The Mangler Reborn (2005 Video) User Reviews (40)

This movie can be summed up in one word..

[flawfan1 · 2/10 · 15 January 2006]

HORRIBLE! OK, I usually don't take the time to write movie reviews on these sites but this movie was so bad that I actually felt like I wasted 2 hours of my life on it.. and if I can just convince one other person NOT to watch it then I will feel a little better.

Let me just start with the positive. A hot chick got naked. And that's it. The story was horrible. The acting was horrible. The plot was horrible. The "machine" was horrible. The dialog was horrible. Me and my girlfriend both actually busted out laughing several times at how stupid the characters were... and she couldn't sleep after watching "Army of Darkness" (a comedy horror) so that should tell you something.

Now, on to the movie. If anyone has ever been frustrated by a movie where a girl is getting chased by a killer and trips and falls and takes ten minutes to get up then don't even put this movie in your DVD players because that's how the entire movie felt for me. Just when you thought something stupid and unrealistic happens.. something even more stupid and unrealistic happens 10 seconds later. FOR INSTANCE... the "burglars" pick the killer's deadbolt on his back door in like 2 seconds but when it shuts behind them they are like "OH MY GOD, WE ARE LOCKED IN!" What, does picking a lock only work from the outside? Or how about that when they are outside of the house they can see in the windows and he actually goes and looks into one of the windows before he breaks in but when they are getting chased all of the sudden the windows are all bricked up. Or when the guy looks up at the ceiling and sees a n access to the attic then the next shot he is in it... how the hell someone gets into the attic from 10 feet below in 2 seconds without a ladder or chair baffles me. Or when he is in the attic looking at the killer putting a wallet into a drawer he whispers "he's going to bed"... how in the hell you can tell someone is going to bed just by putting something in a drawer makes no sense to me. Or maybe it's that the killers uses a stupid rubber mallet the whole movie and not a single victim in the movie ever thinks, "Hey, he's just an old, fat man with a rubber mallet... I think we can take him." Or when the killer falls asleep in a chair (isn't it convenient that he falls asleep in the middle of the day even tho he knows people are running around his house?) And while he is asleep the younger robber sneaks up and takes his keys... why didn't he just bash him over the head with that wonderfully effective rubber mallet? I could go on and on but I think I've wasted enough of my time already.

DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE!

It's a terrible movie, but I loved every second of it

[thetrueisyo · 2/10 · 15 January 2008]

First let me say that, yes, this movie is quite awful and will go down as one of the worst movies I've seen. Thankfully though, this is one of those awful horror movies that's funnier than many comedies I've seen. The first big laugh came during the opening credits, where the camera pans across newspaper clippings that give some back story, saying things like "Machine considered 'cursed'". However, most of the clippings are just things the director printed from Word and cut out (ie, they're clearly not from the newspaper). The second big laugh came when the main girl is dumped by her boyfriend and goes to cry while taking a shower. During the shower, the camera moves directly from her face to her chest and stays there for a good 10 seconds. There is not any attempt to make her nudity seem subtle. There's a series of laughs from the bad guy's tool to subdue his victims, that being a small rubber mallet. See, I grew up around tools like these, and I can tell you that what he used is not threatening in the least. However, every time he hits someone with it (approximately 51 times) the camera focuses on the mallet and plays foreboding music (the best part is at the end when he's waiting at another victim's door). No character does anything to avoid the mallet of doom (or Frank, as we named it), specifically the bad guy's daughter, who says "Daddy?" and stands, waiting to be hit in the head. Much more can be said about this "film," but you really should see for yourself. Ed Wood Reborn

The Mangler Re-Bored

[ghoulieguru · 2/10 · 31 January 2006]

Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm movies makes his move away from Don Coscarelli in this pitiful would-be sequel to the Mangler. The original, which was based partially on a Stephen King short story, was about a laundry machine that ate people. Robert Englund played the psychotic owner of the laundry who fed people to the machine. It was basically Little Shop of Horrors with a laundry machine instead of a plant.

This one jettisoned the supernatural laundry machine and went for a more straightforward serial killer tale. The story is about a repairman who buys the old Mangler on eBay and starts restoring it in his basement. Once the machine nears completion, it possesses him and turns him into its minion. The rest of the movie is about this repairman going around and getting meat for his machine. There's a lot of screaming done by women as he hits them repeatedly with a hammer. I have to wonder about the two guys that wrote and directed this movie, and where this misogynistic streak is coming from.

It seems like the writers/directors were going for that unrelenting Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Haute Tension, Saw, Hostel kind of vibe that seems to be all the rage these days. But the Mangler Reborn wound up being unrelenting only in its capacity to bore me.

A cyclic exercise in monotony

[jaywolfenstien · 16 August 2006]

Imagine reading a book where Chapter One features a character named Rick trying to perform a task. Let's say he's trying to fix a computer. And in chapter one, Rick ultimately fails to get the job done. Now, imagine in Chapter Two a character named Mike tries to fix that exact same computer. Mike, too, fails. Then in Chapter Three the author introduces us to Jaimie who tackles the project, trying to correct what Mike screwed up, and solve the original problem ...

Now I ask, dear reader, what's the point? Ultimately, Mangler Reborn tells the story of three (technically four) characters one by one trying and failing to accomplish the exact same thing – escape from the house. This is a movie about futility, failure, and monotonous repetition. It spends most of its running time showing Rick trying and failing to pick practically every lock he comes across, exploring the seemingly abandoned house, hiding from the killer, trying to escape, and then dying. Then the film moves on to Mike who repeats the cycle, then the film continues on to Jaimie and her fellow prisoner.

Oh yeah, the ending of the film implies that the cycle continues indefinitely.

Mangler Reborn is a reality TV show for a possessed psychopath. The victims are not people, but rather chores for Hadley Watson to clean up. Loose screws that inconvenience him and wander around his domain for 15-30 minutes at a time before he finally breaks out the screw driver (or more literally: rubber mallet) and fixes the problem.

Over the last century of horror films, we've watched the villains go from tortured miserable yet strangely sympathetic souls to faceless killing machines who refuse to die. And then you reach the sad and depressing realization that not even the victims in this horror film, people destined to die terrible and bloody deaths, receive any sympathetic touches from the filmmakers.

I rooted for Rick purely for actor Reggie Bannister and his role in the Phantasm series. Mike? I didn't really care about him, especially after wasting my time trying and failing at the same things Rick failed at. Jamie? I hoped Jamie would survive solely because I was tired of watching failure after failure after failure to escape. I wanted Jamie to succeed just to break the monotony of the preceding 60 minutes. Nowhere did I root for a character because I liked the character or felt the character was competent, and nowhere did I get the sensation that any of these guys had enough screen time and development to carry the label "main character." Just fodder.

Thus, Mangler Reborn is a cold, mechanical, formulated, and emotionless journey. Perhaps that's satisfactory for the titular character, a cold, mechanical, emotionless machine; however, the horror genre is rooted in (dare I say "dependant upon") human emotional reaction and psychological manipulation. This film, unfortunately, treats its characters, its victims, like line items on the killer's grocery list and nothing more.

Then again, it's just as well. Even if Reborn did manage to muster the emotional investment to truly invoke horror, without a main character it lacks a focal point to channel it through.

As much as I want to be forgiving for the film's technical merits, because some of my favorite horror films were small independent and very limited productions, because I hate big-production studio PG13-ized remakes as much as the next horror fan and want to see the little guys succeed (Lord knows we need another John Carpenter) … I can't forgive Mangler Reborn. Like its (many) characters, the film tries but ultimately fails.

this movie sucks

[digital_up · 1/10 · 5 December 2005]

There was absolutely nothing else to rent at the video store so we ended up renting this movie thinking it would be alright. Boy, were we wrong! It was a total waste of time and money. The acting was amateur and the plot had no twists and was not thought out. The "machine" was pathetic. The whole movie basically took place in that house and there could not have been more then 10 people in the cast. It seems like a low budget movie and the special effects were terrible. Most of the movie did not have any music, but when there was, the music was annoying rather then adding suspense.

I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

Makes no sense

[Kagegroo · 1/10 · 8 March 2006]

First Mangler movie is not all bad, typical b horror flick nothing special but not that bad. Second movie was bad but one could tolerate it cause you kind of know what to espect from this sort of films. The Mangler Reborn makes no sense, the plot is rubbish and reminds me of a cheap Saw ripoff. Horror films are scary and suppose to be this one is not the least bit scary in anyway, there are few gruesome scenes that are more of bad taste than anything else. I get the feeling that the whole crew of this movie just went through the motions of making it and put minimum effort into it, there is truly nothing good about this film at all. Evil Dead,Bad Taste and the likes of them are great films that i really enjoy, made with a small budget but Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson made them with there heart and soul. Stay clear of this movie and i have learn my lesson and will stay clear if they make another one.

We Like Aimee Brooks

[aimless-46 · 5/10 · 26 March 2006]

While "The Mangler Reborn" is certainly not a masterpiece, it is better than what is reflected in most comments about the film. It is a rare example of a low budget horror film that is played totally straight, no humor and very little self-parody.

With a budget of just $85,000 they had to be very inventive so don't expect elaborate production design or special effects. The title character looks like a cafeteria dishwasher being operated by "Edward Scissorhands". They try to pass the thing off as sinister by always showing it in shadows. When a victim is fed to the thing they change to very tight shots of knives and clippers, trying to make it seem like they are part of the machine rather than being held by crew members off-camera. Obviously the film would benefit from a more elaborate and diabolical device, or at least one with some credibility.

But the Stephen King inspired premise is a good one and the first two thirds of the film set it all up very nicely. It is almost captivating for a while but finally runs out of gas and plods through the final 30 minutes.

An appliance repairman (Weston Blakesley) has acquired the cursed parts from the original "Mangler" (named for the old-style washing machine with external rollers to squeeze the water out of clothes) and is obsessively working to reinvent the lethal thing. Eventually he becomes possessed by the machine and more zombie than human. He must feed it humans because he needs to drink their "squeezins" to keep his zombie body from decaying.

Blakesley is quite credible as the slack jawed zombie who takes a rubber mallet on his repair calls and acquires his victims from among his customers. His life is complicated when a father and son burglar team (Reggie Bannister and Scott Speiser) attempt to rob his house and when his daughter comes for a visit.

Aimee Brooks gets a whole bunch of standard scream queen moments and is extremely attractive.

The main problem is that not enough happens to sustain an eighty-minute feature. Had a parallel story periodically cut in and built up a bit of suspense, "The Mangler Reborn" could have been a engaging little film.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Wanted to pound my head against the wall to stop the pain!

[Mel_Estridge · 1/10 · 7 March 2006]

In truth I fast forwarded through most of this snooze fest. The acting was horrid the plot was weak and the character makeup didn't make sense with the scenes. The girl scratches the mangler's face and manages to not only slice open 1/2 his face (cutting through several layers of skin) but also dislocates his lower jaw and evidently cleans his lower teeth in the process (knocking the dirt out of his mouth maybe?). The shower scene in the beginning only served 2 purposes. 1. "Gratuitous Boob Shot" (which of course is a MUST) and 2. to show the actress's inability to cry realistically even in a shower that should have covered the fact that there wasn't even one tear in her eyes. Look, I'm a Bruce Campbell and a TROMA fan so I love cheesy horror flicks but this one has terrible direction, terrible makeup, terrible writing AND terrible acting. I just think that a good and cheesy horror flick should at least have a decent rating in at least one of those categories. The only good thing I can say about this movie is that even though the camera man wasn't inventive with the shots they were crisp and clean. The best shot of the film was the scene in the bedroom where the lead actress is sitting on her bed contemplating.....something. All in all, I felt my IQ drop.

poor acting and writing/directing

[tribunalcounsel · 1/10 · 30 January 2006]

The obvious cry out for "let's do another low budget film comes to mind" everything except cheap sex scenes made this slow paced horror flick quite dull that a 10 year old must have written it. both director and writer should find a day job. The stand in acting was very pre-schooled like beginning drama 101, I hope no one got paid and did this sad flick pro-gratis, it is sad that a cult classic can get detoured into ruins by adding super Mario and his mallet and a few locked up chicks in hand painted blood stained walls would even make list in the cable network (boy these people are SO hard up for money). cannot for the life of me being a horror flick fan could get caught up in such laughter on the scene where Mikey was about to save whats her name and get bashed on the head by super Mario not only that Mikey mentioned that he can't afford to go back to jail, why didn't he just beat the living crap out of super Mario and just bust his head wide open with his own mallet. People we are so out of touch these days that when a writer has to script something so terrible like this that they are allowed to do it again, believe me I will watch out for this name and recommend individuals to wait for it on free TV. THIS MOVIE REALLY SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the only one true Mangler sequel movie.....the real mangler part 2

[theromanempire-1 · 5/10 · 2 December 2018]

Although it's a par below the classic cult 1995 original movie it's still a worthy addition for the hardcore fans. Robert = freddy is also not to be found in this sequel and all in all this b-movie is slow with many flaws but also good and gory parts that revive in a way the scares of the first film. if u are a fan of the blood-thirsty machine u will get this movie no matter it's an average one. now as to why i say this is the real part 2 the so called MANGLER 2 movie is a sequel in name only and has nothing to do with the original movie plot but this third mangler movie is a direct sequel to the original as it takes like 10 years after the events of the original with the same diabolic machine back in it's bloody work.

If u are not in average horror Stephen king movies adaptions u can skip this one......the rest roll in.

Good movie but pretty cheap

[aries01 · 3/10 · 5 August 2010]

I watched this film a few years back, while I was very bored; I was told it was very bad (I had the tape wedged under my TV up to that point, now its in the tape collection!). This film is about a demon/devilish laundry machine which was found in pieces at a junk shop and reconstructed by a repair man, as his new home washing/ironing machine (possibly because he needed a cheap one and wanted a nostalgic appliance). Little did he know it was possessed (or the parts where; they where from the original machine in the mangler 1995). As he builds they machine it comes to life and the repair man is forced to fuse with it and is made to do its bidding. He now has to find victims, mainly customers to feed to the machine, so he can drink the by-products; this makes him live as the fusing had turned him into a zombie and he would now decay without feeding on it. The music really went with the film and made the atmosphere feel like the machine was going to jump out at any given moment (but it does not, as it hides in the shadows all the time). It was a fairly low budget film and I believe it went straight to tape, its about as scary as an over rated hair drier

A good film considering it's low budget

[reeves2002 · 8/10 · 28 March 2006]

I rented mangler reborn after watching the original mangler and thought it was way better.I thought it was gonna be stupid after the opening scene considering the bad acting,but the rest of the movie made up for it.However after viewing the movie I watched the opening scene again and it didn't bother me as much. I know not everyone will agree but I found this movie very enjoyable and fun to watch.I would like to see more movies like this.I am so glad that this 3rd sequel was nothing like the horrible mangler 2, and that the makers of part 2 had nothing to do with the 3rd one.That movie was a joke and should have never been made.Mangler reborn is the type of thriller I really like renting.I thought that the whole idea of being trapped in that house with no way to get out was scary.I know that parts of it were not believable,but it's a movie and one that I will watch again someday.This part contains a spoiler.The ending of this film was left open to another sequel.If there is a 4th one,then I hope the same people will be involved in the making of it as well as making it equally as enjoyable. The only part of this movie I didn't like was the beginning was too rushed and not explained in enough detail.If someone didn't see the original they would have no idea what or how the machine(or the mangler) came to be.The only reason I knew he was buying the parts of the old mangler and putting it back together is because of the description on the back of the DVD where it says what the movie is about.And in the opening credits there is something shown about it in an article.It flashes by the screen too fast and the rest is hard to read.This movie would be better if had no resemblance to the original mangler and was it's own movie because they are 2 completely different style of films.But none the less,it is worth watching and I was not disappointed by it.

Scary and Gory, but the pace is slow.

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 23 November 2005]

"The Mangler Reborn" is a million times better than the atrocious and unfortunate "The Mangler 2".

The plot: Hadley (Weston Blakesley) is a repairman. He finds pieces of the mangler machine and puts it together. He grows obsessed about it and starts going on a killing spree to feed the machine. His latest victim Jaime (Aimee Brooks) is trapped in his house. Can she escape before she's another body on the chopping block?

The pacing is slow,but the acting is pretty good. Reggie Bannister makes an appearance as Rick the house robber. In his limited screen time he makes you feel for his character. You can see that the directors really put their heart into the film.

In the end: The movie is scary, and there's some heavy gore scenes. It's worth seeing at least once.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Disappointing and unspectacular

[slayrrr666 · 5/10 · 20 September 2008]

"The Mangler Reborn" is a stunningly dull and disappointing effort.

**SPOILERS**

After becoming obsessed with a strange machine, Hadley Watson, (Weston Blakesley) starts to show signs of mental instability. When Jamie, (Aimee Brooks) moves into the area, he doesn't take too kindly to the intrusion and abducts her, taking her back to his place. When Rick, (Reggie Bannister) and his son Mike, (Scott Speiser) who have been watching the house for awhile, decide to break in and rob the place while he's away. Not finding anything of value, they decide to leave only to discover that he is a homicidal maniac that is abducting people in order to feed them to his machine, soon find themselves among his captives inside the house. Gathering help from his other victims still inside, they decide to launch a final strike to get away from him before becoming victims for his strange machine.

The Good News: There wasn't a whole lot to this one that really worked at all. The fact that there's some good, creepy things in the house during the break-in sequence is perhaps it's best feature. The tricks with the windows turning into bricks or other traps is a little eerie the first time around, as it's incredibly unsettling and just plain unusual than the norm. There's also the layabout of the house, with the blood-soaked finger-prints all over the walls give an incredibly effective atmosphere that is wonderful. These scenes are the creepiest and give off a disturbing quality. The lone sequence showing the working of the machine is rather good and brutal, being up close and personal with the action and making it feel much more brutal than it should be. It's long, involved and actually a little unnerving, which is a little unfortunate that so little times it is used. The only other thing that's worthwhile is the final brawl around the house, as the two each get the upper-hand with some innovative offense or defense and it's the only action in the film. These here are the only things worthwhile in the film.

The Bad News: This was a pretty disappointing and dull film. There's much to say about the fact that this one is just plain dull. Nothing happens at all, since it's all taking place in the house outside of the opening sequence where the first victim is kidnapped, but after that, it's all done in the house, leaving this one to rely on the fact that the killer is holding them hostage. This produces very little excitement at all since the killer is so lame. The constant bugged-out eyes help him look menacing, but the fact is that he is about sixty years old and he has a big belly, which means that all his victims have to run away very slowly and also trip a few times so that he can catch up to them. That's just plain crazy and really takes away from the fear that should've been used for the killer, but it also weakens the film by being just so dull and boring. There's seemingly endless scenes of the killer wandering into a room, whacking them with a rubber mallet and then taking them away, which constitutes the entire amount of action in the film. This is just long, dull and hardly gets any kind of momentum or action involved, making it a real pain to sit through, and with the killer being completely non-threatening and the kills being done in the lamest way possible except for the main one mentioned earlier, it's got nothing much else about it.

The Final Verdict: There's just not a whole lot to this one either way, and it ends up being just a dull, listless effort all around. This one is really only for those who have enjoyed the others in the series and need to finish it off, while those who find the flaws too much or weren't fans of the series should heed caution.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity

Mangler should never been reborn

[devanlilly · 4/10 · 22 March 2013]

Mangler two goes something like this robot talk to dumb man dumb man fixes machine then dies then he's the machine from here he kills all of the characters with that silly hammer swing. Some of my issues with mangler are it was 1 unrealistic fails to give explanations - The guy Hadley was poor as introduce by his wife Beatrice Watson how did he afford the modification through the house like the brick walls he adds and the reinforced doors. - You never see how he became a robot blender does not equal robot transformation. - Why was he chosen by a smart robot there are tons of people more qualified to do the job the robot need it to do. -The hammer he hit them with and the way he hit them would not make them pass out I own a hammer like that its rubber he just didn't seem he was hitting them hard enough. - There was one scene I didn't think would happen and in no world should it have happened even in fiction. The character Hadley the "robot" jumps through this small vent that I a small person could not fit through. -Hadley kills rick with weird ease what happened there?

• Poor acting-

I think I saw the girl Jamie smile once or twice during bad scenes

3- The end plot twist was weak we all knew Hadley was a "robot".

Badder could not be worse than that

[Dr_Coulardeau · 3/10 · 24 December 2008]

How strange Stephen King sells his name and reputation for those Z series films that obviously only aim at making money, and even not too much, but with a small budget to start with it is not so bad after all. That Mangler should never have been reborn. The original was at least the morbid fantasizing of what Stephen King suffered in the summer when he was a high school teacher: he worked in a laundry factory and he worked with such pressing machines that could turn criminal, with no security and the bosses who did not want to spend one cent on security, as if blue collar workers were supposed to be kept secure. After all, accidents were the privilege of all these salary-hungry people. But in this film we are left with a Joe the plumber turned vampire and the Mangler is his revived invention, machine or whatever that provides him with his pint of blood everyday. It is not even entertaining. Too gross to be, too disgusting to even be horrible or terrible, certainly not even terrific, though after a little while you may have some sudden desire to vomit. Have some good blood cocktail on the house.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Pretty average horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 5/10 · 16 January 2007]

The bloodthirsty laundry machine is purchased at auction by repairman Hadley,who quickly becomes possessed and kills his wife.Some time later,Hadley is now abducting young women for the Mangler to kill.One such victim is Jaime,who is taken back to Hadley's house,where the Mangler devours its victims.But while Hadley was away father and son thieves Rick played by Reggie Bannister of "Phantasm" fame and Mike are doing some breaking and entering and it just so happens that their latest target is Hadley's horror house."The Mangler Reborn" is pretty bad.The gore doesn't come until the last 20 minutes,the action moves at the snail's pace and the acting is stiff.Still the third act of "The Mangler Reborn" offers plenty of blood and gore and is worth waiting for.5 out of 10.

Worst Horror Movie Ever! (spolier)

[seanmatthews · 3/10 · 28 December 2005]

I watch tons of horror movies, and I can honestly say that this one wins the prize of the worst horror movie ever. This movie and Dawn of the Dead (the old one, but thats another topic). I felt that this movie lacked dialog, and had terrible, terrible acting! I also felt that the whole idea of being locked inside the house was kind of stupid. I mean the bricks were just so fake to even look at, that you could tell they weren't real. Also, it is amazing how the mangler guy ALWAYS knows where they are. In the attic/vents...hiding etc. The worst part of the movie was the ending. "you can't kill me, I AM THE MACHINE." I laughed at this line. Overall, if you get this movie for Christmas, burn (not burn on a computer) it in a fire and never watch it. WORST MOVIE EVER!

Horrible!

[jhenry66067 · 1/10 · 24 May 2006]

I have been a long time fan of horror movies. I've seen em' all. I feel compelled to state that I created a user name just to tell you how bad this movie is! The acting skills were poor. The cameraman was something you would expect from a High School Student. The music, I pity the music director, I doubt he will find work soon. What little music there was was thrown haphazardly into the first half of the movie. Music is supposed to enhance the feeling of the story, but it only took away.

The basic story is that this laundry repair man goes homicidal and starts feeding people to "the mangler," a machine that once washed clothes but was decommissioned due to the number of deaths. The main character is abducted from her home in the lamest fashion, and is taken against her will to the "possessed" maniac's abode. She then meets up with two people who meet their maker.

The storyline. There is absolutely no character at all, save for when the two guys in the truck talk, and it has nearly no correlation to the movie. If you see the opening cut scene, expect the same thing, with much less talking.

This movie ran for the longest eighty-four minutes of my life. And the ending was a huge let down. I have only seen mangler 2 from the mangler trilogy (and obviously 3), and I can say that there was more story, blood, character development, and excitement in the second movie.

If I was forced to compare this movie to anything I'd say SAW II, only with no conclusion, no rising action, no real story, and no character. The blood was painted and it was extremely noticeable. In my opinion I pray that they never make another mangler movie again. Only two of the user comments so far seemed remotely any good.

I strongly recommend that you never touch this movie unless you are a fan of extremely bad D- movies.

The Mangler consumed my desire to live.

[rawrockkills · 1/10 · 6 February 2006]

I've said this about a few movies in my time (although not in any comments), but this time it's 100 per cent true: this is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. Why is that, you ask? I shall provide you with an easy-to-understand numbered list:

1) Matt Cunningham and Erik Gardner, the directors/writers. Horirbly done. The pacing was...just...a...bit...too...slow, and I think the script was more of a leaflet. If a movie like this had put in the hands of competent movie makers, it would have been only about 20 minutes. Also, if not for my research into the first two "Mangler" movies, I would have NO IDEA what was going on.

2) Everyone in the cast. Worst acting I have ever seen. I hated every single character in this movie, and none of the victims, for whatever reason, never decided to fight back. For those who are wondering, here's how to survive an attack from a slow-moving, slow-witted, potbellied man: wait until he comes to open the door to the room in which you are trapped, kick him in the testicles, knee him in the face, take his keys, and run.

3) The hilariously glaring plot holes. Two examples: If anyone gets knocked out by a hit from a rubber mallet like they would have suffered in this movie, they deserve to die. Also, when blond breakup victim (I didn't care enough to learn their names)is bagged up in the back of baldy's van, the BAG IS NOT CLOSED. For strategies on surviving this scenario, see no. 2.

4) The soundtrack. I think there were about two notes in the whole movie. And no music over the closing credits?

5) The Mangler itself. A demonic laundry press chock-full of kitchen knives, spinning blades, and axes? A demonic laundry press that can only get one mason jar of blood out of an entire human body? Interesting.

In summary, the Mangler sucks.

not what i expected

[Babyjen32100 · 3/10 · 29 November 2005]

i rented the last copy of this film in my local movie gallery, and i thought it was gonna be so gory and so scary........boy was i dead wrong. the gore sucked, they didn't show every death in the film except for 2 scenes, and it just wasn't scary. I'm glad I saw it once but don't give your hopes up on this film, it's not the fright fest u would expect. I hate when I waste money on what I think is gonna be a good movie.

all in all, if u are a mangler film fan, u should see this once and decide for yourself if u like it, but to me, the first mangler movie was a hell of a lot scarier and gorier than this one.

Best of a Bad Series

[rstef1 · 6/10 · 4 June 2007]

Mangler Reborn took me by surprise after the poor original film and absolutely abysmal sequel. This film has little to do with the first and, happily, nothing to do with the second, which was an in-name-only sequel anyway. Basically, some repairman is piecing together parts of the original mangler machine in the spare room of his house when he is possessed by its spirit and forced to go out and get women to feed to the machine.

Now, the film is not perfect, and, as you can tell by the other comments here, it is definitely not to every taste, but I enjoyed it. The low-budget actually works for the picture, giving it a gritty, realistic feel that is missing from many bigger budget flicks. Certain shots and scenes put me in mind of similar low-budget fare from the late 70s and early 80s, like: He Knows You're Alone, Don't Go In the House, Maniac and even, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm not saying it's as good as any of those, simply that it put me in mind of them. Also, there is no humor here, thank God. I am over the need for humor to leaven the horror in these pictures. It was cute for a short while, but by Scream 3 and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and the thousand other clones of this genre, I was over it. I don't want to hear one more villain or hero feel the need to utter a snarky pun or clever bon mot as they dispatch their victims. Enough already. I'm also pleased this is a true R rated film, like those previously mentioned. I'm done with PG-13 tripe featuring late teen and early twenties alumnae from the WB or CW networks. Stick to TV kids. The violence here is brutal and effectively photographed. Not for those who are squeamish.

On the negative side, the film does drag in spots. I was grateful that I had the fast forward on my DVR a couple times, and the scenes can be a bit repetitive toward the end. The acting is hit and miss. I kind of liked the lead character. He didn't require a lot of facial expressions, but he was suitably creepy and frightening nonetheless. The female lead also did well, though some of the supporting cast were less than accomplished.

While the end felt like a bit of a cheat, clearly opening the way for a sequel, it didn't spoil the rest of the film for me. For those who wonder why they don't make slasher movies like they used to, in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th, here you go.

¿It Sucks?

[simoneyes-1 · 1/10 · 16 December 2005]

the movie is one of the worst i have ever seen. don't even watch it once. it is not worth the money. never rent it. never buy it. never watch it. the person who made it should not be in the movie business. the weapon of choice was horrible. when you get hit in the head with a rubber mallet you don't fall down so easy and if you were about to get hit in the head you would try to fight back. never see the movie or watch it or rent it. if you read this comment it will save you money. take my word for it never see it. it is horrible. acctualy from what movies that i have seen that Lions Gate Films has made i have only seen one good one.

Did I just watch that?

[wolfbeast · 1/10 · 8 April 2007]

I honestly can't believe that this bears the same title as the first Mangler movie. It has very little to do with the original story and is more a tale of someone going obsessive and totally losing it than it has anything to do with possession. The contraption he builds based on an apparently antique machine is a strange gathering of knives and cleavers attached to rickety arms, that looks more like a kid's attempt at building a "machine" than anything else. Kudos for the main "possessed" guy's acting though, he is totally devoid of emotion, but otherwise, the acting is horrible, the plot (what plot?) is horrible, full of holes like for instance some big burly guy not being able to find his way out of a large wooden house... Come on! It's by far the worst execution of a gore horror movie I have ever seen put to video.

Avoid this one folks, you'll want the 1.5 hours of your life back after having watched it.

The demonic mangler is back!

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 29 September 2021]

Repairman Hadley (Weston Blakesley) buys an old laundry machine at an auction, and restores it to working condition, unaware of the demonic force that lurks within. The machine possesses the man, and drives him to kill so that it can feed on blood and guts. Meanwhile, house-breaker Rick (Reggie Bannister) and his son Mike (Scott Speiser) make the mistake of choosing Hadley's home for their next robbery...

Some might say that The Mangler Reborn should have been terminated before it reached full term. Some might say it should never have been conceived in the first place. But while it's true that the film looks and sounds terrible, having been shot on digital video on a very tight budget, I actually think it's not all bad. The plot is sufficiently twisted, allowing for some fairly suspenseful moments and a few scenes of graphic violence (although the use of a rubber mallet and not a lump hammer detracts a bit from the nastiness), both Aimee Brooks and Juliana Dever (as victims of the killer) are easy on the eye, the claustrophobic house setting works well, and the downbeat ending makes for a nice change. Plus, it's always good to see Phantasm's Reggie Bannister, but I wish someone would tell him that the bald head and ponytail is not a good look.

Sure, The Mangler Reborn isn't as effective as the original film (which starred Robert Englund, was directed by Tobe Hooper, and based on a story by Stephen King - and even with that talent involved, it wasn't that great), but it's still better than the current IMDb rating of 3.1 would have us believe.

4.5/10, generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb.