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Movie Review: The Lazarus Effect (2015)

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As you’ve probably noticed, movie trailers have become way too long over the years. Rather than getting us excited about movies, they all too often tend to spoil the best parts, making you feel as if you’ve already seen the movie before you’ve even seen it. You’re likely to feel that way as you watch The Lazarus Effect, though the problem isn’t so much that the trailer spoiled all the good bits.

Rather, the problem is that the movie genuinely has so little to offer that it feels like a trailer for the next generic horror movie, stretched out to an impossibly dull 80-minutes. If you’ve seen the trailer for this one, you have literally seen the entire movie.

Directed by David Gelb, The Lazarus Effect centers on a team of medical students perfecting a serum that, in so many words, brings the dead back to life. Not long after successfully re-animating a dog, a freak accident in the lab kills one of the team members, and in a last ditch effort they attempt to bring her back from the dead – with predictably disastrous results.

The most curious thing about The Lazarus Effect is that it features a pretty solid cast of young talents, with fan-favorite actors like Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Donald Glover and American Horror Story‘s Evan Peters comprising the research team. What’s curious about that is the way the movie proceeds to thoroughly waste them, making it feel like one of those movies they all took part in long before they had anything else going on in their careers – by all accounts, however, it wasn’t shot all that long ago.

[youtube id=”1Ks6JqLzVTA”]

Olivia Wilde is the star of the show here as Zoe, the chick who dies and then becomes all possessed and what not. The script gives Wilde very little to do before her character’s death and even less to do after, which is a shame because she’s an extremely likeable and talented actress. Same goes for all the other actors in this thing, who are all given almost nothing to work with. The characters, such as Peters’ stoner, are as underwritten as they come, to the point that their names have already escaped my brain.

Though the way it wastes the talents of its stars is one of the biggest bummers of The Lazarus Effect, it’s quite frankly the least of the movie’s problems. The script rushes so quickly to the point where Zoe is brought back from the dead that it’s impossible to really care about anything that’s going on, and once she re-animates, the movie reveals itself to be just another paranormal possession movie – albeit in a slightly different wrapper.

As the trailers completely gave away, Zoe becomes a black-eyed supernatural being once the Lazarus serum is injected into her, and that’s the point when the once dull movie becomes offensively bad, especially to anyone who has ever seen a horror movie. Jump scares and ‘creepy’ flickering lights dominate the latter portions of The Lazarus Effect, as Zoe walks around like a demonic robot and dispatches her friends in the most uninspired and yawn-inducing ways possible.

The Lazarus Effect

It feels weird to even be relaying so much of the plot here in my review, but again I must remind you that I’m really not spoiling anything. The trailer for The Lazarus Effect promises a movie wherein a girl dies, comes back to life and then does some creepy things, and the movie delivers on that promise by literally doing nothing more than what you saw in those two-minutes. It’s as one-note as horror movies come – the sort of movie that perpetuates the idea that horror movies are made for idiots.

What’s most offensive is how little The Lazarus Effect has to say, being that it’s dealing with such a fascinating and deep topic of discussion. Rather than delving into that rich idea of human re-animation and bothering to say anything about the topic, the movie takes the lazy approach of being nothing more than another movie about a supernaturally-empowered chick who kills people. It also doesn’t bother to make much sense, even within its own world, but I digress.

By the time the end credits roll across the screen, you’re likely to be rolling your eyes, as The Lazarus Effect takes a turn for the intelligence-insulting and laugh-inducing in the final act. It’s yet another one of those horror movies that is cut from a mold and caters to the lowest common denominator, and you’ll probably leave the theater wondering why the hell you even bother going to see new horror movies on the big screen.

The Lazarus Effect is little more than a reminder that the best horror movies are now found on VOD. So save your money and stay home. The popcorn is free, the rentals are cheap and, best of all, you can rest assured that nobody will come sit down on your couch and ruin the experience with their incessant chatter. Does that sound good to you? Because it sounds great to me.

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

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The Blair Witch Project Cast

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

Blair witch
The Blair Witch Project Cast

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

The blair witch project

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello

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