Horror films contain both some of the most groundbreaking examples of experimental storytelling and the most creatively bankrupt ripoffs in modern cinema. For every masterful work of suspense, there are a thousand riffs on the same idea that are buried by each other before attaining any notoriety.
The Lazarus Effect was directed by David Gelb, who was then and is now best known for documentaries. His most beloved work is the heartwarming 2011 piece Jiro Dreams of Sushi, followed swiftly by the 2015 series Chef's Table. The one and only horror film in the catalog of a director best known for documentaries about cooking worked out about as poorly as one would expect.
The Lazarus Effect is the tale of a pair of university medical researchers, Zoe and Frank, who attempt to create a serum that could jolt coma patients out of their slumber but instead wind up curing death. The duo enlist a pair of lab assistants and successfully revive a recently euthanized dog. Though the canine unquestionably rises from its grave, it begins acting aggressively and stops eating. Some tests reveal that the dog isn't just better, its brain is developing outward and becoming stronger.
The dean catches the scientists in the act and shuts down the project. To make matters worse, the organization that funds the research is bought out in a hostile takeover. To attempt to replicate their study and claim ownership over their death cure, the scientists sneak in and recreate the experiment. Zoe is violently electrocuted to death, so Frank immediately resurrects her with the serum. Zoe returns, a changed woman, now overwhelmingly violent and possessed of psychic powers. The remainder boils down to a lackluster slasher movie wherein the killer is a bad Jean Grey.
The film's biggest sin is its overwhelming layer of boredom. It's too grounded to be silly fun, it's too stupid to be clever sci-fi, and it's way too unoriginal to be anything special. The mad scientist characters play like bored office drones, the death cure is just an injection, even the psychic powers play out with sub-par CGI. There are a lot of films that The Lazarus Effect resembles, most of which were done better the first time. The psychic slasher stuff is a poor man's take on The Fury. The overall plot is based entirely on a low-tier take on Frankenstein, down to the lead character's name. The first act is interestingly identical to the first chunk of the abysmal Fant4stic, which is funny because the projects share a writer.
There are two credited screenwriters on The Lazarus Effect, Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater. Dawson previously bankrolled Darren Aronofsky's debut project Pi and wrote the 2008 American remake of Shutter. Dawson also produced the film, which is still his best performing film to date. Slater has a little more going on. He has a history of putting his name on things that go on to largely rewrite his work. He wrote a screenplay for both Fantastic Four and Netflix's Death Note, both of which were terrible films that, reportedly, ditched almost every word he wrote on them. He created the 2016 Exorcist TV adaptation and produced The Umbrella Academy, along with writing a few episodes of each. Slater is the writer, executive producer, and showrunner on Marvel's upcoming series Moon Knight, and he's set to write the untitled Mortal Kombat sequel. Slater has an interesting track record, both good and bad, but his work here is less than impressive.
The cast is the draw of the film. The lead role, turned superpowered slasher villain, is portrayed by Olivia Wilde, star of TRON: Legacy and Cowboys & Aliens. Opposite her is Mark Duplass, star of both Creep films, along with movies like Safety Not Guaranteed. The supporting cast holds even more treasures. The two lab assistants are portrayed by Evan Peters and Donald Glover. Peters is best known as Quicksilver in the X-Men franchise or his many roles in American Horror Story. Glover is a massively popular musician under the name Childish Gambino who also stars in the hit sitcom Community and the recent Lion King remake. Sara Bolger, star of In America and The Spiderwick Chronicles also appears. The cast does a very good job with the lackluster material they're given, and while they are certainly not phoning it in, they don't elevate the text.
A film like The Lazarus Project seems to come out on a near-monthly basis, most often produced by Jason Blum. The film was a mild financial success, making $30 million on a budget of $3 million. With a PG-13 rating and enough big names on the cast list, it seems like any film can turn a profit. The Lazarus Project is a million miles from the worst that the genre has to offer, but there's nothing special or interesting about it. One wonders if the film would be more memorable today if it had been even worse. At least then, it'd be interesting.