“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

Chopping Mall
Horror · Science Fiction · 1986
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
“Where shopping costs you an arm and a leg!”
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.8 / 10
Community 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!
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Chopping Mall?
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their caseThe Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jim Wynorski
Written by
Jim Wynorski · Steve Mitchell
Put Chopping Mall on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.





