Flatliners
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: August 10, 1990 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
2
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesCaryn James
Flatliners is a stylish, eerie psychological horror film laced with wit, a movie that thrives on its characters' guilty secrets and succeeds on the strength of the director Joel Schumacher's flair for just this sort of smart, unpretentious entertainment. Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Flatliners is a strikingly original, often brilliantly visualized film from director Joel Schumacher and writer Peter Filardi. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneDave Kehr
It's much to Schumacher's credit that Flatliners, for all of its crazy excess, does not turn into camp. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Flatliners is an original, intelligent thriller, well-directed by Joel Schumacher. I only wish it had been restructured so we didn't need to go through the same crisis so many times. Read full review
75
Washington PostRita Kempley
Flatliners is a heart-stopping, breathtakingly sumptuous haunted house of a movie. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesJohn Hartl
Their performances lend the movie a touch of class, even if they can't make up for the superficial writing and Schumacher's anything-for-a-jolt direction. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The look is overpowering enough to delay--though not forever--examination of the plot, which has to pull a fast one at every turn to keep moving and which eventually makes a mockery of plausibility. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMichael Wilmington
If Flatliners is anything at all, it's watchable: aflame with Jan de Bont cinematography, deep-focus decor, an attractive cast. The movie's problem, like many others recently, is that it isn't any deeper, dramatically or psychologically, than its own trailer. It is the trailer: the long version. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
You may go into Flatliners hoping for a psychedelic mindblower, but the film is about as exciting as staring at a lava lamp for two hours. Read full review
20
Orlando SentinelJay Boyar
Far-fetched as the premise is, I was willing to give the film the benefit of the doubt for the sake of the impressive cast. But as Flatliners rolled along, its pretentiousness became increasingly toxic. Read full review
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