Critics say Flatliners should not have been resuscitated

Flatliners is a cult classic from 1990 about a group of friends risking their lives for a quick taste of the afterlife.

Twenty-seven years later, the film's just been rebooted, and critics have been harsh. Very harsh.

How harsh? "The original Flatliners should have had a 'Do Not Resuscitate' order attached to it," wrote Empire's critic, who gave it a paltry two starts out of five.

It turns out two stars is more than most critics gave the reboot, which was released last week, stars Ellen Page, and features a cameo from Kiefer Sutherland - one of the stars of the original film.

But the Niels Arden Oplev-directed film has an aggregate of just 3 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the worst reviewed films of 2017.

The film's tagline is, "You haven't lived until you've died," but many critics say the reboot is dead on arrival.

Here's a quick sample of reviews:

"This would be boring if it wasn't so unintentionally funny."
-Ryan Porter, Toronto Star
"When events do turn dark, as they inexorably must, the film takes a correspondingly sharp turn into the mediocre; if you have ever seen a horror movie, even just one, you will know exactly what to expect."
- John Nugent, Empire
"A fright-free fiasco. This update of a silly 1990 Julia Roberts thriller is even more witless and stupefyingly dull than the original."
-Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Light on thrills, chemistry, or frights, Flatliners squanders a fun concept before wrapping it up in perfunctory fashion, guaranteeing none of its cast are likely to turn up in a new version in another 27 years time."
- Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz

"The message of this remake of the 1990 thriller is that one must own up to his mistakes. If so, the makers and cast of the new 'Flatliners' need to apologise immediately."

- Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion

"Fully 20 percent of the movie's running time consists of characters wandering along through dark apartments, basements and corridors, wondering if the noises they hear are just their imaginations while out-of-focus shapes and faces dart through the negative space nearby."
-Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

"It's the same dreary hooey, made more tedious and witless through repetition."
-Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times

Flatliners is in theatres now.