Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Lazarus Effect’

Written by Scott Edwards

Some of the greatest discoveries come out of mistakes. I know someone once said that and it seems to be true in our everyday life, you just have to keep your eyes open to notice it. Every mistake that you make has an impact on your life and it could lead to better things if you allow it. There should never be any shame in this, even though it could be wrong, you will learn and discover a better way to do something that could change things for yourself, your friends or the world in the long run. Keep being creative and making mistakes, although it may seem like a failure, it can also lead to greatness.

Zoe, Frank and the crew are working on the Lazarus serum, which is designed to keep coma patients from going brain dead while they are asleep. Returning the person to who they were when they wake up seems to be a great feat, but they have not yet perfected the dosage. While calling in a student from the college to document everything that is going on in the lab, they are ready to start testing the serum on the animal cadavers that they have been given and their next test weilds something unbelievable. 

With the serum and a high jolt of electricity being mixed together, the group is able to bring life back to a dog that has been dead for several days. Seeing that everything about the dog has been turned back to normal, they have discovered a way bring the dead back to life. But there is something different about the dog and even though they did not know it when it was alive, the lab workers feel like it is hiding something. With the serum still pumping threw its veins at an alarming rate, the neural activity in the dog’s brain is working overtime and causing the it to become more aggressive towards the group, but it remains docile when surrounded by many people. 

Being called into the president of the university’s office, Frank finds out that he and his crew are about to be thrown out after their animal tests have been discovered. Losing everything that they have worked on for three long years after accomplishing a positive result, Frank and the crew will not go down without a fight. Breaking into the lab and documenting a new experiment to ensure they get credit for the serum; disaster strikes when one of the breakers blows. As Zoe lays lifeless on the floor, Frank knows that he can bring her back with Lazarus and even though the group disagrees with the idea, they go along with it to see their leader return. But when Zoe is brought back to life, she starts to hear the thoughts of the group and her power continues to grow. As crew members go missing at Zoe’s hands, Frank knows that she cannot leave the lab for fear of what she will do in the real world.

You know, I don’t do many reviews on horror movies that are not R rated for one reason, they do not frighten me enough. But The Lazarus Effect is starting to make me believe that I might be wrong with this assumption. Because you get the common jump scares and a couple scenes that will make you think about what you are really seeing, and overall, this movie is not too bad. I especially like the challenge between science and God which was pretty much the foundation of the story and seems to be an ongoing battle for scientists, even now. There are some gaps in the storyline, but overall, they do not seem to be essential if you are just looking to be entertained. I liked it, the story did play out well and you get to find out what is really behind the curtain that Zoe has been hiding behind for so many years. Stay Scared.

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