{"id":2740,"date":"2017-10-17T15:12:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T22:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/?p=2740"},"modified":"2018-02-12T16:21:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T23:21:43","slug":"flatliners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ealasaid.com\/main\/2017\/10\/17\/flatliners\/","title":{"rendered":"Flatliners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Directed by: Nils Arden Oplev
\nStarring: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, Kiersey Clemons, James Norton
\nRated: PG – 13 for violence and terror, sexual content, language, thematic material, and some drug references<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a mushy dividing line between horror movies that are bad and horror movies that are so bad they\u2019re good. \u201cFlatliners,\u201d Nils Arden Oplev\u2019s remake of the 1990 Kiefer Sutherland vehicle, wobbles around soggily in that divide, never quite sliding into enjoyably-bad camp but definitely not being actually good.<\/p>\n

The plot is roughly the same as the original film\u2019s: medical student Courtney (Ellen Page) asks a few comrades to perform an unusual experiment on her: put her in a scanner, stop her heart for two minutes, then start it up again. She wants to medically explore the afterlife. The first experiment is a success, and Courtney returns to life with some new talents – including a borderline-creepy ability to remember things, which is very useful for exhausted medical students. She also starts experiencing what might be hallucinations – ghostly activities in her apartment. Courtney doesn\u2019t mention those to her friends, and one by one they decide to \u201cflatline\u201d as well. Of course, the maybe-hallucinations start affecting (and injuring) everyone else who flatlines, and the students band together trying to figure out what\u2019s going on. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pretty standard setup, and everything else about the film is also pretty standard. The acting is fine, though the actors other than Page are uninspiring (the original had people like Kevin Bacon and Kiefer Sutherland giving it some charisma, but these folks don\u2019t have even a tenth of that). The script is workmanlike and pretty predictable, from the students hooking up with each other to the dialog straight out of every bad horror movie you\u2019ve ever seen. It all has the subtlety of a fully-charged defibrillator paddle to the face, especially once the students figure out the lesson they\u2019re supposed to be learning from their experiences. <\/p>\n

The special effects range from decent to pretty good, making them the most successful aspect of the film. Each person\u2019s experience during their flatline is different, some are beautiful and positive, others are grim and frightening. The hauntings are a mixed bag. The students find themselves transported to ghostly, ashen settings that are basically muted copies of \u201cSilent Hill.\u201d Sometimes they\u2019re stalked by creepy, corpse-ish people who have reason to be angry with them. The effects are good, but the whole thing has a pretty familiar feel. If you watch a lot of horror movies, all of this is pretty standard. One bright spot: not every jump-scare gets a musical sting. That was a bit refreshing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pity, really. Everything is just competent enough to prevent \u201cFlatliners\u201d from slipping over the edge into full-on terrible-movie fun, but it\u2019s missing the spark of creativity necessary to lift it out of its mediocre sludge. If you\u2019re a huge fan of Ellen Page or have some other driving motivation to see it, it might be worth your time. Otherwise, skip it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Directed by: Nils Arden Oplev Starring: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, Kiersey Clemons, James Norton Rated: PG – 13 for violence and terror, sexual content, language, thematic material, and some drug references There\u2019s a mushy dividing line between horror movies that are bad and horror movies that are so bad they\u2019re good. \u201cFlatliners,\u201d Nils Arden Oplev\u2019s remake of the 1990 Kiefer Sutherland vehicle, wobbles around soggily in that divide, never quite sliding into enjoyably-bad camp but definitely not being actually good. The plot is roughly the same as the original film\u2019s: medical student Courtney (Ellen Page) asks a few comrades to perform an unusual experiment on her: put her in a scanner, stop her heart for two minutes, then start it up again. She wants to medically explore the afterlife. The first experiment is a success, and Courtney returns to life with some new talents – including a borderline-creepy ability to remember things, which<\/p>\n

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