People are voting emotionally.

Good concept, poorly executed.

From my favorite movies..

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Director Tobe Hooper rode the Cross-Over success of the Drive-In/Grind-House release of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974) into a Cult Awareness that eventually went Mainstream and managed to Mangle a Career Opportunity with a Descent into Oblivion, Ridicule, and just plain Bad Movie Making.He rode that Beaten Dead Horse for over Two Decades until it was Obvious the Man was a "One Trick Pony". He then Faded to Black as "The End" was Inevitable.This Movie is Not a Pretty Sight. Everything is Ugly, Extremely Ugly, it seems to be Ugly for No other Reason then to be Ugly. The Clueless Notion that because it's a Gore-Fest it has to Look Ugly, Sweaty, and Unattractive with all aspects being Unappealing.The Characters (starring Robert Englund and Ted Levine) the Sets, the God-Awful Acting, the Costumes are all Unappealing. Therefore when the Money Shots (the horrific gore and slaughter) are On Screen, there is No Contrast. Nothing to Differentiate from the Proceedings. It's just more Ugliness among the Ugliness.Adapted from a Stephen King Short Story, the Movie Fails the Paranormal, Demon Possession, Occult Angle and is Muddled and Misses the Main Message( soul-less capitalism and industrial evil) by a Mile.The Budget makes it all Appear Slick and Professional, but the End Result is a Mess of Ugliness that Appears Slick and Professional. One More Mangled Movie made on the Long and Winding Downward Spiral of Tobe Hooper. What a Waste.

Mangler is one of the worst movies ever made. Robert Englund is a horrible actor in any movie where he is not playing Freddy Krueger. Ted Levine is equally bad here. The movie features a dry cleaning press that eats people in order to guarantee profits. So when the employees are putting the shirts in to get pressed, the Mangler grabs onto their arms and pulls them in to chomp and mangle them to death. The comedy of seeing a dry cleaning press stomping through a building trying to eat people, who manage to fall down at the right moment, is what takes this movie from just poor and stupid to incredibly lame and silly. This movie could have been a decent comedy if it had been produced as a cartoon with Sylvester and Tweety, or Mutt and Jeff.

Why do viewers everywhere seem to hate The Mangler? I bought it on VHS, assuming that it would be one of those "so bad it's good" films - it was freakin' incredible! Sure, it doesn't follow King's original story, rather, it expands it, giving viewers a grisly, evocative tale of corruption, industry, good old-fashioned police work, and of course, demons. The effects were amazing, disturbing but definitely well-done. As for the Mangler itself, an enormous industrial speed iron that spans the length of an entire factory and chews up and spits out everything in its path with steamy breath coming from the poker-hot rollers that flatten bedsheets... wow, I don't know how the filmmakers did it, but that massive thing is one of the best movie monsters I've seen in years - and I watch a LOT of horror films.My only complaint is that many of the characters who obviously had a story to tell, never got the chance in the film. Poor J.J. Pictureman for example, a forlorn-looking elderly gentleman with a vintage film camera who seems to have dedicated his entire life to crime scene photography. A mysterious illness is affecting him, causing massive internal bleeding. Detective Johhny appears to be his only chance to help stop Gartley, the maniacal old owner of the Blue Ribbon Laundry, from claiming other victims. Pictureman's brief appearances on-screen are tragic and depressing, but I think the filmmakers could've elaborated on his story more. The same goes for Lin-Sue and the foreman. Both of them, despite initially being good people just doing their job, were roped into being Gartley's slaves. But who are they? Lin-Sue certainly has a story behind her character, as does the foreman, who at first seems like a no-nonsense, bullying factory boss but then turns out to truly care for his friends and wants to stop the machine. What's his story? Aside from characters not having enough screen presence, I loved this film. The Mangler is a riveting, powerful tale that goes beyond Stephen King's short story and gives viewers the chance to see a town riddled by sacrifice.

The Blue Ribbon Laundry has a gigantic machine that presses and folds sheets. The machine has large rollers to press the laundry and generates lots of steam. It's nicknamed The Mangler. The owner of the laundry is William 'Bill' Gartley (Robert Englund) who is an S.O.B. He has a glass eye and steel legs.His 15 year old niece cuts her hand and some of her blood drops into the Mangler. It seems to like the blood. Old Mrs. Frawley is the first to go. She gets sucked into the Mangler and comes out not looking too good albeit quite a bit thinner.Officer John (Ted Levine) is dispatched to investigate.There are more accidents and more deaths and Officer John comes to the conclusion that the Mangler is possessed by a demon. Spoilers *****The rich people in the town have given a human sacrifice to the Mangler in order to stay in power. The sacrifice has to be a 16 year old and it just so happens that Sherry is turning 16. What a coincidence. Gartley knocks Sherry unconscious and takes her to the laundry to be sacrificed.The Mangler is adapted from an early Stephen King short story that appeared in the men's magazine Cavalier. The movie is yet another failure to adapt King's work to the screen. The story, while silly, is a heck of a lot better than this film. Director Tobe Hooper, who has always been incompetent, sinks to even lower depths of incompetence on this one. The Mangler is a totally worthless movie.My rating: Total Dud