It is an above average science/horror fiction movie, adding zilch to the reanimation subgenre. Overall, The Lazarus Effect is nowhere near spectacular. Wallace, the devil from the short-lived television series Reaper, or Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks, Wise is always a pleasure to see on the screen-even if it is just for a few minutes. His voice and demeanor adds so much depth to his hollow character. There are a few nods to the classic novel and film here, so fans keep on the lookout.Įxpect a brief cameo from Ray Wise. The set design is first-rate and adds depth, with a modern update of Dr. The trio makes for assisting the doctors and bait for the kill count. Sarah Bolger, Donald Glover and Evan Peters are a solid group of supporting actors. Duplass and Wilde have believable onscreen chemistry as a husband and wife doctor team. The dialogue and interactions between actors is smooth, convincing and fluent. The whole film basically takes place in a laboratory and has minimal special effects. There seems to be an exceptional balance of the 3.3 million dollar budget and casting. When you expect a full-on bowl of closure, director David Gelb throws a little curveball to keep you thinking after The Lazarus Effect is finished. I yearned for more conversation about the 'bigger picture' stuff and spending more time and devotion to pothole-plotlines that could have been intertwined rather than being left empty and undone. The third act of the film is where I began to slightly lose interest, though I did enjoy the final scenes. Themes and tropes of religion, the soul/afterlife, playing God, morality and ethics, business and corporations, and scientific experimentation are touched on, but never fully indulged. But at the same time, I would have loved to see these concepts fleshed out into the plot more. On one side, there has to be a balance of 'preaching' through content, and the film shouldn't veer off into a soapbox exposition. I don't know if this is lazy filmmaking or thought-provoking cinematic brilliance. The problem though is they are just touched upon, thus leaving one to ponder and make connections into 'real' life. Through the first two acts, I was involved and entertained, stimulating reflections on the overarching ideas and themes running rampant here. What it successfully does is keep the attention of the viewer throughout the whole 83 minutes. The movie does not reinvigorate the subgenre, which is fine. It's hard to break new ground when entering 'resurrecting the dead for medical reasons' subject matter. It's about giving everyone that second chance they deserve." In a perfect world, man! Predictably, the utopian mantra soon comes to an end when humanity's love and greed clash.įrom Frankenstein to Re-Animator, the idea behind The Lazarus Effect has been done on many occasions. The reason for this, as quoted by Frank Walton (Mark Duplass), is "…to give healthcare professionals more time to do their jobs, to prolong that period to safely bring someone back, with no cognitive loss and no long term effects. What is one's motive when resurrecting the dead? In The Lazarus Effect, a team of doctors and their assistants perform unsanctioned experiments using "the Lazarus serum" on recently deceased dogs in hopes of restoring life to the animals.
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