The Lazarus Effect movie review

David Gelb’s production The Lazarus Effect attempts to ignite the Frankenstein premise in which a dead body can be brought miraculously to life – but fails to fully explore its theory of using revolutionary drugs to reawaken the corpse.

A group of Berkeley students and scientists play God by using a drug concoction that accelerates evolution and jolts of electricity to reanimate dead animals.

They succeed with a dog – but soon discover there is something not right with the animal. When they attempt to repeat the experiment with one of their members, researcher Zoe (Wilde) is accidentally electrocuted.

Her fiancée, Frank (Duplass), who is the leader of the project, goes through the process of bringing her back from the other side – but she is not the likeable Zoe the team knows.

The team – wisecracking anti-authority figure Clay (Peters); tech-savvy Niko (Donald Glover); and pretty Eva (Sarah Bolger), who’s along for the ride as a documentary filmmaker – is in for an experience of a lifetime. And it’s not pretty.

Diverse sources such as Frankenstein, the 1990 Julia Roberts/Kiefer Sutherland thriller Flatliners and Pet Sematary form the bedrock of this freakish offering. It certainly lacks suspense and scares and this, coupled with

its confusing ending, makes The Lazarus Effect a profoundly unsatisfying experience.