Stop for a minute and contemplate the fact that Joel Schumacher made this when he was channeling Joel Schumacher and it actually turned out to be a good, compelling, and frightening film.

How the heck did that happen?

I mean, sure, the story was good for a horror flick and it was pretty compelling. And, to be fair, it did have a great case and the acting was beyond par.

So you know, there was a lot working for it despite it being Joel Schumacher in the 90s being Joel Schumacher in the 90s.

I guess what I am saying is that you should give it a shot, despite the director.

Never been to medical school but I can imagine this is very removed from reality. This is more a style piece. It's a very dark movie and I mean that literally. It's so dark it doesn't make much sense like the ultra grainy camera that would be unusable and the poorly lit medical area that looks like it's a church, but I guess it's faithful to the style. There are religious and supernatural elements thrown in to increase the overall horror in a cheap way. One day even lands on Halloween.
I think the idea alone makes the movie interesting enough to keep bringing you back from the brink of cinematic deathfor the first half. The second half is chasing some mediocre demons. Keifer was always a great choice for dark twisted characters. Bacon is OK but the rest are forgettable. I don't understand the competitive bidding times for the next death experience. I know it's to make the movie more intense but it made the medical students seems even more stupid. The idea that you get haunted by the past if you die is also stupid as it's presented in a way that you'd reason nobody has ever experienced this before but this wouldn't be the case as people have died and come back before. This movie wears it's cheapness proud which helps in overcoming it. This movie can be enjoyable at times if you experience it rather than analyse it. Yes it's stupid but it's style over substance in a way that isn't pretentious but dream like.

The arrogance of medicinally inclined youth!

I remember coming out the theatre after having seen Flatliners in 1990 and being really annoyed. The premise of the story is so superb and was ripe for a terrifying horror film, but Flatliners then, and now, is not terrifying, but that actually doesn't matter.

In 1990 some of the more bright young acting prospects were off making Memphis Belle, the other half that was made up of potential Brat Packers like Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon, were joining director Joel Schumacher for this delve into life after death experiments.

The tyro medical students, led by a darkly egotistical Sutherland, begin inducing their own deaths to see what awaits once the flatline has been reached. Seems great at first, but as the students push the time limits of being dead still further, what comes into their real worlds is actually not welcome.

Pic is never close to being frightening, but the thematics involved are chilling and the big message at its heart is loud and clear. At times it's an uneasy blend of supernatural dalliances and medical science, but the breezy cast hold engagement, while cinematographer Jan de Bont's misty lenses are perfectly in the realm of the ethereal. 7/10