HoopTober 8: Mosquito Takes Mandragon

Movie 54
2nd of 2 Tobe Hooper Films (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film)

By the time the 90's came around, Tobe Hooper had been pretty much relegated as persona non grata as far as the big studios were concerned (might have been Lifeforce's return on investment, or lack thereof, which did it). So some of his more virtuoso team had moved on to other things in the big league and Hooper was left to helm rather more impoverished projects with a lot of lesser talent, and the critical reputation of his work from this era is not exactly high.

Given the low Letterboxd rating for The Mangler, despite what sounds like an incredibly fun premise, I have never really been falling over myself to see it - I only even heard of it a few years ago. I don't know if this was a DTV release - I suspect it got a theatrical but probably a pretty modest one, and maybe only in the States.

This is probably no surprise to anyone who has any idea of what a strident Hooper advocate I am in general, but I really liked this movie! I know it has some obvious flaws. Some of the casting is a little... puzzling (I kind of like Daniel Matmor in this, but he's a very weird fit - to the point where I really wondered by what logic he ever landed the role). The script, based on a classic Stephen King short story, strains a little bit at the seams in its attempt to turn that less-than-substantial source material into a feature. And it's unabashedly lurid in its tone and subject matter - not to mention fundamentally bizarre in terms of high concept (although the whole haunted or possessed THING is a King standard from way back).

But therein lay its charm for me. I maintain, if you are in the mood for a silly, fun horror movie that delivers on the visceral thrills, you could do a lot worse than The Mangler. A healthy dollop of 90's genre nostalgia would help - I know the decade is much maligned, but I think there's a growing affection for the films from this era and their specific aesthetic, which The Mangler possesses in abundance.

You can't tell me the production design in this film isn't fantastic, though. And it's lit in the most beautifully garish Halloween-carnival fashion - I think it's absolutely gorgeous. The demonic machine itself looks fucking incredible. We do get some shonky CGI in the finale there, but it's mercifully done in low lighting and the end effect isn't too bad, in my opinion (again, though, I recognise I am indulgent of such stuff from this vintage).

If nothing else, how many times do you get to watch Ted Levine in a leading role? I think he's fantastic in this - and his character is interesting too (I've noticed this is a feature of a lot of Hooper's later work - his characters are particularly vivid and somewhat atypical of the genre standard). Robert Englund's ham acting here is totally beyond the pale, but damn it, if you've decided to get on board with this one, that's actually a plus!

And you just know Hooper ain't going to let you down on the gore and violence. The man was perpetually off the leash when he got in the director's chair, and that's why I love him so much.

If you tell me this is a bad film, I'll get it. You don't have to enjoy it. But this is just a super fun horror film, and it would be a great one for Halloween. If you like Hooper beyond the obvious Texas Chain Saw Massacre respect, you might just get a kick out of this one.