Heartstopper (DVD)

We meet Chambers (James Binkley), appropriately enough, in the death chamber of a maximum security prison where he is to be killed by the State for his horrible crimes. The sadistic serial killer had a penchant for ripping the hearts from his victims' chests and letting them see it before they expired. And he's not sorry.

Somehow his hatred defeats the electric chair, and as soon as his seemingly lifeless corpse lands at the local hospital, Chambers goes on the hunt for a fresh new body to host his evil soul. Standing in his way is Sheriff Berger (Robert Englund), a teenage girl named Sara Wexler (Meredith Henderson), and few assorted medical staff and patients. He makes short work of the latter, but the sheriff and the girl prove tougher nuts to crack. As he claims each new victim, Chambers's burnt body is regenerated, but he needs a new identity and the nubile young woman is looking better and better. A long, tedious pursuit through the deserted hospital ensues.

Heartstopper is mostly low-tech movie (little CGI) with a strong 1980s horror feel to it (chase scenes sans the 90s/00s shaky-cam). It's got that going for it, including decent acting, but the storyline is so clichéd, and so very, very tired that it will warm the cockles of the hearts of only the most committed horror movie fans.

I've often wondered why Englund, whose acting talents truly are considerable, winds up in so many horrid, low-budget splatter flicks that more often than not go direct to disc. It is right here in this DVD interview he explains just that (although he doesn't say Heartstopper is one of those "bad" movies; in fact, he's far too complimentary… maybe he hadn't seen the final cut yet).

The interview with Englund, done on-set, is interesting because of what the actor has to say, but editing is pretty much nonexistent. Englund is a talking head with no variation on angles, let alone the insertion of film clips of photos to break the monotony. The interview with the film's director, Bob Keen, is more of the same.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson