I am surprised that this movie got such a low rating on the IMDB, but I am not surprised they made a sequel. This is an OK horror movie in an old fashioned "B" movie sense. The acting is a little cheesey, the plot is silly enough to be entertaining and morbid at the same time, and all of the death scenes are pretty gorey.
The plot of the movie may seem a little goofy (and it is) and it somewhat resembles other Stephen King stories. CHRISTINE was the story of a possessed, demonic car, and MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE was about possessed, evil mechanical devices. I guess Stephen King likes that theme. This movie is about a possessed, demonic Laundry Machine. Yes, you read that right, a Murderous Laundry Machine called "THE MANGLER." The exact reason why the machine is possessed is somewhat murky throughout the movie. There is something in there about the machine always having been possessed and Robert Englund and the rest of the town are controlled by it. Then there is something about feeding the machine a 16 year old virgin's blood. And the whole demonic, murder rampage is set off by an accidental contact with an old fashioned ice box. Which brings me to the goofiest part of the movie: a demonic, murderous, ice box. The silliest scene in the movie is when the ice box slams its door on the Philosopher guy's arm. That was just ridiculous. Then the cop, who played "Wild Bill" in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS goes crazy and beats the ice box with a sledge hammer. But almost right after the laundry machine goes psycho, it "mangles" a sweet, helpless old lady. The scene is really brutal and bloody. As one character describes it, the machine "folded her like a sheet!" Its pretty messy, believe me, and you got to love that.
Silliness aside, the movie is pretty gory and has some genuine scenes of suspense and dread. The end is a little wierd, but I thought it was really cool.
SPOILER ALERT
The Mangler comes alive and chases the main characters down in to a really creepy labyrinth, like a descending stair case in to hell. The best special effect in the movie is in this scene, when it reaches out with it's mechanical claw and rips the Philosopher guy in half, leaving his bloody torso still screaming on the floor. I liked that part, and rewound it to watch it again. It was definitely worth the rewind, because the effect was done really well.
Check out THE MANGLER and watch it with somewhat of an open mind. Its not really written all that well, but as long as you don't expect too much, you will enjoy it.
The plot of the movie may seem a little goofy (and it is) and it somewhat resembles other Stephen King stories. CHRISTINE was the story of a possessed, demonic car, and MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE was about possessed, evil mechanical devices. I guess Stephen King likes that theme. This movie is about a possessed, demonic Laundry Machine. Yes, you read that right, a Murderous Laundry Machine called "THE MANGLER." The exact reason why the machine is possessed is somewhat murky throughout the movie. There is something in there about the machine always having been possessed and Robert Englund and the rest of the town are controlled by it. Then there is something about feeding the machine a 16 year old virgin's blood. And the whole demonic, murder rampage is set off by an accidental contact with an old fashioned ice box. Which brings me to the goofiest part of the movie: a demonic, murderous, ice box. The silliest scene in the movie is when the ice box slams its door on the Philosopher guy's arm. That was just ridiculous. Then the cop, who played "Wild Bill" in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS goes crazy and beats the ice box with a sledge hammer. But almost right after the laundry machine goes psycho, it "mangles" a sweet, helpless old lady. The scene is really brutal and bloody. As one character describes it, the machine "folded her like a sheet!" Its pretty messy, believe me, and you got to love that.
Silliness aside, the movie is pretty gory and has some genuine scenes of suspense and dread. The end is a little wierd, but I thought it was really cool.
SPOILER ALERT
The Mangler comes alive and chases the main characters down in to a really creepy labyrinth, like a descending stair case in to hell. The best special effect in the movie is in this scene, when it reaches out with it's mechanical claw and rips the Philosopher guy in half, leaving his bloody torso still screaming on the floor. I liked that part, and rewound it to watch it again. It was definitely worth the rewind, because the effect was done really well.
Check out THE MANGLER and watch it with somewhat of an open mind. Its not really written all that well, but as long as you don't expect too much, you will enjoy it.