Directed by: Tobe Hooper Written by: Tobe Hooper, Stephen David Brooks & Harry Allen Towers Stephen King (Novel) Starring: Robert Englund .... William Gartley Ted Levine .... Officer John Hurdon Daniel Matmor .... Mark Jackson Jeremy Crutchley .... J.J.J. Pictureman / Mortician Vanessa Pike .... Sherry Oulette Demetre Phillips .... George Stanner Lisa Morris .... Lin Sue Release Date: Supposed Theatrical: March 3, 1995 Rating:

A police officer named John Hurdon (Ted Levine) tries to look for clues after a bunch of grizzly murders happen in a steam factory at the Blue Ribbon Laundry after a steam ironer kills some employees there and is owned by a greedy and evil man named Bill Gartley (Robert Englund) who will stop at nothing to keep his business going.
John with his sidekick Mark Jackson (Daniel Matmor) does some researching and discovers that steam ironer is posessed by a blood thirsty demon seeking mainly virgin women.
John must battle the evil Gartley to put a stop to his factory even if it means his life by destroying this demonic beast and he tries to get the aid of Gartley's niece Sherry Oulette (Vanessa Pike) to help him out on this deadly case.

A very cool film based on one of Stephen King's short stories from his Night Shift chapters. It stands out very well and truly suspenseful too.
This film reigned in as a cult classic for sure as it has many perfect touches and effects brought to life on the screen.
It gives a great nasty environment of not wanting to work at a factory like that.
Followed by two sequels.

The acting is terrific in this one and it proves that Robert Englund can wear many hats as a horror villain than just Freddy Krueger as he lived to play this role as a vicious nasty factory owner named Gartley. He stood out terrifically too. Best actor out of them all
Ted Levine was great as a tough as nails cop in the film and shows terrific energy.
Vanessa Pike plays a great innocent character as Englund's niece and is a true character actress with what she provided in this film.
Demetre Phillips made his part so real as an arrogant assistant employer at the factory ordering people around and being demanding.
Lisa Morris was another cast member who stood out well as a sleazy and evil employee in the factory.

Some interesting horror violence.
People are sucked into a steam ironer and gets bloodied, folded and crushed. Later on the reseults are extremely gruesome.
An assistant employers arm is cut off with an axe.
A man is split in two.

Tobe Hooper is the man for this film and hans't lost his touch since his directing days in Poltergeist or Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
He shows a perfect intro to the film of cast playing employees at a steam factory being overworked and there's supporting actor Demetre Phillips ordering them around and showing no sympathy for them. Hooper makes the scenery so good that it makes you not wanting a job like that.
He coaches small actress Vera Blacker very well at the factory showing her stress load and frghtening emotions too being there. Her death scene is perfect as she shows great intensity.
Vanessa Pike showed great intense emotions after witnessing the death as you want to feel sorry for her.
There's awesome camera shots on the machine when it's doors open revealing smoke when sucking it's victims in.
There's perfect dialogue sequences between Ted Levine and Daniel Matmor as the two of them act off well with one another.
We show a nice shot of a posessed refrigerator coming to life too.
Hooper also coached supporting actor Jeremy Crutchley with plenty of wit and there's a nice performance by him on his death bed before he dies.
He also drove Levine's character well expressing his aggressions towards Englund's character on shutting down the factory plus he shows a great violent reaction with Levine towards Phillips.
He also made supporting actress Lisa Morris look sleazy and evil with her expressions in the film too.
There's a classic battle between Levine and Englund which looks superb and a great shot of the machine coming in for the kill too.

Barrington Pheloung has the perfect chemistry for this film as his music isn't overly mainstream as I like it like that alot of times for a horror film.

The DVD Features:

• ccAlternate edit comparison
• alternate version of 3 scenes presented in split-screen comparison
• Original theatrical trailer

U.S.A.	VHS	DVD
Canada	VHS	DVD
U.K.	VHS
Germany	VHS	DVD
France	DVD

[after seeing Mrs. Frawley get crushed by the mangler]
Bill Gartley: Ah, Frawley, you stupid old bitch. Always getting in the way. Goddamn it, goddamn it, goddamn it!

Mark Jackson: Have you considered the possibility that the machine may be haunted?
Officer John Hunton: Oh yeah, Mark, that's the first thing that popped into my mind!

Officer John Hunton: It folded her like a sheet Mark!