10 Craziest Ways Horror Movie Characters Have Returned From The Dead

6. The Lazarus Effect - Scientific Project

The Lazarus Effect
Relativity Media

David Webb's The Lazarus Effect saw a modern spin put on the concept of using science to bring back the dead.

With an impressive cast featuring Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass, Evan Peters, Donald Glover, and major genre fave Ray Wise, The Lazarus Effect soon places its main focus on House star Wilde's Zoe.

For those not familiar with The Lazarus Effect, Zoe and her partner Frank are scientists who created a serum designed to bring people back to life. The sh*t soon hits the fan, mind, when Zoe ends up electrocuted and dead - which in turns leads to the decision to use this serum to resurrect her. And as is so often the case, this resurrected Zoe isn't quite the same Zoe who had passed away.

This isn't the first time that we've seen a horror movie use science for reanimation purposes, with Re-Animator the obvious film that jumps out as embracing this notion. Starring Jeffrey Combs as deranged doc Herbert West, Re-Animator has spanned across three movies that have again reiterated that maybe dead is sometimes better.

Not so much reanimation, but the famed fable of Frankenstein is another prime example of science being used to create life on the silver screen.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.