VOD Review: The Lazarus Effect (2015)

(aka Olivia Gone Wilde)
Release Date: February 27th.
Country: USA.
Rating: PG-13.
Written by: Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater.
Directed by: David Gelb.
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Sarah Bolger, Evan Peters, and Donald Glover.

We've seen an awful lot of bad movies in our time, and there never seems to be a shortage of them out there, especially when it comes to the Horror Genre; don't worry though, you'll probably never even know that most of them exist, and you should be thankful for that small mercy. I mean, can you even imagine how bad something called Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter is? We can. Because we've seen it. Twice.

The point is that as "bad" as so many people say that a movie like The Lazarus Effect is, it's nowhere near as bad as it could be. Sure, it's not great, it feels like a typical watered-down Hollywood effort, and it doesn't really do anything overly clever with itself, but it could be so much worse. It actually manages to do a few things right, too.

Frank and Zoe are not only in love, but they're scientists who have just developed a serum (Codename: Lazarus) that can bring people back from the dead. They test it on a dead dog, which does bring it back to life, but it also turns it into a complete asshole who tries to bite everybody, and won't eat his kibble. Maybe zombie dogs just want a better diet the second time around, you know? Who are we to judge?

COULDN'T THEY HAVE REANIMATED A HAMSTER, OR SOMETHING ELSE LESS THREATENING?

When a freak accident leaves Zoe dead, Frank and his team inject her with the Lazarus serum, hoping that it will bring her back like it did with the dog. It does bring her back, but it also starts changing the synapses in her brain, which gives her powers like telekinesis and telepathy. Seeing as how she went to Hell when she died, it also makes her creepier, and maybe into a Demon of some sort. Or maybe the Demon came back with her from Hell, and has nothing to do with the serum. Or maybe there's not a Demon at all. Does it really matter?

EITHER WAY, SHE'S CLEARLY NOT HAPPY.

Realizing that Zoe has to die again, Frank and his team try to kill her, which only serves to piss her off even more than she already is. She injects herself with a huge amount of the Lazarus serum, which makes her into an even more evil telepath, which makes it way easier for her to try and kill everyone around her.

The sexiness of Olivia Wilde ensues.

ALSO, THE CREEPINESS OF OLIVIA WILDE ENSUES.

Say what you will about this movie, but there's a story in there somewhere, and it's a pretty good one. Sure, it gets lost amidst a bunch of miscellaneous clutter that kept it from truly shining, but the main storyline about them creating a serum that brings people back from the dead, and the price they pay for doing so, is pretty damned great. There are some genuinely decent moments throughout this one, a few of which are even creepy... we just wish there had been more of them.

Olivia Wilde is the real bright spot here. We really dug her evil turn in this one, and it sure looked like she enjoyed playing the bad guy every bit as much as we loved watching her do it. I think it was something about her facial expressions that made her come off as both adorable and terrifying at the same time... or maybe we just really like her face. We are suckers for a pretty face, after all.

The movie boasts an impressive cast overall, but unfortunately it's only sexy Olivia who gets anything worthwhile to do. Sarah Bolger had some good moments too, but it felt like everyone was wasted in this one.

SEE, THIS MOVIE DID HAVE ITS MOMENTS!

I know that making movies on the cheap to turn a quick and healthy profit is Blumhouse's thing, and they do it really well, but you'd think by this point they'd want their output to be a little better from a quality standpoint. It seems like for every good movie they release, we have to suffer through two or three mediocre or shitty ones. Movies like this, or Ouija, or Jessabelle should have been way better than mediocre in the hands of the people who gave us such gems as The Purge Anarchy, The Town that Dreaded Sundown and Oculus.

HERE, THE CAST CHECKS OUT THE BLUMHOUSE IMDB PAGE.

There was just too much going on in this movie for it to be as effective as it should have been. It starts off kinda like Re-animator, then it kinda turns into Flatliners, but the whole time, it's really nothing more than the Horror version of Lucy (sans Scarlett Johansson), with the whole "using 100% of her brain" business. You add in a half-baked love story, and the "burning apartment in hell" thing, and you have a confused movie that doesn't know what it wants to be.

Not to mention that the movie only runs for 79 minutes to begin with, so none of those plot elements ever really gets a chance to breathe, either. 

HELL IS SARAH BOLGER MAKING THAT FACE FOR ETERNITY.

Lots of creepy imagery throughout this one, but it's not very heavy on the gore at all.

THAT'S HOW YOU PLAY RUSSIAN ROULETTE IN HELL.

The movie is PG-13, so no.

Sometimes, dead is better. Also, Olivia Wilde should play bad guys more often, because she's really good at it.

NOT GONNA LIE, SHE KINDA SCARES US NOW.

The Lazarus Effect is a movie that feels rushed, is poorly edited, and despite having an intriguing plot, feels largely uninspired. We give it a C grade though, because it did have a cool premise, some impressive visuals, a few intense scenes, and it was fun as hell to watch Olivia Wilde play dark and evil. She made this movie watchable.

It was a decent enough movie, for the most part, but we totally understand why a lot of people would say that it sucked. Check it out, but proceed with caution. 

C

The Lazarus Effect is available now VOD, and will be on Blu-ray & DVD on June 16th.

Olivia Wilde and Sarah Bolger are hot enough to raise any man from the dead.