Editor's Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on February 22, 2002, and we're proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.
The liner notes for Artisan’s The Mangler 2 DVD inform that the movie was scripted in “an incredible eight days.” Anyone watching the film might wonder why it took that long. The Stephen King influence, needless to say, is nowhere in sight, but there’s plenty of sub-Kevin Williamson dialogue in the repetitive, illogical screenplay by director Michael Hamilton-Wright. The movie snaps credibility in the opening setpiece, when a catsuited infiltrator pulling a Mission: Impossible-like security-company theft proves to be a rebellious teenaged girl named Jo (Chelse Swain).
Next stop for our pouty, abrasive “heroine” is a private school where a new computerized security/operations system has just been installed (in the meager space of a spring break, we’re told). Quickly aligning herself with the one group of students just as obnoxious as she is, Jo downloads a “Mangler” virus into the mainframe as her next prank. Conveniently, the majority of the school heads off for a field trip, leaving Jo and her unsympathetic gang, joined for no apparent reason by a French chef, and nasty headmaster Bradeen (Lance Henriksen—why??) at the mercy of the Mangler, which turns various school equipment against them in lethal, predictable ways.
Ordinarily, one can at least give a lowest-common-denominator franchise entry like this points for a slick look, but even the tech credits here aren’t up to snuff. The production design is lackluster (Jo’s dorm room couldn’t look more like a set, even though it isn't one, and shots of the computer mainframe don’t match reverse angles of the room) and the FX and computer graphics are underwhelming, complete with misspellings like “transfering” in the latter. The DVD’s 1.78:1 transfer sports a drab color scheme, with a soft look and overexposed “hot spots” at numerous moments, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack can’t pick up the atmospheric slack.
More noteworthy is the raft of extras Artisan has included on the DVD, even as it once again leads one to wonder how the company determines which of its titles get the deluxe treatment. There's a pair of music videos, a short outtakes section (funniest bit: Henriksen cracking up while delivering offscreen dialogue as onscreen actress Daniella Evangelista tries to keep a straight face) and a 14-minute making-of segment. The minidoc includes footage from the days when the production was plagued with technical snafus, and is bracketed by producer Glen Tedham’s insistence that this was a “personal” project for him and Hamilton-Wright and his claim to being “excited about the possibility of MANGLER 3 and 4” (!).
Best of all is audio commentary by Hamilton-Wright, Tedham and actor Philippe Bergeron, who plays the aforementioned chef and points out his mistaken billing as "Phillipe" in the opening credits. This is another of those commentaries in which the speakers are so enthusiastic, and clearly devoted to the project, it almost makes one feel less harshly toward their movie. While discussing in detail everything from location specifics (the entire movie was shot at one military base that served as several different locales) to the craft of editing, the trio also make it evident that a good time was had by all during the production, with several suggestions of behind-the-scenes hanky-panky. If it's true, then, that Mangler 2 is one of those films that was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch, at least a commentary like this allows one to share in the enjoyment.
