Review of The Lazarus Effect (2015) by Thequietgamer — 22 Oct 2015

Some good ideas are present, but it never capitalizes on them. It touches on elements of religion vs. science and what exactly qualifies as "crossing the line." These elements are unfortunately ditched in favor of generic horror that really isn't scary. The typical attempts at fear are here, but it's really just a boring film.

The one strength the film keeps throughout is it's great cast. The performances are fantastic and they feel like believable characters. Their interactions are really incredible, and the moments of humor between them (that obviously take place before it tries to get scary) feel genuine. I mean, don't get me wrong I still really didn't give a crap about them. The characters aren't fleshed out and are therefore nothing more than just bodies to add to the pile. Even with that though, it's a joy to watch the actors do so well. They elevate the movie into something watchable as opposed to the straight up awfulness it would have been without them.

Still, even with the fantastic performances it doesn't change the fact that this is a boring and completely non-scary horror movie. I appreciate that the movie didn't go full possession flick like it could have. They make it very clear that it is the character returning, only this time changed due to resurrection. It doesn't really help the movie at all in the scare department, but it makes elements of the plot a little more interesting.

To be honest the story is pretty cool. Yeah, it ditches the philosophical questions early on in favor of poor attempts at scaring you, but I was interested in what was happening at the time. Even if it was boring as crap thanks to a lack of tension or a creepy atmosphere. Turns out simply giving Olivia Wilde completely black eyes while having her stand in the dark and occasionally pop out at us isn't scary. Who would've thought.

Simply put, "The Lazarus Effect" has some interesting stuff going that is brought down by some really boring horror. It could have been something smart and interesting, but instead went with trying to be scary and failed miserably at it. The deeper elements are present and can be seen for the briefest amounts of time. It's just a shame the overall movie didn't use them more. What we have here is a boring horror flick without anything scary going on. That makes it a mediocre film perfectly worth skipping.