Five medical students, Nelson Wright, Rachel Mannus, David Labraccio, Joe Hurley and Randy Steckle are fascinated by death; more specifically what happens when one dies. Nelson manages to persuade them to help him with a dangerous experiment; he wasn't them to cause his clinical death then bring him back. After he returns others are eager to go next. The problem is Nelson hasn't told them about what happened after be returned; he has been tormented and even physically attacked by an apparition of a young boy he seriously wronged as a child. As the others follow Nelson by experiencing death they too are taunted by people they believe they have wronged. Dave decides that he must seek out the woman he wronged as a child and apologise. He suggests the others do the same
something that isn't easy if that person died because of you.
This is a decent psychological horror even if its central premise is rather flawed; why would these students' near death experiences be considered scientifically more relevant that all the other people who have reported such phenomena? If one can get past that there are plenty of good scary moments; most notably when Nelson and David are tormented by the children they wronged there is just something disturbing about a child genuinely terrifying an adult. The cast does a fine job; most notably Kiefer Sutherland; who nicely captures the arrogance then terror of Nelson. Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon also impress as Rachel, Joe, Steckle and David respectively. Each time one of them undergoes a near death experience there is the feeling that perhaps this is the time they won't come back each time they stay dead longer and are harder to bring back. The setting is dark and Gothic which adds to the creepy atmosphere. Overall I'd say this is good enough but isn't really a must see unless you are a fan of one or more of the main cast.
This is a decent psychological horror even if its central premise is rather flawed; why would these students' near death experiences be considered scientifically more relevant that all the other people who have reported such phenomena? If one can get past that there are plenty of good scary moments; most notably when Nelson and David are tormented by the children they wronged there is just something disturbing about a child genuinely terrifying an adult. The cast does a fine job; most notably Kiefer Sutherland; who nicely captures the arrogance then terror of Nelson. Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon also impress as Rachel, Joe, Steckle and David respectively. Each time one of them undergoes a near death experience there is the feeling that perhaps this is the time they won't come back each time they stay dead longer and are harder to bring back. The setting is dark and Gothic which adds to the creepy atmosphere. Overall I'd say this is good enough but isn't really a must see unless you are a fan of one or more of the main cast.