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The Lazarus Effect was directed by David Gelb, written by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater, and stars Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, Donald Glover, Sarah Bolger, and Ray Wise. It’s about a group of medical researchers who must deal with a hostile presence after figuring out how to raise the dead.

The Plot: We all know from other horror experiences that raising the dead isn’t a good idea, no matter the method, but Dawson and Slater try to reinforce that sentiment. How? By presenting the same old threadbare narrative that most of these movies use.

Science has gone wrong more than a few times, and it’s portended to happen once again inside a research facility in Berkley, California, as project leads Zoe (Wilde) and Frank (Duplass), along with longtime techs Clay (Peters) and Niko (Glover), all under observation by documentarian Eva (Bolger), have been working for years to find a way to maintain life after death. The Lazarus Effect has a practical reason for this research: extending the time medical professionals have to solve emergency situations; although that’s clinical on more than just a tonal level, it’s a goal, which is at least something. Said something doesn’t last though, as when they find their miracle serum and use it on a dog, it begets unexpected growth and rapid brain activity, leading to an angry doggy.

With consequences in mind, authority figure Mr. Wallace (Wise) shuts down the project. Of course, the group aren’t ready to give up their work, and they sneak back into the lab to conduct another experiment. In the process, Zoe gets electrocuted to death, prompting Frank to use the serum on her – a stupid and predictable move if ever there was one. With a now resurrected and super-strong Zoe on the prowl, the movie loses itself in generic scares, neglecting the basic plot and heady ideas it briefly presented in favor of a ho-hum downbeat ending.

The Characters: A cast vastly overqualified for a movie of this ilk is the saving grace of the characters, as the writers have little aside from trite personalities and underdeveloped back and forths in mind.

Zoe and Frank are partners in and out of the lab, and while Wilde and Duplass share believable chemistry, The Lazarus Effect actively decides to downplay it by driving a wedge between them. Zoe has lost enthusiasm for their work whereas Frank has only gotten more invested in it over time, delaying their marriage until the experiment concludes. Gelb touches on Zoe’s backstory, but the writers didn’t provide much of one, so the pair are as bland as they sound on paper.

More canned characters make up the rest of the research team, with Clay a vaping schlub who throws around jokes between them, and Niko, who has a blatant crush on Zoe that never amounts to anything. Eva is a would-be audience insert, but the writers don’t provide more than a few throwaway lines as an overview to the scientific procedure. That’s understandable, considering the filmmakers (presumably) don’t know the key to reanimation, but makes Eva another empty presence, adding even less to the dynamic than the underwritten assistants.

Everyone is trying to act far more than is necessary to sustain a movie this basic, trying to give authentic voices to an instantly forgettable (I had to keep scrolling back to the previous sections of this review just to remember the characters’ names) roster.

The Horror: 84 years separates Frankenstein – the earliest cinematic icon of sci-fi gone awry – from Gelb’s feature. Because so much time has passed, numerous other filmmakers have explored the horrific outcomes of the conceit, leaving The Lazarus Effect to redo what’s already been redone.

Outwardly referencing Stephen King’s “Cujo” doesn’t alleviate the feeling of sameness the opening act of the movie gives off. In fact, it’s just a glossed up version of the exact same thing, with Dawson and Slater’s only additions to the idea being a semantic one that gives a rational explanation to the dog’s aggression and strength, and the removal of previous ailments.

Shifting the phenomena to Zoe, who comes back in a similar state, doesn’t change how the movie would’ve gone had it stuck with the dog. She explains that she went to a personal kind of Hell, which ostensibly ties into her prerequisite tragic backstory, but realistically doesn’t add much aside from the justification of her blackened eyes and telekinetic powers in addition to the symptoms observed in the reanimated dog. Anger is one of those symptoms, which begets the rest of The Lazarus Effect’s limp scares as it throws away any potential intrigue.

As the recently revived scientist gains power, the movie descends into ineffective jumpscares and turning the screen black over and over again (in strobing patterns and extended darkness alike) to pad its lack of creativity. Making Zoe into a force of evil isn’t given any special treatment by Gelb, who elects to have her face appear in darkness to stare at her former colleagues until she decides to kill them in substandard slasher manner. Even the least experienced in horror cinema will likely be numb to the weak attempts by the filmmakers to scare them.

The Technics: Perhaps the sole interesting thing about The Lazarus Effect is the fact that director Gelb’s previous feature-length projects are all documentaries about sushi. It makes sense though, since his narrative debut is perfunctory in all categories.

Blumhouse’s practice of handing filmmakers limited budgets and playing up the marketing didn’t have a positive effect on this outing, as its look certainly fits the sterile nature of the plot, but the cheap tricks don’t. The primary location (out of two) is sparse and ineffectively framed consistently, and a limited range of effects (both visual and practical) give the audience nothing interesting visually.

Sound design also only ranges from poor to basic. It’s no surprise that the musical stings during the jumpscares are played at higher volume levels, but it is unusual that other sound effects like a character swallowing and the jingle of jewelry almost equal their decibel levels. Still, the flimsy production doesn’t sit right when the movie goes limp so quickly, allowing viewers to pick it apart in between shocks.

Because its premise has been dissected so much over its cinematic life, The Lazarus Effect has nothing to add to it. Despite the good acting, there’s no lasting effect to be had.

35/100