Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
High-tech robots equipped with state-of-the-art security devices have been recruited as the new mechanical "night watchmen" for the Park Plaza Mall. When a jolting bolt of lightning short-circuits the main computer control, the robots turn into "killbots" on the loose after unsuspecting shoppers!
Chopping Mall is a lean, unpretentious B-movie horror that earns its cult status through a fun premise — security robots gone haywire in a locked-down mall — but doesn't transcend its limitations. The plot is threadbare and mechanical (in the bad sense), following a group of largely interchangeable teens picked off one by one with minimal story development. Acting is serviceable genre work at best, with characters existing mainly as killbot fodder. Cinematography is competent for its budget, making decent use of the mall setting with some effective lighting and the iconic 'Killbot' design. Novelty gets a modest bump for the specific robot-as-slasher concept and its distinctly mid-80s cyberpunk-lite atmosphere, which gives it a singular flavor even if it borrows liberally from other slashers. The ending is rushed and anticlimactic, resolving the threat without much payoff or tension.