MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2: THE LAZARUS EFFECT
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| "This was supposed to be my audition tape for The Walking Dead ... Oh well, things change!" Zoe (Olivia Wilde) stalks down a hallway in a scene from Relativity Media's THE LAZARUS EFFECT. Credit: Suzanne Hanover. © 2013 Back to Life Productions, LLC. |
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters and Sarah Bolger
WRITER(S): Luke Dawson, Jeremy Slater
DIRECTOR(S): David Gelb
60 SECOND PLOT SUMMARY (OR AS CLOSE TO THAT TIME AS ONE CAN MAKE IT): A group of scientists in California make a discovery of a serum – the "Lazarus serum" – they hope can one day help doctors by giving them time to do ... something. (The specifics of how it will help them are a bit fuzzy.) Then, one September, they run an experiment on a dog named Rocky ...
But this is no ordinary experiment – this experiment brings Rocky back to life.
Excited, the team – Frank (Mark Duplass), Zoe (Olivia Wilde), Niko (Donald Glover), Clay (Evan Peters) and videographer Eva (Sarah Bolger) – have reason to celebrate. Then, they get bad news that they violated some important procedures, which leads to a big faceless corporation being able to come in and take all their work. That means their triumph of Rocky (who's been acting a little weird) will be lost in the shuffle and they will have no claim to any of the big bucks that their serum is going to likely bring once it is brought to the marketplace.
Determined to not let that happen, Frank and company sneak into their soon-to-be-lab at night to recreate their experiment on another dog and get it on film. That's when Zoe – who has been waiting on Frank to propose – suffers a horrible accident, killing her instantly. Well, she would be dead if there wasn't a hold bag of the Lazarus serum lying around ...
But when Zoe is brought back to life, she is quite ... Different. And different is NOT good.
But this is no ordinary experiment – this experiment brings Rocky back to life.
Excited, the team – Frank (Mark Duplass), Zoe (Olivia Wilde), Niko (Donald Glover), Clay (Evan Peters) and videographer Eva (Sarah Bolger) – have reason to celebrate. Then, they get bad news that they violated some important procedures, which leads to a big faceless corporation being able to come in and take all their work. That means their triumph of Rocky (who's been acting a little weird) will be lost in the shuffle and they will have no claim to any of the big bucks that their serum is going to likely bring once it is brought to the marketplace.
Determined to not let that happen, Frank and company sneak into their soon-to-be-lab at night to recreate their experiment on another dog and get it on film. That's when Zoe – who has been waiting on Frank to propose – suffers a horrible accident, killing her instantly. Well, she would be dead if there wasn't a hold bag of the Lazarus serum lying around ...
But when Zoe is brought back to life, she is quite ... Different. And different is NOT good.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Anyone who is easily amused/entertained
WHO WON’T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover fans; horror movie fans who enjoy a film with a gripping story, genuine scares and/or competent acting;
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? The Lazarus Effect is awful. There's really not much else to say about the movie than that. Now, I'm sure one of you out there is going "Well, if there's not much else to say, why in the world are you about to say a lot about it then?"
Because as a person who tries to do the right thing, I feel it is my civic duty to stop you from wasting one penny on what is one of the worst movies I've seen in the last 2 years.
The acting in The Lazarus Effect is fairly lackluster. No one in the cast does a single solitary thing to make you care about any of them. That's not entirely their fault, however, as The Lazarus Effect could not be a more tired, paint-by-numbers affair if you wrote it. Then again, as awful as the story is in terms of its originality (or lack thereof), development, intelligence and outcome, you might have done a better job.
Supposedly, the film's writers put a sincere effort in to stick to scientific truths regarding bringing people back to life ... But who cares when the film is this lifeless and reduced to horror movie clichés by the end of its short 82 minute run time? The dialogue is "hey, this is probably a bad foreshadowing statement" bad, the weak connection to Zoe's childhood plays out poorly and there is nothing scary at any point in the film.
I'm actually being lazy in critiquing all of the flaws found in The Lazarus Effect; then again, considering how little effort it seems went into making the movie, that might be fitting. Seriously – the acting is lame, the story is weak and there is nothing scary (let alone entertaining) about it. If this wasn't a "let me get a paycheck" choice by everyone involved, I'd love to hear what their logic was in being involved in this mindless, motionless mix of melodrama.
All of those factors make the The Lazarus Effect the most ironically named film yet to release in 2015: For their is not one iota of life to be found in it from start to finish.
Because as a person who tries to do the right thing, I feel it is my civic duty to stop you from wasting one penny on what is one of the worst movies I've seen in the last 2 years.
The acting in The Lazarus Effect is fairly lackluster. No one in the cast does a single solitary thing to make you care about any of them. That's not entirely their fault, however, as The Lazarus Effect could not be a more tired, paint-by-numbers affair if you wrote it. Then again, as awful as the story is in terms of its originality (or lack thereof), development, intelligence and outcome, you might have done a better job.
Supposedly, the film's writers put a sincere effort in to stick to scientific truths regarding bringing people back to life ... But who cares when the film is this lifeless and reduced to horror movie clichés by the end of its short 82 minute run time? The dialogue is "hey, this is probably a bad foreshadowing statement" bad, the weak connection to Zoe's childhood plays out poorly and there is nothing scary at any point in the film.
I'm actually being lazy in critiquing all of the flaws found in The Lazarus Effect; then again, considering how little effort it seems went into making the movie, that might be fitting. Seriously – the acting is lame, the story is weak and there is nothing scary (let alone entertaining) about it. If this wasn't a "let me get a paycheck" choice by everyone involved, I'd love to hear what their logic was in being involved in this mindless, motionless mix of melodrama.
All of those factors make the The Lazarus Effect the most ironically named film yet to release in 2015: For their is not one iota of life to be found in it from start to finish.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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