Cardiac Arrest

A murderer is on the loose and the citizens of San Francisco are frightened.As the police become baffled by the case,the city's only hope is an unconventional sleuth played by Garry Goodrow.Like the other reviewer said this film is a huge disappointment.It lacks scares and gore and is really boring.Avoid this one at all costs!

CARDIAC ARREST is the story of the notorious "missing heart murders". The killer has just struck again, and detectives, Higgins and Wong (Gary Goodrow and Michael Paul Chan) are on the case.

Meanwhile, a man (Max "Wojo" Gail) finds himself involved in what could be a black market for human organs, when his wife needs a heart transplant.

This is a surprisingly enjoyable movie with an intriguing plot. It's actually far more complex and conspiratorial than one might expect. Unfortunately, due to the marketing of this film as a slasher, it's been maligned by those expecting a blood-soaked ancestor of DR. GIGGLES. It isn't. At all.

WARNING: Since this is a movie from the late 1970's, uninitiated viewers may be shocked by the mile-long cars, fashion fiascos, and ubiquitous chain-smoking going on!

Co-stars Fred Ward, and there's even a cameo from Marjorie Eaton (THE ATOMIC BRAIN)!...

Erroneously advertised as a horror movie, this is in fact a DETECTIVE DRAMA; it might solicit praise from "Monk" or "Columbo" fans not simply because its paced as a TV movie or an extended teleplay, but because a lot of time is spent on the development of humane characters with real fallibility. The mystery takes time to unravel, and it does so in a reasonably realistic and tasteful manner. In an ocean of conflated stereotypes, stilted scripts and nerve-wracking formulas, watching a subdued, 70s-style drama like this one can be quite pleasant. Moreover, however slow or lacking in suspense, no one will say that this story bores with its predictability.

I used to love afternoon detective shows. Columbo, Quincy, Ironside, even the newer crop like Diagnosis Murder and Monk. Murder mysteries, kooky maverick investigators and everything wrapped up in a speedy blast of low key suspense and twists. Cardiac Arrest is reminiscent of that whole realm of television, but it's stretched out over 93 minutes and has little suspense or flair. A sensational plot (heart theft, medical skulduggery) gives way to uninspired filler, underpowered acting and a distinct lack of thrills, TV movie level direction keeps this crawling along at the bare minimum pace required to keep from flatlining and the premise goes sadly wasted. At least Garry Goodrow is fairly good value as the cop investigating; he does his level best with the material, projecting a certain neat sense of kooky dedication. Michael Paul Chan is also solid as his refreshingly cliché free Asian partner. Max Gail and Susan O'Connell emote to the best of their abilities as a couple who get involved, there's a brief appearance for a young Fred Ward, side roles by and large make little to no impression or are simply hammy. A modicum of interest is provided by the late 70's San Francisco setting, in intervening years such city-scapes and their portrayal on film has perhaps changed forever, with its resolute ordinariness the film gains a certain time capsule quality. Also it's almost interesting to watch a film with realistic, human characters pretty much across the board, people that aren't glamorous, that make mistakes and don't seem to yell "I'm in a movie" by their very presence. But both these points still need some kind of underlying tension and there just isn't any so the film falls almost wholly flat. Its just dull, dull viewing, it picks up in the final quarter hour or so but its too little too late. The length really hurts this one, at half its length it could be a good TV episode, at 70 to 75 minutes it could have been a good pilot episode, but at over an hour and a half there just isn't enough there, and the characters don't stand out enough for any digressions (such as the hero interrupted whilst with his girlfriend) to work. I don't like to rag on films like this, for I enjoy cinema at most levels of quality, but this really was a stinker and not one that I would recommend to, well anyone.

That's it! With God as my witness (hmm, maybe Satan would make a better witness in my case), this is the absolute last time I allow an appealing VHS-cover to fool and trick me into watching a movie that is generally – and righteously - considered as a huge piece of crap. "Cardiac Arrest" is downright unendurable 80's junk and, maybe it's just me, but there's something seriously wrong with the plot. The lousy excuse for a "film" opens and continues with the investigation of a couple of murder cases where the hearts have been surgically removed from the victims' bodies, only … we didn't see the murders happening! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the point of horror films to show the violence and blood? This is more like a comedy with homicide coppers puking each time they encounter a corpse and that sort of lame things. "Cardiac Arrest" is a totally senseless and incoherent piece of crap with lousy characters, irritating dialogs, a dreadfully boring pace and – as said before – no gore. I made a rookie mistake picking out this film for its cover, and I'm trying to make the pain go away by advising others to avoid it like the plague. Suffering from a cardiac arrest yourself even looks like more fun.