by Jon Partridge
Resurrection has been used as a theme of entertainment for thousands of years. Mary Shelley, Brandon Lee, Jeffrey Combs, E.T., even our old friend Jesus Christ himself knew what a draw it was for the crowds. We’re fascinated with the idea of what lies beyond death, exploration of which is often married with horror — take Pet Cemetery or Flatiners as examples of why dead should mean dead. Continuing in this vein, The Lazarus Effect embraces a scientific angle to bring someone back, ignoring the warnings that came before.
Frank (Mark Duplass) and Zoe (Olivia Wilde) are lead researchers intent on developing a serum to help rejuvenate dead brain cells with the hope of prolonging the window of time for doctors to save or revive their patients. With their team made up of Niko (Donald Glover), Clay (Evan Peters), and new addition Ava (Sarah Bolger) they manage, in the opening portion of the film, to revive a deceased dog in their latest trial. While elated at their success they notice that the dog has some rather odd behavioral traits. Testing a live/dead subject however is in breach of their funding support, leading to a biotech company sweeping in to seize control of their research.
In response, they break into the lab that evening intent on replicating their procedure to film evidence of their success; however, things go wrong and Zoe is killed by an electrical shock. Frank quickly uses the serum to bring her back. As the team begins to panic about what they’ve done, Zoe soon begins to demonstrate unusual abilities and behavioral changes. Driven by a childhood trauma, she begins to pick them off one by one.
As hinted at in my opening paragraph, the themes in The Lazarus Effect have been explored before, and this new entry adds little new to the genre. The film starts well; the screenplay by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater gives the cast some decent material concerning the ethics of their research. Taking a scientific approach to the revival rather than the tried and tested mythological/religious means opens up more scope in terms of social commentary, but that aspect is teased more than embraced. But once the horror aspect begins to unfold and Zoe goes “full Carrie,” it becomes far more predictable. It feels largely constrained by the PG-13 rating; even some of the innovative kills and hints of psychological darkness feel superficial and hint at something darker and more interesting.
Director David Gelb doesn’t match the heights of his previous film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, but its a solid effort. The claustrophobic tensions play out well although it is a little reliant on jump scares. The film looks slick, especially the transformative effects on Wilde, and the CGI works well to enhance the atmosphere rather than distract from it. It’s an interesting choice of project for the director, to follow up a documentary on a sushi master with a horror flick, and he certainly does himself no harm, raising curiosity if anything.
The best aspect of The Lazarus Effect is its cast. Duplass, Wilde, and Glover notably are fine actors and despite the lacking material show solid work here. In fact they give the film a rather genuine quality as affable characters who have an endearing charm. In a short time they give you characters which you can root for and care about, the key to any successful horror film. Had that been married to edgier and more original material, this could have been something of note.
THE PACKAGEThe film comes across as low budget but actually looks pretty polished, taking advantage of the bottle nature of being set in a research lab for much of its runtime. The transfer is pretty sharp, detail is good, and the blacks are deep, important for the flickering nightmare it descends into as the film goes on.
Special features include a number of extended and deleted scenes as well as a theatrical trailer. Featurettes include “Creating Fear: The Making of The Lazarus Effect” which includes some interesting interviews and “Playing God: The Moral Dilemma.” The latter glances over an aspect of the film that should perhaps have been explored more. There’s also a UV copy of the film via a redeemable code. A fairly solid package.
THE BOTTOM LINEThe Lazarus Effect is predictable fare, it’s script relying on much that has come before. But the film shows off some technical flair as well as an affable, talented cast. Better than your average horror, but perhaps a missed opportunity to do something more noteworthy.
The Lazarus Effect is available from Fox Home Entertainment from June 16th.