The Lazarus Effect

A group of medical researchers develops a way of bringing dead animals back to life; when one of the researchers (Olivia Wilde) is accidentally electrocuted in the lab, her partner/fiancé (Mark Duplass) uses the experimental process on her. The premise has the makings of a thoughtful thriller, but not in the fumbling hands of director David Gelb and writers Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater. Instead, they provide an incoherent catalog of worn-out horror movie clichés with a story that makes no sense and goes nowhere. It's rare that established actors like Wilde, Duplass and (in a tiny role) Amy Aquino turn up in trash like this (maybe they lost a bet); usually it's just eager nobodies desperate for a foot in the Hollywood door—which pretty much describes the rest of the cast: Sarah Bolger, Evan Peters, Donald Glover. J.L.