The Lazarus Effect

#StokerScore 2/10

Looking down the listings at the two local cinemas, hoping to see an early glimpse of Mad Max: Fury Road, I came across showing times for The Lazarus Effect. I hadn't really heard a lot about this movie, other than it's a horror movie, starring Olivia Wilde (the feisty and cute doctor from the Fox tv show House, not to be confused with the vulnerable and cute doctor from the Fox tv show House) and that it was a spin on the 80's movie Flatliners.

Firstly there are a few comparisons that can be made with Flatliners; medical ethics, past sins, and life after death to name some but that would be like comparing Superhero movies and complaining that the basic plot is the same. When you make a movie with similar subject matter to another, it's bound to draw comparisons and hey, isn't that why they made this movie in the first place?

The story, without giving anything away in terms of spoilers, is ok. It has many holes, as you'd expect from a horror movie churned out to relieve those of us who like the genre from a few shekels, but it also lacks charm. Where Flatliners had Oliver Platt and Kevin Bacon, The Lazarus Effect tries to make do by wasting its bests talent, Olivia, and then trying to get Evan Peters to cover for her.

Don't get me wrong, there were some jumpy moments, not all of which were signposted using neon lights, but ultimately the movie seemed to lack direction and could have fleshed out some more of the "what-the-hell-is-going-on-here" stuff.

I left dissatisfied and my wife left bemused as she was also trying to keep up with this nonsense with Indonesian subtitles and I really only recommend this if you have money that you're happy to throw away on a movie that is only 83 minutes long. Saying that, I can only imagine the Indonesian censor cut a few scenes as I'm sure it didn't seem as long as that. Maybe they also cut out the point.