The Mangler - Television Tropes & Idioms

Sadly, there's no robotized Robert Englund in the film.

There is a fate worse than death.

The Mangler is a horror film adapted from a short story The Mangler by Stephen King. Released in 1995, it was directed by Tobe Hooper and stars Robert Englund and Ted Levine.

It is one of the worst received King-adaptations. There's also two sequels.

The films have the examples of:

Adaptation Expansion
Animate Inanimate Object: The mangler after the botched exorcism.
Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill...: Hunton is doing this in his introductory scene.
Blood-Splattered Innocents: Sherry and Annette are covered by Frawley's blood when she is caught by the machine.
Bloody Handprint: Sherry leaves one on the icebox when she hurts her hand.
Chase Scene: The climax of the film is the mangler getting off of its hinges after a failed exorcism attempt and chasing after the protagonists.
Computer Virus: The antagonist of the second film.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mr. Gartley.
Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday: To Sherry, as she is next to be sacrificed for power.
Deal with the Devil: Mr. Gartley got his power thanks to the beast in the machine.
Disturbed Doves: Doves appear randomly when a picture is taken on the scene of Mary's death
Drop the Hammer: When the icebox attacks Mark, Hunton grabs a sledge hammer and starts beating on it.
The End... Or Is It?: In the end it turns out that Sherry is now one of the machine's followers.
Evil Cripple: Mr. Gartley.
Evil Uncle: Mr. Gartley to Sherry.
Eyepatch of Power: Mr. Gartley's half-dark glasses.
Fingore: Lin's hand is caught by the mangler and loses one of her fingers. It turns out to be a part of the initiation to be one of the rich and powerful people of the town.
Half the Man He Used to Be: Mark when the mangler kills him.
Hey, It's That Guy!: Freddy Krueger is the evil owner of the laundromat, and Buffalo Bill is the Cowboy Cop trying to stop him!
Heroic Sacrifice: Averted when Sherry tries to sacrifice herself to the mangler to stop it, but Hunton forces her out of it.
Hollywood Exorcism: Tried against the machine, which backfires.
Hostile Weather: Thunder rolls in the background when Hunton and Mark are on their way to exorcise the mangler.
Human Sacrifice: The beast in the mangler requires 16 year old virgins to be sacrificed to it if it were to grant power to someone.
In Name Only: Mangler 2's connection to the first film? The computer virus is called Mangler and that's it.
- Well, there is one scene where a random girl is killed by a laundry machine.
Inappropriate Hunger: The morgue worker is eating cherry tomatoes when Hunton visits the place.
Jitter Cam: It's sometimes hard to discern what the Hell is supposed to be going on in 2.
Life or Limb Decision: George forces his buddy to cut off his arm when he is caught by the mangler. He dies from the blood loss.
Mismatched Eyes: Mr. Gartley with his bad eye.
My Greatest Failure: For Hunton it is getting his wife killed in a car accident.
No OSHA Compliance
Oh Crap: Hunton, Sherry and Mark when they realize there was belladonna in the machine after all.
Mark: "I think we may be fucked."
Playing Against Type: Ted Levine. He plays a heroic cop. Enough said.
The Power of Blood: The mangler starts craving for a sacrifice when Sherry's blood is caught on it.
Red Right Hand: Machine's followers have a piece of themselves inside the thing.
Squashed Flat: Anyone caught by the mangler.
Too Dumb to Live: When Jackson and Hunton are planning the exorcism, Jackson explains that demons who have been summoned with the hand of glory are much harder to kill. Since the hand of glory doesn't grow anywhere in the surrounding region, they both assume that this particular demon was summoned without it. Consequently, they expect an easy exorcism, and arm themselves accordingly. They don't even bother taking any extra precautions, just in case they're wrong. Boy, does that turn out to be a big mistake...
Virgin Power: Sherry's blood brings the mangler and the icebox alive.
Vomiting Cop: Officer Hunton after seeing the remains of a woman caught in the machine.