Review of The Lazarus Effect (2015) by Patrick L — 19 Aug 2015

"This horror flick about bringing people back from the dead is dull, cheap and BORING!".

DVD Movie Review: The Lazarus Effect.

Date Viewed: June 18 2015.

Directed By David Gelb.

Written By Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater.

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger, Donald Glover, Amy Aquino and Ray Wise.

"The Lazarus Effect" is a cheap and sloppy horror movie that should've just stayed dead. It has actors who are way too good for this material and there isn't a scary or intense moment in this lifeless dud. My Worst Movies of the Year list just keeps getting bigger.

"The Lazarus Effect" is about a pair of medical researchers who develop a serum that brings people back from the dead. Frank (Mark Duplass) and his fiancee, Zoe (Olivia Wilde) intended to use it for coma patients but now they want to use the serum (code-named "Lazarus") to bring dead people back to life. With the help of three college students, Niko (Donald Glover), Clay (Evan Peters) and videographer Eva (Sarah Bolger), Frank and Zoe first use the serum on a dead dog. The medicine works but the dog begins to behave differently, it loses its appetite for food and it develops strange abilities. Okay dumb scientists, I think you should wipe out all of the serum before something bad happens.

When Zoe horrifically dies from electrocution, Mark decides to use the serum to bring her back from the dead. Zoe does come back to life but something evil has possessed her body. This evil presence wants to kill the rest of the team and bring them back to life with the "Lazarus" serum. For a pair of lab researchers who work at a university, they are dumb as a rock. If you bring something back from the dead and if the thing is behaving strangely, just put it out of it's misery. With horror-movie cliches so overworked and a dumb script that should've remained blank, "The Lazarus Effect" is a boring scary movie with paper-thin characters and slow pacing. What a surprise! It's another micro-budget feature from the people who gave us "Paranormal Activity".

The cast is likable, you got Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Donald Glover and Evan Peters, they have been good in other things but this is just a waste of time. The only redeeming thing in "The Lazarus Effect" is at least it's only 83 minutes long.