The Lazarus Effect

The Lazarus Effect

Starring Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Bolger, Evan Peters

Directed by David Gelb

Synopsis:
For years, doctors Frank (Mark Duplass) and Zoe (Olivia Wilde) have been working on a top-secret serum that could raise the recently dead.  They've recruited young talent Clay (Evan Peters) and Niko 9donald Glover) to assist them, and Eva (Sarah Bolger) has the camerawoman.

One night they successfully resurrect a dog from the dead, and there's celebration all around - even though the dog has begun to act strangely.  However, their celebration is short lived as a mysterious company comes and takes all their research, and they decide to do it again.  Only this time things go horribly wrong, and Zoe accidentally dies.

Frank will have none of this, so he decides (against the wishes of his fellow co-workers and the audience at large), to use the serum to bring Zoe back from the dead, which he does.  And of course it doesn't go well.  Zoe seems to have come back different, and the sins of the past will come back to haunt them as they're hunted down in the small lab.

Review:
"Frankenstein," "Re-Animator," "Flatliners," "The Thing."  All movies that tackle this type of film and does so successfully.  Unfortunately, the only decent aspect of this film is the fine cast that somehow agreed to do this film in the first place, which is the real mystery. 

Mark Duplass ("Safety Not Guaranteed," "Tammy") does his best as the father of Frankenstein, so to speak.  He plays the crazed boyfriend well, not paying attention to logic or reason in order to bring back the one he loves.  Sarah Bolger ("In America," "The Spiderwick Chronicles") is the typical "final girl" caricature - the lone voice of reason, the shy virgin, the one we all should root for.  Evan Peters ("American Horror Story," "X-Men: Days of Future Past") is the stoner intelligent, and Donald Glover ("Community") is the typical fodder for being killed first.  Olivia Wilde ("House") has the biggest role to play - going from sympathetic, nice-girl with a dark past to the literal reincarnation of Jean Grey's Phoenix in 83 short minutes. 

Not to upstage the fact that the stars need to deal with a possible demonically possessed-superpowered inhuman, but they also have to learn who turned them into the school, and caused the mysterious company to take their research.  Alright, that part doesn't really get any traction and is left on the cutting room floor, so we get to see Zoe use her now-telekenesis powers to eliminate her former friends and co-workers for reasons totally unknown. 

In the end, the viewers - those who chose to actually pay attention - are left wondering what the heck they just saw, and how freaking much money they paid these decent actors to appear in such a low-ball affair.

Oh, and if you want to see something totally unintentionally funny, watch after Zoe "dies," and you'll see her clearly breathing the entire time.

Summary:
Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, and that was a good thing.  David Gelb decided to bring "The Lazarus Effect" back from the dead, and that wasn't a good thing.

My Rating: C-