Goth Chick News: Kiefer Sutherland and Hollywood Both Flatline
Back in 1988 a then-unknown Boston screenwriter Peter Filardi had an idea for a story based on a very personal source; a close friend of his suffered a severe allergic reaction to the anesthesia after an operation and had a near-death experience.
Filardi went on to write The Craft and Salem’s Lot, but in 1990 he and director Joel Schumacher (St. Elmo’s Fire) turned that potential tragedy into the very lucrative film Flatliners.
The original Flatliners followed a group of medical students and close friends who conduct experiments with near death experiences. Each one has their heart stopped before being revived instantly, which causes them nightmarish visions, reflecting either sins they have committed or sins committed against them.
As you can imagine, their unorthodox extracurricular studies have very dark consequences, as the supernatural apparitions they experience during their “deaths” begin to follow them into the living world.