(Written by Intern, Sean Barry)
Horror debatably works best if characters are well written and three-dimensional. An audience is better able to engage, upping the stakes when things go wrong if people are more attached to the protagonists. Lizzie Lazarus aptly showcases this idea with considerable attention paid to realism. However, a lack of scary or heart pounding moments may alienate viewers seeking genuine thrills.
After Lizzie (Megan Oesterreich) dies suddenly, her sister, Bethany (Lianne O’Shea), decides to resurrect her on the solstice. She enlists Lizzie’s boyfriend, Eli (Omar Maskati), to help carry the body into the forest and perform the ceremony. As they take the long journey through the night, Bethany and Eli talk and quarrel about a wide array of topics. Eli thinks rationally and attempts to learn about Lizzie’s troubled past, while Bethany believes in conspiracy theories and has a quick temper, especially when discussing her family. As they evade hunters and animals, the pair gradually reveal their true intentions in wanting to bring Lizzie back.
Without a decent script, a story almost always falls apart, and writer/director Aviv Rubinstien successfully crafts a dense, dynamic screenplay for a dialogue heavy product. Bethany and Eli are both intelligent people with complex needs and desires, which automatically makes for an enjoyable watch. O’Shea and Maskati give masterful performances, never feeling over-the-top or unrealistic. Scenes are often acted out in one take, sometimes going as long as five minutes in a single shot. Despite minimal camera movement or action, these moments remain engaging due to Bethany and Eli’s endlessly intriguing conversations.
Expectations are constantly diverted, beginning with an off-putting introduction. Starting on an overhead angle on Lizzie’s corpse lying in the woods, she suddenly sings as opening credits play. Instantly catching one’s attention, it tells viewers to expect the unexpected and to not take anything too seriously, including the dead woman. Rubinstien’s unique filmmaking style ensures no single minute is wasted. Tension ramps up at a second’s notice with occasional branch snaps or sudden gunshots causing the duo to stop everything and hide. Although it occurs almost entirely at night, clever lighting from lanterns, car headlights, and fires allow the actors’ expressions to convey the mood.
While it takes place within a single evening, periodic flashbacks show Bethany at a restaurant several hours earlier convincing Eli to help with the ritual. Not only do these instances interrupt the main action, but they feel largely unnecessary. Had everything been laid out in chronological order with these snippets at the start, very little would have changed. Additionally, a somewhat lackluster ending leaves much to be desired from such a compelling buildup. Even though many might leave wanting more scares from this simple story, its absorbing characters and witty writing will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
See if Lizzie Lazarus can rise from the dead when it premieres at Popcorn Frights on Monday, August 14th.
We could do a whole flipping blog post on us struggling with that bar scene.