Sam Panico What happens when you put together three of horror's biggest stars — Robert Englund, Stephen King and Tobe Hooper? That's the question posed by this film, based on a King/Harry Allan Towers short story that first appeared in the men's magazine Cavalier before appearing in King's 1978 collection Night Shift, which also spawned the movies Children of the Corn, Cat's Eye, Maximum Overdrive, Graveyard Shift, The Lawnmower Man, Sometimes They Come Back, Trucks (yes, I know it's the same story as Maximum Overdrive) and Battleground.Bill Gartley (Robert England) owns the Blue Ribbon Laundry service, which is based around a laundry press that everyone calls The Mangler. His niece, Sherry cuts herself and gets blood all over the machine, which leads to the machine coming to life. It starts to eat anyone who gets too close to it, like Mrs. Frawley, by folding them just like a sheet.Drunken police detective John Hunton (Ted Levine, Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs) and his ex brother-in-law Mark — who just happens to study demonology — investigate the many deaths that follow. It turns out the Tha Mangler is how Gartley runs the town — when their virgin daughters turn 16, the town's most powerful men and women sacrifice them to the machine. Sherry is next.Sherry is next, but she helps the two men take out the demon — even if it kills Gartley, his lover Lin Sue and Stanner, the foreman. They throw holy water on it and the machine nearly beats them, but they succeed in taking it out. That is — until John talks about the antacids he'd been taking, which once belonged to the now dead Mrs. Frawley. One of the ingredients is deadly nightshade, also called "The Hand of Glory."Here's where the movie descends into BS. It only follows some of King's story — which was a novella, so we can cut them some slack. It takes passages from Sir James George Frazier's The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. But the "Hand of Glory" is usually the hand of a murdered who has been put to death or part of the root of the mandrake plant. That said — the ending of the book and movie are totally different, so I shouldn't expect anyone to do actual research or make the occult make sense within their film.The Mangler comes back to life, killing Mark and chasing John and Sherry. She tries to give herself to it to save him, but he stops her. They fall through a manhole cover and escape, with him taking her to the hospital, as he's fallen in love.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/14/tobe-hooper-week-the-mangler-1995/

bean-d I decided to see "The Mangler" (1994) for the sole reason that it was directed by Tobe Hooper. Well, his direction didn't do much for this stinker of a film. Actually, I suppose it's interesting in one way. The horror film was on the wane in the mid-'90s--or at least the cheesy horror film, and "The Mangler" only hastened the decline. This film might have attracted an audience in the '80s, but it seems quite anachronistic in the mid-'90s, especially when based on a story from that icon of the '80s, Stephen King.The plot is simple: A big, ugly laundry-pressing machine is awakened when a virgin cuts her hand and spills blood on it. The machine decides it likes eating people and more accidents happen. The predictable "discovery" plot ensues, with a tough, skeptical cop having to be convinced by his quirky, New Age friend that a demon possesses the machine.

slayrrr666 "The Mangler" was an overall pretty disappointing effort.**SPOILERS**Working at the Blue Ribbon Laundry service, William Gartley, (Robert Englund) becomes concerned wi6th the growing number of accidents in the facility. When Officer John Hunton, (Ted Levine) is called to the latest accident, he finds that Annette Gillian, (Ashley Hayden) is one of the only employees who's actually helpful, and despite his feelings against doing so, the factory is started up and the accidents continue. When talk arises from friend Mark Jackson, (Daniel Matmor) about it being possessed, the whole situation is laughed off as ridiculous, but as the evidence mounts that eventually point to it being haunted, they finally believe the truth and set out to stop the deadly device before more are killed or injured.The Good News: This one did have a few things going for it. The main thing is that the scenes inside the factory, when the machine is showing off the possession, are actually rather good. The first sequence, where the machine, after several close-calls, manages to snap and slice open the hand of one of the employees is brilliantly done, namely due to the film's ability to make the factory really creepy. With all the hissing steam blowing into the area, obscuring the demonic-looking machines appearing out of the darkness, making it look and feel extremely hot and dangerous, using the situation to a great effect. There's some other good parts from these scenes, and they're all pretty fun. The ending battle with the machine, when it becomes disconnected and chases them around the bowels of the facility in a long, extended chase through the darkened corridors is pretty creepy and actually good. The only other part to this that works is the gore, which is the best part of the film and what really saves it. There's some pretty bloody kills in this, as there's several that are pulled into the machine and squished between the cogs, another one is folded while still alive into a pile of flesh the size of a folded shirt, another has their arm hacked off with an ax while stuck inside the machine and another one is ripped in half at the waist, leaving this one pretty satisfying in the gore department. These few issues, though, are all the film has going for it.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot of good things to this one, leaving it to have a couple big flaws. The most noticeable one is the film's utter boredom and dullness. That's mainly due to the film being way too long, forcing so many scenes to either take an eternity to get through or just play out way too long and become boring. The investigation is started after the policeman has an altercation with a pair of garbage-men that isn't necessary or included in the rest of the film, taking up a couple minutes of time with him yelling at them, only to get directed away and the incident is never brought up, mentioned or played up again, calling into question it's inclusion in the first place. Other scenes, including the homicide call while on the road and the never-ending talk about what the inclusion of a possessed ironing board in the facility or the need to keep it operating are just plain boring and are just way too long to get any meaning out of them. The film is littered with these scenes, because it's goofy and idiotic premise doesn't really have any opportunity for a lot of action and must be played out with the boredom in it's place. The overall premise to this is so goofy and idiotic that it's so hard to take seriously it falls on that alone. The concept behind it is unique, but it's simply not frightening in the slightest and becomes like a joke after awhile. There's also the fact that, simply remove the machine from the company after the accident for inspection and work continues while the movie's over after a few minutes. It's just not a strong enough idea to go for so long because it's easily solved, the central idea is just too goofy to take seriously and it never really feels like it can pad out the required time with what it has, forcing it to show terribly long sequences for no reason than to make it feel somewhat longer than it should. These here are what really hurt this one.The Final Verdict: Mainly hurt by a few facts, there's a couple things in here that's worthwhile to this, but it's just too flawed to count. Give it a shot if you're into these kinds of films, like the creative side or just find it interesting, otherwise stick to others out there that are more worthwhile than this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language

xXdrowningkittenXx Oh... what to say. This is a REALLY bad movie... at first. Then it grows on you. Of course, that's only if you learn to love and accept it. It seemed SO bad that I thought it was a joke. Then I found out that someone actually thought this was a good idea for a horror movie. But, that only made it funnier. I actually wound up enjoying it. It reminds me of movies like "Squirm" that are actually so awful, but are taken seriously so... that they wind up being somewhat good. My view is to make it your own "Mystery Science Theater 3000" or something. I suppose you have to be a certain type of person for this kind of thing though. But, I recommend seeing it... just for laughs, not for scares. =)