Saturday 7 July 2012

Review: Flatliners

Jack Bauer et al. stop their hearts for shits and giggles


There is more to it than that but Flatliners (Joel Schumacher,1990) did create a staple of the horror sci-fi hybrid playing on the age old nugget of wisdom that once something is dead it is really best to leave it that way. Didn't these people watch Romero?

Anyway for various reason, five brilliant medical students decide to undergo and experiment where they stop their hearts and are left brain dead before revivial. I pause to note that even I, with nothing resembling medical training, knew from the offset that the science here is completely nonsensical but whatever, its a movie and because the whole movie revolves around this concept you really just need to go with it or this is no point in watching. The students gradually take it in turns (apart from only sane man Oliver Platt), each one staying 'dead' longer than the last, all while eerie things begin to happen. It turns out that they've bought some 'baggage' back with them. Its not particularly scary and the appeal lies in the fact it is an ensemble piece where the ensemble is all actors who went on to much more serious and better fare. Except Baldwin. actually part of the fun of this movie is marvelling at how huge  Julia Robert's hair is. Her character, in comparison is a tad flatter while the dynamics between Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon serve to drive the moralistic debate of the film.

Overall, the film does suffer a bit from its early 1990s-ness but the improbably plot is fun enough and the creepiness that results is entertaining. You only wish that Baldwin's character got mre of a comeuppance for his creepy videotapes.

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