Black Friday Terror: Shop 'Till You Drop With Horror Movies Set In Malls (2024)

• Dawn of the Dead (1978)

  

  The biggest and best horror movie in a mall will always be George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. I don't even think we need to take a poll, because I think nearly everyone would agree. It is probably the first mall fright film and really set the tone for every similar film that followed. The first quarter of the film is set in the rapidly disintegrating Philadelphia, but rapidly switches to the mall setting and stays there. Not only a satire of consumer culture, it also talks about the tendency human beings have to fight among each other, rather than cooperate. The zombies can do it, but we're not so good at it.

• Chopping Mall (1986)

  

  Chopping Mall, which has a great title, was originally known as Killbots, and features early star turns from Barbara Crampton and Kelli Maroney. It's a horror comedy about some teens who plan to party at the mall after hours but are totally ruined by the security robots that suddenly become homicidal. While it is more lighthearted than some of the other films on the list, that doesn't mean that the characters in the film are safe. Read more: Baptism Of Blood: How The SAW Franchise Recruits The Cult Of Jigsaw.

• Slaxx (2020)

  

  Slaxx takes place in a supposedly ethical clothing store the night before the launch of a brand-new product that promises to revolutionize jeans. Not only are all of the employees locked in the store, they are locked in with a sentient pair of killer pants. Is this a mall set story? I think so because most clothing stores are either in a mall, indoor or outdoor these days. Directed and co-written by Elza Kephart, this socially conscious fear film is bloody and brutal, much more than its comedic themes would suggest. It's funny as a deft horror comedy.

• Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

  

  Originally entitled Arach Attack, this monster horror comedy about mutant giant spiders has the distinction of being Scarlett Johansson's eleventh film role. It also stars David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, Scott Terra, and Doug E. Doug. While the film begins with dirt biking in the desert, the finale, and it is a whopper of a finale, takes place as the remaining citizens of the town make a last stand at the Prosperity Mall. Read more: Endless Summer: An Ode To Sleepaway Camp At 40.

• Bio-Zombie (1998)

  

  Bio-Zombie is a horror comedy about a zombie attack on a mall from Hong Kong. It is considered a spoof of Dawn of the Dead but has elements that are reminiscent of the gory classic from Peter Jackson's Brain Dead. This movie is about young and horny mall employees who aren't too scrupulous about how they do their business and a bio-weapon that turns people into the hungry dead interrupting their good time. The group of survivors gets smaller and smaller after they are trapped in the mall and the fight to survive is on.

• Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)

  

  The title pretty much says it all. Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge is a slasher film that is all about that center of shopping in the 80s. It is naturally a riff on the classic story of the Phantom of the Opera but with a mall instead. Eric wants revenge for the wounds to his face and the loss of his home and former life with Melody as his girlfriend. He will do anything to protect Melody and get her back. Directed by Richard Friedman, the film stars Derek Rydall, Jonathan Goldsmith, Rob Estes, Pauly Shore, Kari Whitman, and Morgan Fairchild. Read more: 10 Thanksgiving Horror Movies To Watch After Thanksgiving.

• Darr @ the Mall (2014)

  

  Darr @ the Mall is an Indian film that is a rare instance of a supernatural mall horror movie. The largest mall in Asia is about to open, but people in the mall start dying and it becomes clear that the mall is haunted because of the deaths of construction workers and mall employees. Vishnu ( Jimmy Sheirgill ) is hired as head of security and finds that a young girl appears to him and then disappears deepening the mystery. The opening of the mall becomes a death trap as Vishnu tries to escape with Ahana ( Nushrat Bharucha), the owner's daughter after the supernatural attack.

• Night of the Comet (1984)

  

  Night of the Comet is a movie with zombies that slowly turn to dust when they aren't killing the few survivors left after the Earth goes through the tail of a comet. Two sisters who slept inside steel containers make it through the night and wake to find the skies red and everything gone. The film is a classic zombie movie from the 80s that only has one sequence in a mall, but it's a really good one. Written and directed by Thom Eberhardt, it stars Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell, and Mary Woronov.

• Dawn of the Dead (2004)

  

  Zach Snyder's feature film debut as a director with a script by James Gunn is a remake of the legendary George Romero film that does more than just exist. By taking the story in a different direction and with an intense and gripping opening and title sequence people still talk about. Even though the zombies are fast, the action and humanity of the story catch the imagination. It also has a great cast with Sarah Polley, as Ana the practical nurse who always remembers to grab the keys, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, and Ty Burrell. There's great gore and dark comedy that James Gunn would take into his career as a director.

• Dangerous Game (1987)

  

  In Dangerous Game, a hacker and his friends break into a department store and are stalked by one of the former security guards who lost his job due to their antics. This Australian slasher film was directed by Stephen Hopkins and nominated for Australian Oscars. It stars Miles Buchanan, Marcus Graham, Steven Grives, and Kathryn Walker. Hopkins would go on to direct A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Predator 2, and later went on to direct The Reaping, which starred Hilary Swank.

Dolores Quintana