If the history of cinema, video games, or any other creative medium for that matter has taught us anything over the years, it’s that dead things should really stay dead. But no matter how grisly the outcome, the premise still serves as a rich reserve for filmmakers across Hollywood, including producer Jason Blum who is currently shepherding his latest low-key project, The Lazarus Effect, through development.
Horror fans will know Blum’s name all too well, as he is one of the talents responsible for crafting lucrative franchises out of the likes of Insidious and Paranormal Activity — which recouped a staggering $200 million off the back of a $15,000 budget. But for his latest, coming by way of production company Blumhouse Productions, the producer is changing tact slightly.
Rather than casting complete unknowns in the films, he’s casting against type, drafting in the likes of Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters and former Community funny man Donald Glover.
“The most important thing to make a movie scary is that the you forget you’re watching actors, and you think you’re watching real people,” Blum explains. “So I think if the audience sees someone they don’t necessarily associate with that genre, it make it feel more real.”
In essence, the film orbits around a group of bold (read: bat-shit insane) medical students that attempt to bring dead matter back to life. As you can already imagine, their experiment proves to be a success, so when Olivia Wilde’s character drops dead, their natural reaction is to attempt to drag her back from the light. Hence the film’s title.
Directed by David Gelb, the sci-fi thriller has already gained traction ahead of its opening on February 27. In fact, Blum even went so far as to say that, should the film prove to be a success financially, then he would love to have the opportunity to make a sequel.
Even if The Lazarus Effect achieves a fraction of the success of Paranormal Activity and the like, then it could well be the Blum has another potential horror franchise on his hands.
