Bad Movie Month #11: The Lazarus Effect

Introduction to Necromancy, where
everything is horrible.

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

Directed by: David Gelb
Produced by: Jason Blum, Luke Dawson, Matt Kaplan, Jimmy Miller, Cody Zwieg
Written by: Luke Dawson, Jeremy Slater

Starring: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger

"The Lazarus Effect" is a movie about what happens when you dick around with necromancy.

Frank (Duplass) is a researcher working with his team: wife, Zoe (Wilde), techie Niko (Glover), science-guy Clay (Peters) and videographer Eva (Bolger). The team is using grant money to fund secretive experiments designed to assist coma patients and extend how long a person can be cut off from oxygen, but it turns out that the drug, Lazarus, actually brings beings back from the dead.

After an evil corporation buys them out, the team tries one more test, in which Zoe gets electrocuted and dies. Frank injects her with Lazarus, she goes crazy, develops psychic powers, and kills everyone.

"The Lazarus Effect" was produced super-cheap, with the majority of its budget probably spent on the stars and psychic abilities. The movie takes place in three separate, indoor settings with minimal props, costumes, and makeup. Story-wise it's nothing special, and honestly I'm a little surprised this movie was made in the first place, partially because it has a relatively well-known cast and also because I've seen this movie before, but done better.

The Good
The performances are fair, but that wasn't unexpected from this group. I like Duplass well enough in what I've seen him in, and he puts good emotion into his scenes when necessary. I almost forgot it was a cliche when he had to test the serum on his dead fiance. Wilde does pretty well with what she's given. The rest of the crew is similarly invested, though I still couldn't help but see Glover as Troy Barnes from Community, despite the fact that he's actually six months older than Olivia Wilde.

For the first half hour or so the movie has a really interesting premise, and the character reactions to their experiments feel legitimate, for the most part. At times the script is actually pretty good, mostly when the science team is bantering with each other.

Use of psychic abilities in the movie are executed competently, with some fun hidden cuts and other similar effects. There is one actually creepy shot of Wilde looking into a broken mirror and the second reflection of her face (in a shattered piece nearby) shows a different expression. Sure, it's been done before but it's actually the best horror trope in this movie.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the good parts of the first act are quickly thrown aside in the second and third acts in exchange for generic slasher movie tropes, including the now-archaic trope of the black guy dying first. As I watched the movie it traded in the introspective weirdness of bringing someone back from the dead to...crazy psychic person murders everyone. If you've ever seen that setup before, you don't need to see this one.

What scares there are are mostly startles, rather than scares. Things like a dog suddenly barking, doors banging open, and at one point an upside down Wilde shouting at the camera. If you like jump scares, fine, but this movie telegraphs pretty much every one of them. Lights flickering? Better watch the background, because...yup, there she is.

The story is pretty generic, with science crossing some line and the offenders getting wrecked. There's plenty of fake science jargon which could be swapped with any other movie within the genre, but it really lost me when it fell back on the old favorite, "10% of our brain" trope. While the movie tries to head off any criticism by continuing (we don't know what the other 90% is for) it doesn't really matter. The trope is played out.

Another trope is plays fairly straight is the "character wins in her head, but loses in real life" thing from...most horror movies. It's a cop out in most cases, including this one, and I almost would have preferred it ended without Wilde winning. I don't care that she resurrects her team, because...I didn't care that they died/

Finally, the movie is only 83 minutes long and the second half feels fairly rushed. Character deaths happen pretty rapidly and any attempts to think or develop the movie past its current point stop. One by one Wilde kills her friends, and that's the movie. It moves so quickly it almost felt like a montage.

The Rest
The characters fit pretty well into the Cabin in the Woods roles:
The Whore: Olivia Wilde, for flirting with death. She dies first.
The Athlete: Mark Duplass. He's big, intimidating, and headstrong.
The Scholar: Donald Glover, for being one of the only characters on screen to actually do science.
The Fool: Evan Peters, because he has the e-cigarette.
The Virgin: Eva, who is innocent of all of the science mumbo-jumbo. Dies last.

Looks like the Old Ones will be appeased for another year.

Should You Watch it?
Not unless you're an absolute horror junkie, and even then only after you've exhausted everything else. It almost feels cynical in how it hits all of its plot points and how it rushes its second half. If you're a mega fan of Duplass (why?) or Wilde (she's in better stuff) then go ahead, but don't expect to have a very good time.