Story: A
group of young scientists create a serum that allows them to resurrect
the dead. Making a strong case for why the deceased should remain that
way, one of them is transformed into something terrible when the serum
is used to revive her.
Review: While this
movie dutifully touches upon most horror checkpoints (jump scares
etc.), it is probably the only horror flick that introduces something
new a mention of something called DMT (referred to as a the Spirit
Moleculea ) in the brain, which according to Frank (Duplass), Zoe
(Wilde), Clay (Peters) and Niko (Glover) is of key importance to their
experiment. This, coupled with Zoea s concerns about the moralistic
angle of reviving the dead, makes for an interesting build-up. When they
resurrect a dog, Zoe asks her fiancA Frank, a If we bring a dog back
from the dead, are we ripping him out of doggie heaven?a
Their university dean soon pulls the plug on the experiment but they
decide to continue with the work, regardless. A lab accident kills Zoe,
whom Frank revives with the serum. So, strange chemicals, ethical issues
and a sense of a what happens next?a Just when you think things are
going to get really interesting, Lazarus gets sloppy in a hurry.
Zoea s back with superpowers that aren't really explained. Is she
demonically possessed? Has she been to another dimension or realm? Is it
some crazy alter-ego? These angles of exploration would have given the
film tremendous psychological leverage and impact. But astoundingly,
that is avoided. Instead, the sense of foreboding created by the
meticulous build-up is dissipated. Zoe is clearly very tormented by
something and now wants her friends to share her nightmare.
To
be fair, the sense of claustrophobia remains (also, a few scares that
will spill your popcorn) and the cast do their salvageable best, but the
script gives them precious little to play around with. Apart from the
filma s clear message a that if you play God, bad things will happen a
Wilde definitely does look scary and indeed, she is the best thing about
the movie.
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