![]() ![]() “ Lazarus proves that indie filmmakers can deliver powerful superhero stories, a space usually reserved for the majors,” Tubi content chief Adam Lewinson said in a press release. The service announced last summer it had reached 33 million monthly active users, up 65% over the same point in 2019, with viewing time surpassing 200 million hours a month. Like other ad-supported streaming services such as Pluto TV or Crackle, Tubi has benefited from a number of trends, from smart TV adoption to cord-cutting to Covid-19 lockdowns. It and has been showcasing newer programming since being acquired by Fox in 2020, becoming a venue for next-day streams of top unscripted shows like The Masked Singer. Tubi had more than 30,000 film and TV titles from 250 suppliers. Sean Riggs, Eddie Riggs and Edward Davie are executive producers. That’s the best you can do?: That’s all I got.The film was produced by Scott and Justin “Jtrx” Echols. So you liked it?: It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. That’s because of the acting, Wilde, Duplass and Glover, especially, which is better than this movie deserves, but actually makes you care about the sad little scientist lambs about to be slaughtered. And I was genuinely scared, although I predicted just about every single thing that happened. I have a hard and fast rule about movies: If it’s supposed to be scary, and it is, it gets a pass. While “The Lazarus Effect” fails miserably in trying to be smart – for geniuses the doctors do some stupid, stupid stuff – it does at least manage some decent-sized scares and disturbing moments. And if it was supposed to be a cool, clever take on horror that asks sly questions about mortality, religion, morality and the very nature of the soul, well, that’s graduate-level work being handled by a cranky toddler trying to get out of their nap. You could pretty much outline the entire plot from a 60-second commercial, and that outline looked crappy. So are the reviews right right?: Pretty much. In Zoe’s case, evil involves the ability to read minds, move stuff with her thoughts and (SPOILER THAT WAS SPELLED OUT IN THE PREVIEWS AND THEREFORE NOT A SPOILER) kill folks. How do you know they’re evil?: Well, Rocky, who again is a dog, develops the ability to open his cage and just pop up snarling behind people from dark corners of a scary deserted basement labs, watching them ominously as they sleep like a dog serial killer and other things that would propel actual geniuses to find a new job, or at the very least NOT LET IT SLEEP IN THEIR HOUSES. The other one is a dog named Rocky, the first subject brought back from the dead during “Project Lazarus.” Neither seem that thrilled to be back. Well, technically only one of them is a person, devout Catholic researcher Zoe (Wilde) with her own misgivings about playing God, who gets a shot of undead juice via her distraught fiancee Frank (Duplass) after being fatally electrocuted during one of their top-secret procedures. So who’s evil?: There are two evil people. Why is it so badly reviewed?: The consensus is that it’s got a great cast (mumblecore director/actor Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, actor/rapper Donald Glover, serial “American Horror Story” cast member Evan Peters) but crumbles under the weight of lazy plot-stealing (“Flatliners”), dumb twists and an over-reliance on “BUM-bum-BUUUUUMMM!!!” ominous music, scary fake-me-outs and a year’s supply of those black iris-covering contact lenses that scream “This girl evil, yo.” How badly?: Like “irate undead person momentarily trapped in Hell and then unleashed on the world” bad. ![]() You would not be surprised to find that this ends badly. What’s it about: Some scientists trying to perfect a serum that would revive dead (dead-ish?) people long enough for doctors to be able to save them wind up losing one of their own and using it on her. ![]() Sample bad review: “‘The Lazarus Effect’ starts dead and cannot be raised from it.” – Gary Wolcott, “Tri-City Herald” How badly-reviewed is it?: It got a 14 percent Fresh rating on. The worst-reviewed movie of the week: “The Lazarus Effect” ![]()
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