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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 SueRelease
Date: Supposed
Theatrical: March
3, 1995
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
[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!
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