A group of ambitious and highly intelligent researchers, led by Frank and Zoe and immortalized by a young documentary filmmaker in search of sensational footage, crown their long studies with the discovery of a serum capable of bringing the dead back to life, named "Lazarus". The first experiment on a dog proves successful, but shortly afterward, the university halts the research due to lack of proper authorizations. The group, however, does not lose heart and decides to continue testing the serum in secret, with all the risks involved, which materialize in an accident in which Zoe loses her life. Frank, who is also Zoe's boyfriend, cannot accept the idea of losing his beloved and decides to try the serum on her. The operation is a perfect success, but once awakened, Zoe is no longer the same, and the protagonists realize they have awakened malevolent forces. It is the beginning of an endless nightmare...
If we were to draw up a genealogical tree of horror for fun, we would undoubtedly assign the role of the mother to Mary Shelley. With her most famous novel dating back to 1818, "Frankenstein," the English writer forever marked the genre and initiated the union between the horrific universe and the world of medicine, which has greatly contributed to the success of literature and cinema. From 1931 onwards, the year James Whale brought the myth of the "modern Prometheus" to the screen for the first time, the screens began to teem with mad doctors who, blinded by their hubris and the desire to replace God, attempt in every way to bring the dead back to life and create a perfect and immortal man.
Thus, a consolidated and profitable archetype is born, which sees numerous reenactments over the years, not without the inclusion of some modifications and variations; suffice it to think of the "Re-Animator" series by Staurt Gordon and Brian Yuzna (inspired by the story "Herbert West Reanimator" by another father of fantastic narrative like H.P. Lovecraft), in which the tones became decidedly more splatter and bloody, or the Italian Gothic films of the 1960s that featured mad scientists also dedicated to more extreme practices such as necrophilia. In short, we are talking about a cornerstone of the genre, on par with vampires and zombies. And it is not strange, therefore, that the king of low-budget horror, Jason Blum, also wanted to hitch a ride on this rather lucrative bandwagon, who does not miss this opportunity and decides to produce a film that tells the myth of Frankenstein in a modern key, "The Lazarus Effect." At the helm, we find David Gelb, a documentary filmmaker making his debut in the horror genre, who shows some interesting points, not accompanied, however, by originality that is greatly absent from this film made-to-order for the general public.
Despite the subject being one of the most overdone in cinema history, Gelb manages to put together a first part of the film that has a personality all its own and, above all, does not fall into the trap of turning it into a long and boring introduction before the predictable explosion of violence and death.
All the credit for this goes to a screenplay (written by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater) that is precise and punctual in describing all the scientific aspects and attentive to providing a sketch of the characterization of the protagonist Zoe, a fundamental aspect in the second part. Alongside this attention to the plot, however, the director does not refrain from inserting a fair dose of tension right from the start, such as the unsettling scene of the dog that climbs onto the doctor's bed in the middle of the night and stares at her in a threatening pose or the nightmare that has tormented the protagonist for years and takes her back to a dark and murky past.
The good things about this first part, however, are marred by a second half that is predictable and overly laden with all the typical clichés of contemporary horror cinema: and so, free rein is given to an excessive use of sound jumps, sudden appearances to seek an easy scare, and movements by Zoe that blatantly refer to the trend of demonic possessions, complete with vomiting and levitating body. Despite this, Gelb manages to score some decent moments of fear played entirely on the atmosphere, enhanced by a photography that makes the laboratory environments dark and infernal, and on a musical accompaniment of strong impact: noteworthy is the suggestive and clever use of the Queen of the Night aria from "The Magic Flute" by Mozart that underscores one of the most unsettling sequences. Too bad for some makeshift graphic effects present within dreamlike parts that are not very fluid and inserted with approximation into a plot that becomes increasingly messy and channeled onto well-worn tracks.
To give a significant contribution and to shoulder the film is the star Olivia Wilde, who had already flirted with horror in the modest "Turistas," very effective in such a diabolical role and the true diamond point of a cast of good level formed, among others, by the good Mark Duplass and Evan Peters, known to many for the series "American Horror Story."
"The Lazarus Effect" is therefore a decent product of entertainment, but to see something innovative and courageous, knock on another door. In short, for the general public, it may work, but for those more literate in the genre, it is not much.
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