The Lazarus Effect Review

Reviewed By Anthony Negrino

The Lazarus Effect rises from the grave on February 27th 2015. The film stars Olivia Wilde, Marc Dupaglass, Donald Glover, Evan Peters and Sarah Bolger. The film is directed by David Gelb and the movie is in the genre of Horror/Thriller. 

Frank, Zoe and their team (Donald Glover, Sarah Bolger and Evan Peters) take matters into their own hands, launching a rogue attempt to recreate their experiment, during which things go terribly wrong and one of their own, Zoe, is horrifically killed.  Fueled by terror and grief, Frank pushes them to do the unthinkable: attempt to resurrect their first human test subject. Initially, the procedure appears a success, but the team soon realizes something is wrong with Zoe. As her strange new persona reveals itself, the team quickly becomes stuck in a gruesome reality. They are no longer faced with the question of whether they can bring someone back to life- but rather, the wrath of her return. 

The Lazarus Effect has a great concept and premise and I did enjoy some aspects of the film. As stated in the synopsis above the film follows a group of four scientist and one intern. They're experimenting on a new project that will revolutionize life as we know it. An experiment that can bring the dead back to life. One thing The Lazarus Effect does effectively is raise the question of what happens to us when we die. The film major focal point of the film is the morality feeling of playing God. This is shown through the character of Frank played by Marc Dupaglass. Dupaglass favors theory of science when it comes to the afterlife over  religion. He believes there is no afterlife and that we all just become dust. While his fiance Zoe played greatly by Olivia Wilde believes there is an afterlife. When they bring back a dead dog she ponders whether did they interrupt the flow of life and death. Audiences sensitive on religion vs science debate might find Frank's views to be a little offensive. However I felt in order for this film to work, both perspectives needed to be shown for the audience to come up with their own conclusion and theories. The film does a great job of playing it neutral and not siding with either science or religion. It's up to you the audience to decide what might happen when we died.

Aside from the main premise the film also does a good job on establishing the Olivia Wilde character Zoe. Zoe is the most established character that you will connect with. She's a woman with a dream and goals and also trying to deal with her fiancee Frank who still hasn't set a wedding a date. The subplot makes Zoe a more likable character. In addition her backstory of what happens in her past added more dimensions to her character. The debate of religion vs science, Zoe's backstory all happens in the first act. Unfortunately the second act doesn't keep up the momentum when Zoe is brought back to life. From this point on the movie suffers from the typical horror cliches that you can think off. There a few good jump scares that will catch you off guard, but nothing that hasn't been done or seen before. The film lacks the suspenseful element that would have really complimented the science vs religion established earlier in the film. As a horror film it has some moments but nothing to separate it from the pack. The acting is great from the entire cast. I would love to see more Donald Glover and Olivia Wilde on screen together they had the best chemistry. Evan Peters just like in X-Men Days of Future Past eats up every bit of dialogue and delivers. 

Overall The Lazarus Effect is good in the first half but slips and stumbles when it's suppose to get going in the 2nd hald. The scares are decent but nothing you haven't seen. However the acting is great and you will really like Donald Glover, Evan Peters and Olivia Wilde characters. Give it a shot you might like what you see.