Heartstopper

"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.

I first saw this in 2006 on a dvd which I own.

Revisited it recently.

The movie has ample gore n the effects are good but it has tons of stupid n wtf moments.

The first thing which will come to mind is the movie Shocker n the second movie Visiting Hours.

In Visiting Hours, the serial killer is a mortal human being who is very persistent. In this movie too, the supernatural killer is shown as a persistent fella.

In Shocker, the killer returns aft the electric chair execution n here too, the killer returns aft his electric chair execution.

Also Child's Play comes to mind, regarding the transfer of soul.

If one reads about this movie via Wikipedia n clicks on the External Links to approach IMDb, the page takes u to another movie's page with the same name, Heartstopper 1989, a vampire flick directed by John Russo and starring gore guru Tom Savini.

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.

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.

In a stormy night, the evil serial-killer Jonathan Chambers (James Binkley) is executed in the electric chair. The arrogant coroner Doctor Hitchens (Michael Cram) brings the corpse in an ambulance to a hospital for the autopsy escorted by the County Sheriff Berger (Robert Englund) that arrested Chambers. Meanwhile the outcast high-school student Sara Wexler (Meredith Henderson) tries to commit suicide on the road and is hit by the Sheriff Berger's car. While bringing Sara in the same ambulance that is transporting the body of Chambers to the hospital, the teenager sees the dead coming back to life. In the hospital, Sara shares the room with the stabbed teenager Walter (Nathan Stenphenson) that coincidentally is her schoolmate, and she asks him to help her to leave the hospital. She tells what she saw, but Walter in principle believe Sara is nuts. However, when he sees blood on the corridor, he helps Sara to escape from their room. However, they find that all exits are locked and they are trapped in the hospital while the psychopath is slaughtering the patients and staff looking for Sara.

"Heartstopper" is flawed and predictable, but is not a bad low-budget horror movie. The gore story has the usual clichés of the genre, but I have found it entertaining in the end. The greatest attraction is certainly Robert Englund that has a minor participation. However, the sexy Meredith Henderson, Nathan Stenphenson and James Binkley have good performance the result is OK. The way Sara defeats the demon in the storm is not reasonable and gives a weak conclusion to the plot. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Devorador de Almas" ("Souls Devour")