Chopping Mall
Blu-ray
Director: Jim Wynorski
Screenwriter: Jim Wynorski, Steve Mitchell
Cast: Kelli Maroney, Tony O’Dell, John Terlesky, Russell Todd, Karrie Emerson, Barbara Crampton, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Dick Miller
Distributor: Lionsgate
Rated R | 95 Minutes
Release Date: September 27, 2016

“Where shopping can cost you an arm and a leg.”

Exploitation filmmaker Jim Wynorski has given us so many classic films. The Return of Swamp Thing, Scream Queen Hot Tub Party, 976-Evil II, Ghoulies IV, Sorceress, The Bare Wench Project, The Witches of Breastwick, Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre – the list goes on and on. Of the 100+ movies the writer-director has made, however, his finest accomplishment is 1986’s Chopping Mall.

Starring Kelli Maroney (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Night of the Comet) and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond), Chopping Mall is the epic story of eight teenagers trapped in a state-of-the-art shopping mall, pursued by homicidal security droids, also known as Killbots. As the robots pick off the frisky teenagers with their high-powered lasers, the survivors break into a sporting goods store (“Peckinpah’s”) to secure weapons. Armed with rifles, propane tanks, and golf carts, the denim-clad kids wage war on the murder-bots with Park Plaza Mall serving as their battlefield.

Tales of Halloween
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Adam Gierasch, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, Paul Solet
Written by Axelle Carolyn, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, Clint Sears
Starring Booboo Stewart, Lin Shaye, Adrienne Barbeau, Barry Bostwick, Grace Phipps, Caroline Williams, Adrianne Curry, John Landis, Barbara Crampton, James Duval, Clare Kramer, Adam Pascal, Austin Falk, Robert Rusler, Kristina Klebe
Epic Pictures Group
Release Date: October 16th, 2015

Horror is a genre that lends itself to anthology probably better than any; whether it be short story compilations from the greats of the genre, from Lovecraft and Poe, to Barker and King, or classic cinematic anthologies like Trilogy of Terror and Tales From the Crypt. These have paved the way for a new generation of short story style scare films. Collections like Trick ‘r Treat (2007), and the more recent V/H/S and ABC’s of Death series have provided fans of blood and gore a wealth of fun times. If you’re a fan of any of those above mentioned films, then Tales of Halloween is definitely worth your time and money.

You’re Next
Director: Adam Wingard
Screenwriter: Simon Barrett
Cast: Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton, Amy Seimetz, Ti West
Lionsgate Films
Rated R | 91 Minutes
Release Date: August 23, 2013

Coined by Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, the “Final Girl” is a popular trope in horror films that refers to the last woman alive to fight the killer.

Sally Hardesty from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Ellen Ripley in Alien; Halloween‘s Laurie Strode; Heather Langenkamp’s Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street – all of these are resilient women who are masculinized through “phallic appropriation” by taking up a weapon, like a knife or chainsaw, against their would-be killer.

The “Final Girl” convention forces the male audience to identify with a female character in a male-oriented genre associated with exploitation, voyeurism, and brutality. Think about horror movies – slasher films in particular – how many of them end with a lone male survivor?

If you haven’t read Clover’s book, I would highly recommend it, as it raises some interesting questions about the nature of horror films and their relationship to feminism. It seems that for a horror film to be successful, it’s necessary for the surviving character to be female – even if she is masculinized.

This brings us to Adam Wingard‘s latest film, You’re Next. Written by Simon Barrett, You’re Next isn’t interested in deconstructing the horror genre or mocking its tropes, but rather reinvigorating them. The “Final Girl” is resurrected in the form of Erin (Sharni Vinson), a survivalist who fights a gang of axe-wielding psychopaths in creepy animal masks.