Tobe Hooper's The Mangler, released in in the dead center of the most despised decade for horror among genre fans, seems to have become some sort of horror-dork anointed scapegoat for the entire time frame of the 90's. EVERYBODY hates this movie and I can not for the life of me understand why. I sit back and watch horror nerds bestow breathless accolades upon the Friday the 13th series, which I find to be a generally boring and bloodless affair with no style and even less substance, while trashing this quirky Hooper gem and I shake my head in disgusted disbelief. The go-to focal point in tearing The Mangler down is its outlandish premise of a possessed laundry folding machine become unquenchable killer after getting a taste for virgin blood during the dazzling credit sequence. I can scarcely think of a greater reason to recommend a film than it having the temerity to be unique to the point of being difficult, but I'll offer some more.
This film looks like magnificent. The production design is spot on, be it the hellish sweatshop conditions of the laundry factory or the cavernous descent into the underworld represented by the locations of the morgue and the photographers black room/office. The titular murderous machine is mightily impressive in all its limb chomping glory and looks threatening as hell sputtering sparks and smoke while blood spatters from its unholy maw. Hooper shoots the film with unmitigated flair, his camera always moving, always underscoring the thematic momentum of the story. From the manner he films laundry impresario Bill Gartley to emphasise how his damaged physicality embodies his despicable, heartless capitalism to the contrast of inviting Christmas lights and mystical doo dads in the trees of our protagonists brother in laws plot of land. The wooden bridge symbolizing the hardened cop coming over to his way of thinking about the supernatural by the end of the film. It's all deliberate and it all works.
The performances are uniformly excellent and more importantly, off the wall to the point of being psychotic. Ted Levine, a vastly under used character actor best known for his role of Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs, is let loose in the lead role of Detective John "Johnny" Hunton. He's stressed out, volatile, combative and terrifyingly histrionic. He seems like someone who should not be entrusted with a badge, but that's what makes the character compelling. His embittered pragmatism clashes wonderfully with the hippy dippy spirituality of his neighbor/Brother in law played with likable coolness by Daniel Matmoor. Their relationship becomes quite touching by the end of the film and extremely effective. Englund is hilariously awful (by which I mean great) as the differently abled head of the laundry with a million secrets and a soul so black he makes Dick Cheney seem huggable in contrast. My favorite performance in the film though, is that of Jeremy Crutchley as J.J.J. the towns post mortem photographer, who seems to have walked straight off the set of a 1950's noir film. He icily insinuates himself into these morbid situations and his bemused detachment belies a more poignant side to be revealed spectacularly toward the end. His final scene is a powerhouse of acting and his character one I think of often when considering the notion of facing the unavoidable specter of death.
The gore is top notch and plentiful, also something missing from most films of the era and the 80's in general. Englund's demise is one of the more fitting and bombastic villain death scenes I can recall. I also like how this film handles both practical gore and supernatural pyrotechnics with equal aplomb. This is a kitchen sink movie if ever there was one. It's got something to appeal to every kind of genre fan, except those slavishly devoted to dim witted, moronic, one-note slasher films consisting of tedious P.O.V. shots of vapid teenagers being followed around for what seems like an eternity before being killed off screen. There's none of that garbage in The Mangler, just good old fashioned entertainment consisting of bold characters, a compelling story, plentiful grue and masterful direction. I can't recommend it highly enough to first timers in the search of an evening of enthusiastic entertainment. And to those who have previously seen and dismissed it outright, I beg of you to give it another chance and appreciate what's there instead of bemoaning what isn't.
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