Customer Reviews

Matthew Blackheart: Monster Smasher

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After reading the back cover of the video box, I knew I had to see this movie. Basically, it's a made-for-syndicated-television movie/would-be series pilot about a World War II super-soldier (a la Captain America), cobbled together from body parts of dead G.I.s by the U.S. government to fight the evil Dr. Mortas and his band of grotesque monsters. Unable to escape the destruction of Mortas's lair during his final mission, Blackheart freezes himself in a cryogenic chamber and is later unfrozen (also a la Captain America). When he returns to his hometown of New York, he finds that fifty-five years have passed and Mortas and his monsters (or Bogeys, as Blackheart calls them) have infiltrated society, despite the defeat of the Axis powers. Now it's up to him to save the world from the unknown threat of destruction.

This movie is very obviously inspired by comic books as well as films like Army of Darkness. (At one point a character makes reference to S-Mart, and at another, Blackheart tells a woman that he'll "have to give [her] some sugar.") While it never quite attains the glory of the aforementioned film (due to a budget that is most likely lower, despite the involvement of Richard Donner as executive producer), it has a lot of the same spirit of fun. The character of Matthew Blackheart is very Ash-like, tossing out amusing one-liners left and right. (Many are made more amusing due to the fact that he still uses 1940s vernacular.) Also good is Jimmy, (played by Jay Baruchel from the Fox TV series Undeclared), a young cab driver who possesses a strange amount of knowledge of Matthew and his past.

So if you have nothing to do on a Saturday night, give this movie a try. It may lack the polish of a movie like Army of Darkness, but its heart is certainly in the right place.

If you loved Army of Darkness, staring Bruce Campell, then you'll love Matthew Blackheart, Monster Smasher. This movie plays like a tribute to Bruce Campell. Rob Boge, looks, acts, and sounds, earily like Campell throughout the film. There is a ton of punny humor and scenes soo reminisant of Evil Dead, Dead by Dawn, and Army of Darkness, you'll wonder if this should have been Evil Dead 4. They even managed too fit in a "S-Mart" quip, and a "toasty" that sounded soo much like Ash's famous "Groovy" line I had rewind to make sure I heard it correctly. All in all if you like the kinda silly horror super hero genre htis movie is a must have.

It's crappy, average little scifi American movie
need I say more? The dialogue is frighteningly
awful, the effects even more laughable, the script
inexcusable but I liked this movie in a velveeta
sort of way like I do Mystery Science Theater
, it's good cheese!!!!

Matthew Blackheart is one of these "shooting
wrapped in a week" straight to cable movies that
really don't hold a candle much toward anything:

"I left my fear pills in my other pants"

"I'am going to drop you like a bad habit"

We'll it's incredibly cheesy, the lead character
whose name I don't know is somewhat likable, at
best he's a clown who talks gritty.

The script is that he's enemy Mortan is hatching
monsters as he calls it "Bogies" to take over
the world.

Matthew Blackheart in the 1940's tries to stop
him but instead he gets put on ice for some
fifty years.....

We'll as mentioned the budget is smaller than a pack
of shoes, but it works out because it is a B movie.

The costume makeup for the monsters ain't too
bad. This is a one time seen it, and won't see
it again type movie.

Yes, this movie is very reminiscent of Bruce Campbell's EVIL DEAD Movies, and yes, it is still an entertaining romp through comic book land. Aiding the film is its hero Blackheart is still mentally in the 1940s, so a lot of his one liners and asides are made even more humorous in that context.
Robert Bogue as the titular character has a smooth delivery, a rugged handsomeness, and a commanding presence. His loyalty and patriotism to the American way of life is admirable considering the lack of such in today's cinema. Christopher Heyerdahl (Habitat) is a fitting villain, reminiscent of Max Von Sydow in Flash Gordon. The monster effects, for a low budget movie, are impressive, and the movie's atmopsheric decadence is commendable. It's an entertaining, sleight of hand movie that bears viewing. It's a lot of fun.

Erik Canuel, who directed (the quite good) "Bon Cop, Bad Cop", directs this TV pilot, masquerading as a feature film. As a film, it is GOD-AWFUL. As a TV pilot, it is slightly less than mediocre. The lead actor, Robert Bogue, seems to be attempting to channel Bruce Campbell with a raspy voice and dry wit. Unfortunately, he fails miserably, though to be fair, there is only one Bruce Campbell. One redeeming quality is the makeup effects. They are very well-done. Nearly everything else here is soggy and stale. The story is a hybrid of 'Constantine' and 'Captain America', featuring a government-designed, monster-hunting super-soldier frozen in time by his enemies for 50 years. If only this DVD had suffered the same fate...