MightyGlacier: The Protector 101 robots. They move 8 mph at top speed, but deal a lot of damage with their lasers and plastic explosives and are ridiculously hard to stop, withstanding (at various points) bullets, small amounts of explosives and even their own lasers before going down.
63	* MolotovCocktail: The girls try to use these on one robot, with poor results.
64	* MonsterThreatExpiration: The killbots quickly and efficiently dispose of most of the cast. But when Protector 1 has Alison at its mercy in a storage room...
65	* MurderousMalfunctioningMachine: Apparently the security bots' default setting following a computer malfunction.
66	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: The robots' [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] were explained in detail at the beginning of the film and justified ([[{{Handwave}} to a point]]) to be so powerful as allowing the robots to be used in rescue operations. Now, the ''[[StuffBlowingUp plastic explosives]]'' that the robots use at one point to blow open a door, that doesn't gets any foreshadowing.
67	* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Late in the film, the main characters attempt to lay a trap for the bots by hiding amongst a group of mannequins in front of a mirror covered by a sheet; Rick and Ferdy then uncover the mirror to cause one bot to shoot itself and malfunction.
68	* OddlyOvertrainedSecurity: [[http://lonelymachines.org/mall-ninjas/ Mall Ninja]] subtype, robot version.
69	* OffscreenTeleportation: On more than one occasion, the killbots manage to sneak up behind humans, even in situations where their presence should have been noticed way in advance.
70	* ThePlace: The whole film takes place within the mall.
71	* PunBasedTitle: The film was originally titled "Killbots" (and was syndicated to television as such), but it had trouble finding an audience with this title. It was given its current title for its re-release.
72	* RailingKill: [[spoiler:Greg is thrown off the third-floor by Protector 3]].
73	* RevolversAreJustBetter: Ferdy selects a [[HandCannon large revolver]] as his weapon, which the main characters later use to trigger their elevator bomb.
74	* RuleOfThree: [[spoiler: Of the four couples, three of them die before the end. Oddly, every time one member of a couple dies, invariably, their partner is the next to go, until it's down to the final couple.]]
75	* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: Greg doesn't take Susie's death well at all, blaming Allison and Linda for it and even threatening Ferdy at gunpoint. They eventually talk him down.]]
76	* SawStarWars27Times: When asked if he knows how to handle a gun, Ferdy assures that he does because he's seen ''Film/DirtyHarry'' 24 times.
77	* SexSignalsDeath: [[spoiler:All the couples who have sex die, while the one that doesn't survives]].
78	* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: When the guys break into Peckinpah's, Greg selects a shotgun as his main weapon.
79	* ShoutOut:
80	** Peckinpah's the gun store is a reference to director Creator/SamPeckinpah.
81	** Creator/DickMiller's cameo character is named Walter Paisley, after his character in his first film, ''Film/ABucketOfBlood''. This name made a reoccurring appearance throughout his various roles (a grand total of seven times).
82	* SlashedThroat: How [[spoiler:Mike]] is killed by the robots.
83	* TheStinger: [[spoiler:A robot [[BreakingTheFourthWall tells the audience]], "thank you, have a nice day".]]
84	* SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaid: The robots are supposed to be mall security guards. Who the hell decided they needed lasers powerful enough to explode peoples' heads? And plastic explosives, for that matter?
85	* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: Snakes and spiders, literally in a pet store. They serve no real purpose, beyond forcing one girl to put up with terrifying things crawling on her without alerting the killer robots.
86	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Whoever decided to employ robots with weaponry capable of [[YourHeadAsplode blowing up someone's head]] to guard a shopping mall apparently believed this.
87	* TooDumbToLive: Most of the characters seem not to be familiar with the concept of "cover," standing out in the open firing their guns at the robots—or even completely unarmed—which leaves them incredibly vulnerable and results in at least one death.
88	* TrappedWithMonsterPlot: The young people have three [[AIIsACrapshoot Killer Robots]] after them and are trapped in the mall which won't open until morning.
89	* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Linda, the tough girl mechanic is killed by a random laser blast while Protector 3 is malfunctioning, while Alison, the more chaste and feminine one survives the night.]]
90	** Debatable. Her father is a policeman who taught her to become a crack pistol shot, and as to chastity she has just met Ferdy whereas the rest have been couples for a long time - it's normal that they have sex and she and Ferdy won't.
91	* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Alison stores the road flare that she uses to destroy the final robot between her breasts after nabbing it from a shelf.
92	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The film ends with the three security robots destroyed, but the malfunctioning computer that controlled them (and supposedly has control over other parts of the mall as well) is still operating. Although it can't send out any more robots to do its bidding, it can still cause trouble for any humans in the area]].
93	* YourHeadASplode: Leslie, the first girl to die in the movie, goes out this way courtesy of a killer robot's EyeBeams.

Context Film / ChoppingMall