Flatliners (DVD)

Even though I love thrillers and horrors not many of them really, truly scare me, and I want to get scared! There are however certain scenes in certain movies that terrify me, such as the cannibal in Ravenous furiously digging in the ground or when the kid in the Shining starts saying redrum, reeeedruuum. In Flatliners all the scenes with Billy in them terrify me and that's why I love this movie!

The all star cast of Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt play medical students who are getting bored with their routine and start experimenting with life and death themselves. The driving force behind these experiments is Kiefer Sutherland's character Nelson. It doesn't take him long to convince the other four to take part in an experiment where he is to die only to be brought back to life. The motivation behind this is not quiet clear but is explained as a wish for truth and knowledge. Well, I'm not completely convinced 5 intelligent people would consider this enough motivation to risk their lives - but then again, what do I know.

After Nelson is brought back to life they are all triumphant and eager to hear what he has to say about the minute he was dead. He recalls his experience as very comforting. In spite of this the pictures the viewer gets to see from Nelson's experience are slightly disturbing although it is difficult to explain why. Very soon strange things start happening to Nelson but he keeps quiet about these for as long as possible.

After the successful first attempt the students agree to go through the experiment themselves one by one, daring each other to extend the period they go under. Each of our students are struggling with their own demons or character flaws and through their experiment with death are forced to meet these head on - a very unpleasant experience for all of them.

When Nelson's visions start to take a physical and very violent form he is finally forced to admit to his idea of playing with death may not have been his brightest but is it too late to do something about it now?

The film was released in 1990 and this is fairly obvious mainly from looking at Julia Roberts' hair…However, it still feels modern and relevant today.

As could be expected from actors that are still around today, 16 years after the release of this film, the acting is brilliant. Kiefer Sutherland's Nelson is very believable as the arrogant but intelligent medical student who committed a great sin in his past and is now punished for it and forced to attempt to put things right. The scene where he meets his tormentor for the first time is shocking and the fear he experiences after this first meeting seems very real and makes for very tense viewing.

Julia Robert's character is frail, serious and seemingly cold although it is pretty obvious this is just her way of protecting herself. Even though this classic, frail woman in need of protection characterisation annoys me she does add dimension to her character and when we find out what happened to her as a child, her character's need to protect herself no longer seems odd.

The other 3 also put in brilliant performances and it's not an understatement to say that the actors definitely make the movie, albeit the fact that the idea behind it is unusual and interesting.

The extras on the DVD include a theatrical trailer which, if I had seen it at the time would have definitely made me interested in the movie. There is also a 'filmography' for each actor and a DVD trailer but that's it. I guess they don't have the usual interviews and look behind the scenes as the movie itself is so old.

I personally think this is one of the best psychological thrillers ever and have watched it time and time again. As mentioned earlier there is a scene, or even a couple of scenes in it which I still to this day find petrifying, and to me, that's definitely a good thing! Not everything is exactly believable but this I find easy to accept and it doesn't take away from the movie itself whatsoever.

I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys this type of film as it is a classic with a great cast. Absolutely perfect to watch on a dark winter night, just turn the lights off, light some candles and grab a cushion to hide behind when needed!