Review of Flatliners (1990) by Johnny T — 07 Feb 2012

"Flatliners" remains a corker, and I've come to accept the film's move from horror to healing over the years, finding the switch a smart play on flabby genre habits. Expecting the characters to be forever tormented by their afterlife demons, "Flatliners" instead looks to confront misdeeds -- treating sin not as a killing blow, but as a reversible sentence. Perhaps it's my old age coming up for air here, but I enjoy how the picture goes warm blooded in the final act, supplying a fresh angle to a script that seems more than willing to engage the routine as soon as Nelson taps on death's door. For Schumacher, "Flatliners" supplied another hit for his filmography, but it was the last of his liberated imagination, soon fitted for a snug blockbuster belt as the years led the director to the "Batman" franchise, injecting frustrating irregularity into his cinematic output. An intoxicating, smoky triumph, highlighting the helmer as a visual maniac who once made gloriously strange genre movies for a strange audience...

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).