ALL SCI-FI

[The Spike]

The arrogance of medicinally inclined youth!

I remember coming out the theater after having seen Flatliners in 1990 and being really annoyed. The premise of the story is so superb and was so 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 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.

Here's the plot.

A group of medical students, led by a darkly egotistical Sutherland, begin inducing their own deaths to see what awaits them once the flatline has been reached. This 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.

This movie 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 us engaged, while cinematographer Jan de Bont's misty lenses are perfectly in the realm of the ethereal. 7/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.

[Bud Brewster]

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Another one I haven't seen. I'll grab my Netflix Hot Line (it's a red phone, of course) and have them shoot it right out.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

[Rick]

I pretty much agree with the original post. A great premise, totally wasted. All this neat sci-fi/horror buildup and the payoff is that these guys had guilt about their youthful behavior.

Well, guilt over youthful behavior is decent fodder for a drama. Even I, the nicest guy in the history of the Western world has some schooldays guilt and regret, so I could appreciate that. But it just didn't mesh at all with the basic horror setting. It was a mess.

I saw it the day it opened, very hopeful, then very disappointed. Lotta head-shaking that day.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Custer]

[Bud Brewster]

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Hot damn, I thought his voice sounded familiar! And he kept calling me "Master Bud". I like the sound of that.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)