Heartstopper

As direct to video horror flicks go, there have been much worse. Hell there has been worse in the theatres. So if after reading the DVD box description or seeing that cover and you're expecting something greater that this, whatever. Playing against type for a change, Englund plays the minor role of the Sheriff who has a grudge against the "Heartstopping" psychopath stalking the hospital in the picture. The biblical spouting psycho is pretty amusing in a total cornball sort of way and there is the barest minimum of tension developed throughout. Englund's good for the record but the movie is simply what it is: A cheesy horror film.

A serial killer, who likes to rip out his victim's pumping hearts, is executed in the 'chair and his corpse is taken to a run down hospital for an autopsy. Somehow, inexplicably, he rises from the dead to continue his spree of carnage within the hospital. What grabbed my attention was the gory artwork featuring horror legend Robert Englund on the DVD cover. However he is not one of the main characters and past experience has taught me that he has appeared in many poor movies, this being one. The guy that plays the bald headed maniac is simply not scary and some of his lines are cringe worthy. Didn't care too much for the teenage girl and boy that take him on either. The ending was pretty ridiculous. Some reasonably good gore but nothing else to recommend Heartstopper.

Robert Englund - Good Over the top gore - good And thats about it you'll probably only have seen this if your a horror fan and if you are i'd wait till its on TV the two above mentioned is a bout all the positive to be said for this lame rerun of Shocker. Outcast female lead, terribly unscary killer, clunky dialogue and about the worst ending you could imagine....tornado please!!!!

Nothing interesting happens in the first quarter of the movie then gorehounds get a good solid 10 minutes of splatter and gore then the story powers on to its conclusion with about as much intelligence as a lobotomised sheep and a plot thats about as interesting as watching your fingernails grow.

All in all a pointless experience.

Heartstopper wasn't to bad for a low budget B slasher movie. Took a large number of queues from Halloween with events taking place in a hospital. The film is about a killer who is hit by lightening while getting sitting in the electric chair and becomes an unstoppable killer after he's taken to the morgue in the hospital. The acting was pretty good and the effects were a little on the silly side, but it held together. Some religious connotations as the killer seemed to be living a life of eternal torture and was taking souls. Lots of gore and blood as plenty of people get their hearts ripped out as food for the killer. About an average B slasher movie. Nothing terrific, but nothing really bad.

"Heartstopper", directed by the always-reliable special effects wizard Bob Keen (he worked on the effects for no less than "Hellraiser", "Candyman" and "Hardware"), is a sadly forgettable effort that combines the plot of a typical late 80's cheesy flick with the outrageous gore and brutality of nowadays 'Torture Porn' movies. The concept of a serial killer with supernatural powers who desperately attempts to transfer his murderous spirit into a new body after his own execution is dreadfully unoriginal and already featured (more or less) in at least four movies, namely Wes Craven's "Shocker", the atrocious third entry in the "House" series, the criminally underrated film "Prison" and the overall lamentable film "The Chair". This movie has absolutely nothing new to tell in its plot, but at least it remains somewhat entertaining thanks to the incredibly high body count, explicit on screen bloodshed and the cast of clichéd characters. A young interracial couple have to defend themselves against the sneering and overly talkative psychopath Chambers (who enjoys ripping hearts out of people's torsos whilst they're watching), and they receive little to none help from an indecisive nurse and from the Sheriff, played by Robert Englund. "Heartstopper" is never really scary or disturbing because the plot is overly grotesque and incoherent. The setting of the nearly abandoned, ramshackle and soon-to-be-closed down hospital adds some morbid atmosphere to the wholesome. The surreal elements in the plot are totally ridiculous and the ending sucks, but hey, I'm sure you've seen newly released horror films that were a lot worse.