Heartstopper (2006)

Two hospitalized young people discover that things can get even worse when the dilapidated institution is stranded by a severe storm and a maniac stalks the corridors butchering the patients and staff.

Director:

Bob Keen

Writers:

Vlady Pildysh (story), Vlady Pildysh

Stars:

Meredith Henderson, Nathan Stephenson, James Binkley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meredith Henderson	...	Sara Wexler
Nathan Stephenson	...	Walter Brooks
James Binkley	...	Jonathan Chambers
Robert Englund	...	Sheriff Richard Berger
Laura de Carteret	...	Denise Grafton (as Laura DeCarteret)
Scott Gibson	...	Doctor Drayis
Michael Cram	...	Doctor Hitchens
Ted Ludzik	...	Janitor Mackie
Lori Hallier	...	Ms. Wexler
John Bayliss	...	The Warden
Wayne Flemming	...	Priest
Celine Lepage	...	Trina Foote
David Roche	...	Deputy Wilson
Drew Carnwath	...	Guard #1
Amy Lalonde	...	Triage Nurse (as Amy Ciupak Lalonde)

Storyline

In a stormy night, the evil serial-killer Jonathan Chambers is executed in the electric chair. The arrogant coroner Doctor Hitchens brings the corpse in an ambulance to a hospital for the autopsy escorted by the County Sheriff Berger that arrested Chambers. Meanwhile the outcast high-school student Sara Wexler 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 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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | sheriff | teenager | night | electric chair | 

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Taglines:

Each beat may be your last...

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heart Stopper

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PA Heartstopper Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

Throughout the movie, Walter's Pac-man shirt goes through various stages of cleanliness. It's often seen blood-soaked in one scene only to have spots of blood in the next.

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Quotes

Walter: He needs your body!

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Connections

Referenced in Yes Man (2008)

User Reviews

Lacking, Though I Guess It Could Have Been Worse

A girl stands in the middle of the road, gets hit, and ends up sharing an ambulance with a serial killer who allegedly died in the electric chair. Well, he didn't die. And he is looking for the girl (Sara Wexler), which is coincidentally fairly easy, being in the same hospital.

Some of this movie is pretty good. The electric chair scene is alright, the coroner scenes are pretty good. And I especially have to give a hand to Robert Englund. I was afraid he would show up for five minutes and then disappear, or give a lackluster performance to get a paycheck (like Jeffrey Combs and Lance Henriksen seem to be doing lately). But Englund gives a great performance, and plays a hero brilliantly and with more passion than I've seen from him since "Slashed Dreams". Thank you, Mr. Englund.

The plot is shaky. A killer who survives the chair... well, I want to reference "Shocker", but should I? (If the director has a Shockeresque killer and casts Robert Englund, does he have a Wes Craven fetish?) Anyway, it's something hard to pull off because there are already many immortal slashers out there. Further ,the plot is just weird -- the string of coincidences around the Sara Wexler character... I don't know. Hard to believe.

And what's with the ripping out of the hearts? Okay, I get it -- he's a "heart stopper". But he puts his hand through a chest -- bones and all -- and pulls the heart out without blood and with neatly sawed off arteries. Weak, very weak. Maybe I can believe this in "Temple of Doom", but not here.

So yeah. I might be a little harsh. After all ,this isn't pure rubbish like "Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis" or any number of other films I could name. But I felt I was short-changed as a viewer. You set me up for what could be a great supernatural slasher flick and then really drop the ball at the key moments. Thanks a lot. I make no recommendations for this film to anyone.