While I may have originally overlooked the forthcoming horror film The Lazarus Effect as just another retread of an earlier and, in some cases, superior movie (say Pet Semetary or Flatliners), the pedigree of the people involved with The Lazarus Effect and the film’s first trailer makes me think this film can rise above my fanboy concerns.
Before we get to the trailer, you should be warned that it reveals what looks like the entirety of the movie’s plot (though I’m thinking there’s some big third act reveals that are only hinted at in the trailer). In the film, a group of medical students is trying to perfect a serum that reanimates dead tissue (a la Re-Animator) and have been experimenting on dogs. Then, one day, the process suddenly works and it appears as though they have made a tremendous breakthrough. However, something has gone wrong (as it usually does) and what they brought back is not exactly what they expected. Shortly after that, Zoe (Olivia Wilde) is killed during an experiment and then brought back with the potentially dangerous serum. After being reanimated, she too appears to not be the person she once was and is now perhaps a bit more demonic.
While you could compare The Lazarus Effect to at least a dozen raising the dead and you’ll be sorry films, director David Gelb’s 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi has me intrigued as to what this talented young filmmaker has to offer the horror genre, and exactly how he plans to weave all of these different inspirations together in his film. The cast too seems put together with an eye towards pleasing a larger audience than most genre fair. Sure, Olivia Wilde looks great and is the top draw here, but the presence of actors like Mark Duplass and Donald Glover gives the film an indie vibe that could be something that helps the film to stand out.
ABOUT THE FILM
THE LAZARUS EFFECT: Brought to you by Blumhouse Productions, THE LAZARUS EFFECT stars Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, and Sarah Bolger, and follows a group of medical students who discover a way to bring dead patients back to life.
Cast: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Evan Peters, and Donald Glover Directed by: David Gelb Writers: Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.
