sandwichjohnfilms

Check do-not-resuscitate on derivative horror. Review by Brandon Wolfe “Sometimes dead is better,” gravely intoned old Jud Crandall in Pet Sematary , but characters in horror movies (including Jud’s own) never heed that warning. Playing God is too irresistible a prospect, especially when a loved one falls. No, to horror movie characters, dead is worse, until they discover, as they inevitably do, that there’s always something worse than death. Something beyond death. Something beyond human comprehension. Then the realization hits, always far too late, that dead? Sometimes better. This is the object lesson learned the hard way by the university-based researchers in The Lazarus Effect . Engaged scientists Frank and Zoe (Mark Duplass and Olivia Wilde) have been developing a serum designed to temporarily revive flatlining patients in order to extend the window of opportunity for a surgeon to save them. Aided by lab assistants Niko ( Community ’s Donald Glover) and Clay (Evan Peters

The Lazarus Effect is about a group of medical students who experiment bringing dead matter back to life. Spoiler alert: One of the characters dies, of course, and they try the technique on her. “And it works. She comes back to life, but she comes back to life as not the woman that she was when she died.” Creepy. Blumhouse Productions’ upcoming sci-fi/horror flick The Lazarus Effect , which arrives in theaters Feb. 27. Those creative risks started with the director, David Gelb , known for his award-winning documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi —not the obvious choice. “But he had a great take on the material,” which Blum describes as “a really unique take on bringing someone back from the dead.” If the plot sounds familiar to you, then you’ve probably seen Flatliners (1990), starring Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, and Kiefer Sutherland. “All of us really liked that movie,” Blum says. “I feel like we’re tipping our hat to Flatliners, for sure, in this movie.” So if The Lazarus Effect