The Lazarus Effect starts out interesting, with a solid Frankenstein-like premise and then things progressively get worse and more stupid. Despite some really fake-sounding “technical” dialogue in the beginning, the opening 30 minutes is well-paced and sets up an intriguing concept. Although it copies most of the ideas from Schumaker’s (more superior) film Flatliners, I was hoping The Lazarus Effect would have its own thing going.
Unfortunately, those early glimpses of intriguing ideas all devolve into a yawning horror fest of derivative scares and cliched characters. And the whole power outage gimmick in the second-half is so forced, so ridiculous, that is kills what little tension was left. Acting isn’t terrible but you can tell these actors are trapped in a film with a script that should have been much better. I didn’t hate it, was just mostly bored and ultimately, The Lazarus Effect is completely forgettable.