Mark Duplass aims for nuance, non-cheesy horror in ‘Lazarus Effect’

TORONTO – Mark Duplass admits he was afraid of one thing when he decided to star in the horror flick “The Lazarus Effect” — the acting.

“It certainly can get hammy,” Duplass says of horror movie performances.

“Unless you’re guarding it and being really anal about it and trying to nuance it then I think it can get away from you.”

So the “Mindy Project” and “Togetherness” star says he approached the thriller by trying to “make these characters feel as natural and human as possible.”

As such, his character is “a normal dude with kind of dorky hair and an (ugly) sweater.” He hopes that will help audiences connect to the supernatural shenanigans that go on.

“Every now and then someone has to say that horror movie line that you all hate and our goal was to try to do that in a way that was hopefully a little more natural and more palatable,” says Duplass, the multi-hyphenate indie film darling also known for writing and directing “The Puffy Chair,” “Cyrus,” and “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” with his brother Jay Duplass.

Here, Duplass plays Frank, a scientist whose team has come up with a serum that can bring animals back from the dead.

When his lab partner and fiance Zoe, played by Oliva Wilde (“House,” “Rush”), is accidentally killed while working in the lab, a desperate Frank decides he’s willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back.

Meanwhile, their more cautious colleagues — played by Evan Peters (“American Horror Story”) and Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino, “Community”) — are wary of the serum’s side effects, which over time seem to include aggression and paranoia. And opening a gateway to hell.

Although better known for comedies such as “The League” and helming small but critically acclaimed films, Duplass says he’s flirted with genre material before, citing the sci-fi tinged “Safety Not Guaranteed” and the comic-horror “Creep,” which debuted at SXSW last year.

He notes that this film’s producers — Blumhouse Productions — are well-steeped in the horror genre, having also churned out “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious” and “The Purge.” But director David Gelb, best known for the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” is decidedly new to the field, and that excited Duplass.

“When I knew that David Gelb was going to direct this movie — that they had hired a very sensitive documentary filmmaker to direct this horror movie — I was like, ‘Oh, this could be cool’,” he says.

“He was also the first one to admit he had very little experience directing actors so when it came time for us nuancing the performances the way we wanted to do it, he gave us a lot of leeway just to do our thing.”

“The Lazarus Effect” opens across Canada on Friday.

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