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Heartstopper
I understand that the premise of this movie is that who could really tell if people were being maliciously killed off during a hospital visit. Would you blink an eye if you heard a Code Blue screeched over the intercoms or watched a stretcher zip by holding a bloodied body? Could be an accident coming in, could be a case of malpractice, or it could be a demonically possessed serial killer wandering the darkened hallways off a rundown, ramshackle hospital killing people with whatever he can get his hands on. I will give them credit. When I see someone injured in the hospital, I generally don't think it was done by someone evil in the actual hospital. However, if I was in a back room and see a torse on an examining table, its arms and legs scattered across the floor; I would like to think I would make the connection that something is wrong and then run for my life. While out heroes have indeed figured out that they should be busting ass to get out of there, they actually do it as a snail's pace and not without a stop in the very bowels of the hospital first.
Let's just get this out of the way right now. All the adults in this movie are completely clueless douchebags. Parents, police officers, doctors, and nurses are to blame for everything single thing that happens to our heroic duo. This movie is obviously a message towards today's teens to not to trust adults. They're only out for themselves!
A killer is being escorted to the electric chair. After reciting some scripture, Chambers, the killer, is strapped to the boards and someone throws the switch. He pulses and gyrates wildly, but he's not dead. They up the electricity until he finally succumbs to the currents. He's wheeled off into the morgue of the run-down institution. After ripping out the heart of the attending morgue technician, Chambers become more fleshed out and less burned looking. He stomps off into the halls of the hospital, reciting more scripture and talking to himself as he goes.
The screen brightens with a flashback of a teen girl in a super-saturated white classroom with a lot of her female classmates circling around her calling her horrible names. I hear the word "slut" a lot. They are all accusing her of sleeping with their boyfriends or brothers or some other male person in their life. One day, Sara can no longer take their abuse, so she decides to kill herself by getting hit by a vehicle. Good plan, genius. Because our heroinne cannot die within the first 15 minutes, of course she lives, but she is hospitalized with all sorts of injuries, the most visible being the broken leg. For some reason, perhaps because of the impending storm, Sara is taken to some backwater, rundown hospital staffed by, at most, 10 people. She's not alone though, soon, the other half of the dynamic duo, Walter, shows up with stab wounds to his side. There is some initial cold shoulders, but when Sara gives him a cheat code sequence for his PSP, Walter opens up. Pretty soon, the lights start flickering and people are disappearing while poor bed-ridden Sara can do nothing but sit and wait for death. Except not so much. Walter gets a wheelchair for her and they roll down the dim hallways looking for an exit. The hallways Chambers is stalking. The exits that Chambers has already sealed. Not going very far are you, kiddies?
The writing for this movie was not particularly strong and quite often, they are simply quotes from religious texts. The writers wants to make double-sure that we know Chambers is a man possessed by the devil; he is no ordinary serial killer. He goes so far as to set up his own death scenario when he quotes Fredrick Douglass, "When men sow the wind, it is rational to expect that they will reap the whirlwind." This quote is mentioned at least 4 times and although you may not know exactly how, you are damn sure a whirlwind's going to happen before the credits roll. They certainly do not let you down in that regard. I do find it funny that a man who survived the electric chair and other abuse was initially taken down by two injured teens and some wind. Wow, tough guy.
Just a side note, Robert Englund, without the Freddy make-up, is not a very good actor, is he? I know this movie wasn't meant to be judged for its Oscar winning merits, but crap, he's really bad at his lines. Actually, no one is particularly that skilled at reading their lines to the camera, but I have seen worse, so that counts for something. I guess.
2.2 / 4.0
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