The Lazarus Effect
Relativity Media | Release Date: February 27, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
31
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
9
Negative:
15
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
TheWrapJames RocchiFeb 26, 2015
The Lazarus Effect is a smart, unsubtle chiller that should leave even a dedicated horror fan shaken and spooked from its opening scene’s revelations to its final scene’s implications. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinFeb 26, 2015
Director David Gelb, switching gears from his fine 2011 documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," keeps the mayhem moving briskly as an effective host of obstacles pile up in the script by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater. Read full review
67
IndieWireRyan LattanzioFeb 26, 2015
It's a compelling, even decently acted piece of schlock that breezes by at a lean 83 minutes, with enough self-awareness to know you're going to forget it the minute the lights go up. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia PuigFeb 26, 2015
With its homages to "Frankenstein," "The Exorcist" and "The Shining," director David Gelb's The Lazarus Effect is at least smarter and tenser than last year's crop of tame horror films. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 25, 2015
There’s no point in overselling a conventional, rarely surprising horror picture, a picture that manages one good, cheap jolt and a solid hour of dread. But Lazarus reminds us that a genre overwhelmed by junk fare doesn’t need to be that way. It’s not effects, gore or novelty that matter. It’s all in the execution, and electrocution. Read full review
58
HitfixDrew McWeenyFeb 26, 2015
It helps that Gelb shoots this less like a horror film and more like a drama. When the film does finally kick into overt horror, it becomes more familiar and less overall effective. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonMar 5, 2015
For the hour or so it’s on screen it’s a harmless, little chiller that doesn’t scare much but serves as a holdover until something truly scary comes along. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniFeb 27, 2015
Mildly enjoyable despite its basic mediocrity. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 26, 2015
The Lazarus Effect begins with an intriguing premise then proceeds to squander all the early goodwill through a slow, inexorable descent into cheap horror gimmicks. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyKeith StaskiewiczFeb 27, 2015
I would have loved to see more from the filmmakers, daring to fail while staking out some new terror incognita instead of just going through the motions of an experiment for which we already have the results. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Feb 26, 2015
Like too many horror films, this one seems targeted at a hypothetical audience using only 10 percent of its brainpower. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleWilliam GossMar 4, 2015
A Frankensteinian combination of "Flatliners," "Carrie," and just about any possession flick that comes to mind. Read full review
40
The DissolveKeith PhippsFeb 26, 2015
Despite an intriguing opening and an overqualified cast, The Lazarus Effect can’t shake a been-there/resurrected-that vibe left over from Flatliners, Pet Sematary, and countless other films stretching back to Frankenstein. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 26, 2015
Forget the minor, derivative scares in The Lazarus Effect. The real jolt here is seeing a well-known name playing a monstrous evil force. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerFeb 26, 2015
While the monster Wilde is scary enough, the directing and writing is lazy, relying on “boo!” tactics and insinuating a religious subtext by cutting to close-ups of crucifix jewellery. The ending is slapdash. Read full review
30
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 2, 2015
Sort of a Flatliners for the sensitive indie-actor set, The Lazarus Effect is a grimy, dopey, confused thriller that wastes a very likable cast. Read full review
30
VarietyGeoff BerkshireFeb 26, 2015
“Lazarus” shamelessly steals from superior genre efforts and lacks any distinguishing traits beyond a wildly overqualified cast. Read full review
30
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergFeb 26, 2015
Despite eclectic casting and occasional experiments with objective camera, the director, David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”), can’t breathe similar life into this risible mix of pseudoscientific hokum and supernatural freakouts. Read full review
30
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 26, 2015
Aside from the waste of talent, the frustrating thing about The Lazarus Effect is how it cheats. Good horror movies work on internal logic. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckFeb 26, 2015
The screenplay by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater begins promisingly enough with its slow-burn examination of the various moral issues involved. But once Zoe is resuscitated the proceedings descend into familiar horror film film tropes. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 1, 2015
The Lazarus Effect is nothing but a cheap horror film cloaked in scientific mumbo-jumbo. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiFeb 27, 2015
This isn't a real horror movie — this is the kind of horror movie that the characters in a real horror movie watch in order to comment on the lameness of the genre before their authentic terrors begin. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 26, 2015
The Lazarus Effect is not the usual mindless thriller, but it’s as flat as an open soda from last week, with dull characters and virtually every scene taking place in a single location. It looks as if it cost about 12 bucks to make — and somebody got robbed. Read full review
25
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 26, 2015
Despite classy lead performances by Mark Duplass and Olivia Wilde, the movie, from horror factory Blumhouse (known for cranking out sequels in the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, among others), relies too heavily on reanimated monster movie cliches and scientific gibberish to keep it alive. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezFeb 25, 2015
David Gelb doesn't evince so much as a single compositional sleight of hand, merely delighting in turning lights on and off and watching Zoe appear in random places. Read full review
20
Village VoiceSimon AbramsMar 3, 2015
Death may not be the end in The Lazarus Effect, but it should be. Read full review
20
The GuardianJordan HoffmanFeb 26, 2015
You’ve seen this movie before with peppier actors, and not tethered to a visually uninteresting set that looks like a remainder from a 10-year-old episode of CSI. Read full review
16
The PlaylistDrew TaylorFeb 26, 2015
Bringing someone back from the dead is one of the horror genre's oldest and most effective tropes, but with The Lazarus Effect, it just seems tired. Read full review
0
New York PostLou LumenickFeb 26, 2015
There’s no doubt at all that the schlocky The Lazarus Effect should have been euthanized and shipped directly to video rather than haunting movie theaters, however briefly. Read full review
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