Joel Schumacher’s 1990 sci-fi horror movie Flatliners is undoubtedly a goofy film, but it’s also a stylishly directed, visually striking piece of work from a filmmaker that’s often unfairly derided for his later superhero work (hey, Batman Forever is pretty good!). It also has a killer cast that included then-up-and-comers like Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt, and now we know that one of those actors will also appear in the upcoming remake/sequel, too. And based on that selection of names, the culprit may not be who you think.
Join me below to watch a new TV spot that gives away the Flatliners cameo, and while you’re there, stick around for a full trailer for the new version.
Of the names I mentioned above, I would have put money on either Baldwin or Platt popping up here, but I would have lost: there’s good old Kiefer Sutherland, who looks to be playing some sort of med school professor this time. Turns out he’s literally playing the same character he did in the original movie, so we can count Flatliners as another example of a “legacyquel,” a movie that retains prior characters of a franchise while also attempting to reboot it at the same time. His experiences visiting the afterlife may explain that shock of white hair, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the new crop of characters led by Ellen Page is inspired to try flatlining themselves after hearing about his exploits from decades earlier.
Meanwhile, here’s the most recent trailer:
I’ll admit that trailer is creatively cut with the sounds of breathing, but this movie simply isn’t doing anything to grab my attention and make me excited to see it. Maybe it’s because The Lazarus Effect, a film with an extremely similar concept, is still fresh in my mind from 2015. Then again, this looks to be marketed toward an demographic that’s a little younger than I am, so maybe I’m simply not the target audience here, and that’s totally fine. I’m interested in what /Film readers think about this one: how many of you have seen the original? Are you looking forward to this sequel/remake?
In Flatliners, five medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring and dangerous experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods of time, each triggers a near-death experience – giving them a firsthand account of the afterlife. But as their experiments become increasingly dangerous, they are each haunted by the sins of their pasts, brought on by the paranormal consequences of trespassing to the other side.
Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, and Kiersey Clemons star, and Niels Arden Oplev (the original Swedish version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) directs. The film hits theaters on September 29, 2017.
The post ‘Flatliners’ Legacy Cameo Revealed In New TV Spot appeared first on /Film.
