Chopping Mall

Chopping Mall has built a real following in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and fuboTV among viewers who want their sci-fi to think as hard as it looks. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 6/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Kelli Maroney's performance is the anchor the more ambitious scenes need. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Amazon Prime Video.

Chopping Mall arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. What makes Chopping Mall work is that the ideas never crowd out the people having them. 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! Kelli Maroney and Tony O'Dell lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 1986. The world-building is meticulous enough to sustain multiple rewatches, with details early on that only make sense later. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Viewers burned by ambitious sci-fi that could not sustain its premise should give Chopping Mall a chance. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Kelli Maroney's performance is the anchor the more ambitious moments need. The world-building pays off in ways you will not anticipate on a first watch.