The Lazarus Effect

The Lazarus Effect_360P

source: The Lazarus Effect

If you've seen Pet Semetary you've seen this movie. An animal dies and is then reincarnated but something is different and evil about the resurrected. I'm not really sure why the two resurrected aren't allies. It could have improved the story. I would say more about the superhuman powers and how they did not fit into the plot but I have to admit to missing some of the middle of the show. Even at 87 minutes boredom set in and I found myself dozing on occasion. I don't think I missed anything crucial which doesn't say much for the plot. It may not be terrible but it is far from good. I've seen worse this year (Taken 3 and Into the Woods to name two of the worst). The acting is OK, the effects OK, they actually manage to build a bit of suspense in on occasion but overall the movie is utterly predictable and fails as a horror movie. It would have been much better to make this movie the first twenty minutes of another movie and go for a Pet Semetary meets Invasion of the body snatchers. Add a bit of Signs and make the newly resurrected vulnerable to grape NEHI and now you've got a comedic/horror that might play :). Even though the end wasn't bad it was pretty obvious it was a set up for a sequel and that would be a huge mistake

Where to begin... Let's start with the Bible thumpers who've already written. This I find the most hilarious particularly after seeing the film. The lead character is in fact, surprise surprise, a Christian. So before you go all haywire with the "why are we glorifying evil comments" you might... I don't know... want to see what happens in the movie, because in many ways your arguments about death and should we mess with it are addressed. Moving on.... I have yet to find a horror film that really just does it for me. My biggest issues are the "Why the heck is that character doing that" sort of thing. This film, I found, was better than many at covering gaps- but it still had them. It followed a lot of the traditional horror genre camp but actors turned in an okay performance and I thought it had decent potential... it just didn't use it. The most consistently horrifying thing is just how much Zoe needs a chapstick... I guess the undead have super dry lips... But I digress. (although seriously it's that distracting, which is a shame because Olivia Wilde is actually half way decent- if someone gave her actual material to work with she'd probably ace it as she usually does) Often with this producer team I find that they have really clever horror film concepts, they just fall apart on the follow through. This film, more than any other they've made in my opinion, was basically just a set up for a franchise. It's fine- but you expect it, and in that respect it lacks any redeeming qualities to make it a good movie just on it's own. Mark Duplass is one of my favorite actors since "Safety Not Guaranteed" but he really feels like he's being forced to phone it in on this one. It doesn't feel like it's his fault, it just feels like poor writing. I'm giving it 3 stars for the occasional jump,some pretty nice visuals, and an interesting concept (even if the pay off wasn't there for me).

This movie's overall atmosphere felt like Hollow Man and it definitely was much scarier than Flatliners, which was more story-driven than the Lazarus Effect. The movie was just a little disappointing in that it had potential to be way scarier than its current version. I would've liked to see more blood and guts, skulls crushed, and people getting chopped off. That said, gore-hounds are going to be very disappointed. It had a nice build-up, but once the movie gets going you can't help but notice the pacing is just not right. The whole thing felt a bit rushed. There was also this "the whiteness of your eyes goes all black when you go evil" and "the lights flicker in dark corridors" clichés, which I thought were unnecessary and distracting. I could tell the script-writer was a little confused as to what to do with the story. At one point I thought the movie was about supernatural abilities; i.e. what abilities you would gain if you could use 100% of your brain's capacity rather than 10%. At other times I thought it had something to do with hell. It would've been nice if it had been either one or the other rather than trying to be both and not developing either of the themes enough. The movie was overall creepy and scary and held my attention throughout. It was atmospheric and the ending suggested there was going to be a sequel, which has got to be interesting. The acting and cinematography were just as good as that in Insidious. The best "actor" in the movie was most definitely the dog. It looked really scary when it was staring into the camera. I give it 7/10 and recommend this title to horror movie fans.

The Lazarus Effect is a horror film that deals with a serum that can bring animals and people to life, but something is a little off when they do return and weird stuff starts to happen, well, weird stuff starts to happen around 45 minutes into this 1 hour and 20 minute movie. I thought that after seeing the runtime this movie was going to get into the horror elements quickly and sustain that right until the end as the trailer looked promising. Although the majority of the film is spent in a lab running tests on animals and boring and lengthy discussions about making the serum work and crap that we really don't care about. One of the biggest problems is that this movie tried to do too much above being a horror movie and as a result had no time for any scary moments. The movie was unoriginal with predictable scares that really failed to creep me out at all. Just when you think that the horror elements are coming into the film in the last act, they never really do, a couple of jump-scare moments that are predictable make up the only horror elements of the film and the last 30 minutes feel just not intense at all. The whole film lacks interest, you don't care for the first 45 minutes and then when something finally happens it is all things you have seen before and you still don't care. Now i will say the highlight of the film is the cast, with Olivia Wilde, Danny Glover, Even Peters, Sarah Bolger and Mark Duplass they all put in some good (not great) performances that make the film still bearable to watch. Just, the film had an interesting synopsis and good actors but thats it, the crappy writing and crappy directing make this film just overall very dull and boring. They even have some minor subplot that they carry out right through the film for some "big" reveal that made absolutely no difference to anything and didn't change the way you perceive the character because you don't care. And the ending, well, also predictable, dumb, and made the whole movie suck even more. In the end this "horror" movie had potential but was wasted in every way imaginable, this is why the horror genre is hated so much; because of crap like this. - 3.2

The Lazarus Effect (2015) ** (out of 4) A group of scientist discover a formula that could help bring the dead back to life. The main scientist Frank (Mark Duplass) and his fiancé (Olivia Wilde) mess up when signing their contract and end up getting kicked out of the laboratory. Needing to get enough of their records to carry on, the group sneak back into the lab but after an accident Frank's fiancé is killed. They decide to use the formula to bring her back to life but things don't go as planned. THE LAZARUS EFFECT has a few interesting ideas and some great performances, which keep it from being a complete trainwreck but there's no question that the film doesn't take its subject serious enough to have the film work. There's no question that there are elements of FLATLINERS here but people will also be thinking of LUCY, which was released the previous year as this film. It should be noted that without the end credits this movie runs just 76 minutes, which is extremely short in today's time. I personally love shorter movies but this one here is just so uneven that the film pretty much ends just as you feel it should be taking off. I say that because there are some interesting ideas about Heaven and Hell here but sadly very few of them are fully explored because once the fiancé is brought back to life the film turns into a rather generic horror movie. I'm not sure why the screenplay would introduce such good idea but then not do anything with them and especially since the film is so short and could have been expanded on. The performances in the film is what save it and help carry the material. Both Duplass and Wilde are very good and especially believable in their roles. Supporting players Sarah Bolger, Evan Peters and Donald Glover are also very good. Technically speaking the film features a nice score, good cinematography and the director certainly makes a professional looking film. With that said, THE LAZARUS EFFECT completely falls apart during the final fifteen minutes, which is a real shame.

Although this isn't much of a "jump out of your seat" horror film, it certainly is very suspenseful. It doesn't follow the same format as movies like Evil Dead or The Conjuring, which was kind of disappointing cause I like those movies, but it has it's own unique flavor in that it's just plain interesting. This movie does a great job developing its own unique spin on near death experiences or what one might see before death due to DMT in relation to religion. If you're religious you might not like this, but if you're impartial or open-minded then you'll enjoy it. Also, Olivia Wilde is terrific, as always, and so is the guy from The League. And if you liked Evan Peters in American Horror Story then you'll like him in this movie too. It's nice that horror films are finally using good actors. They just make movies so much better.

Spoilers! If you go into an action movie, you know the hero is going to live. If you watch a romance, you know the guy and girl will get together. So why, when people watch horror movies, are they surprised and annoyed by any type of cliché? No one ever goes into a movie expecting a genre- changing experience. Give The Lazarus Effect a chance and don't expect that from it. First off, the cast is pretty damn good. Olivia Wilde does an excellent job—she is creepy once she returns from the dead, even when she is just sitting there. Evan Peters isn't given a large role, but he does well with what he has. Peters is a stereotypical college-ish guy. He smokes, he plays WoW, he is immature. Donald Glover does amazing, in my opinion (I'm a huge fan of him so I might be slightly biased regarding his performance). He has excellent control over the subtle nuances that occur when two people interact. You can quickly tell his character likes Wilde's character, which isn't much of an aspect to the movie, but does add that much more. The other two actors do fairly well, but that felt more forced and not as natural; whether or not that was the actor's fault, I'm not sure. David Gelb does a good job with the directing. Yes, there are jump-scares. Yes, there are ominous camera pans. Yes, there are many clichés, but what do you expect from a cliché- drenched genre? The clichés aren't the focus of the movie, for the most part. They're little additions. Yes, the plot is also a little cliché, but I'd like to see you think of something entirely original. It takes science from Frankenstein and combines it with the anger-filled reanimation of Pet Cemetery—but not in a bad way. It's not mindless mayhem, there is science behind (probably pseudo-science, so don't expect actual theories). None of the plot seems rushed, no deus ex machinas, nothing unreasonable. This was one of the few horror movies that didn't make me laugh because of some random act of God, or the power of love, or whatever saved them or catalyzed the plot. It's not the best, but it's good. Finally, I'd like to address mostly the first comment posted on here. It's not anti-Christian, or pro-Christian. It's more than that. If anything, it makes you consider what you think happens after death. Two characters have a brief discussion over life after death: science and religion. Despite this, no side is given the advantage. The movies clearly states that Zoey is changing to some monster, but it never indicates whether it's because she was in hell or if it's the serum used to reanimate. Also, and this is simplying regarding the first review, just because "Lazarus" is in the title, does NOT mean it's going to be about Jesus and God and Lazarus. Nowadays, it's very common for Lazarus to simply mean a return from the dead in some way. Oh wait, it's "The Lazarus Effect". Oh wait, the effect Lazarus had was returning from the dead. Suddenly, referencing the Bible makes perfect sense, especially since the main character is a Christian.

A group of medical students discover a way to bring dead patients back to life. The Lazarus Effect stars Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, Sarah Polger and is directed by David Gelb. This is another horror movie and we've seen those couple of jump scares before; but it does have some very creepy imagery and when this start happening it's not that bad. The film deals with a theory debating whether when you die some chemical elements in your brain make you see the white light at the end of the tunnel or you actually go to heaven and this stage is just some kind of process to enter it. In fact, it has you wondering is she possessed or is she just unlocking her brain and that's what triggers this weird version of herself? However, it's not giving you enough information to let you decide what's actually going on. Ultimately The Lazarus Effect feels like a horror version of Lucy but messier this time with some horror things happening in order to to keep the audience entertained for what it is. Sometimes it tries to be smart but gives you conflicting information and then you're lost, it doesn't quiet know where to go. Finally, actors are functional, especially Evan Peters who has some pretty good lines and clearly is the comic relief in the movie. Overall The Lazarus Effect is more or less what you expect it to be, an horror movie with some jump scares as usual but with some pretty cool and relevant imagery. It's an effective but very messy movie.