Lisa Frankenstein [Review]
Zelda Williams’ and Diablo Cody’s new teen horror comedy take on Frankenstein feels like it time-travelled from the 1980s.
Kathryn Newton stars as Lisa Swallows in LISA FRANKENSTEIN, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Diablo Cody wrote and produced Lisa Frankenstein; she partnered with director Zelda Williams in her assured feature film debut. Together, they made a pitch-perfect horror comedy that puts 80’s John Hughes teen classics in a blender with Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice, along with George Romero’s Day of the Dead and a dash of John Waters.
Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) lives with her milquetoast dad Dale (Joe Chrest), well meaning but oblivious stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano), and nightmare stepmom Janet (Carla Gugino). Lisa is traumatized by her mother’s death, while her father got over the loss nearly immediately by marrying Janet and moving them to a new town. Lisa escapes her miserable situation at home and in her new school by spending her time in an abandoned, overgrown Bachelor’s cemetery, making tombstone rubbings and doting on a tomb marked with the curt epitaph “Unmarried,” overlooked by a stone bust of the dead young man buried there.
Cole Sprouse stars as The Creature and Kathryn Newton as Lisa Swallows in LISA FRANKENSTEIN, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
After drinking booze spiked with PCP at a party, Lisa flees and finds herself in the cemetery, facing the statue on her favorite grave. A strange storm is brewing, and Lisa makes a wish—”I wish I was with you.” Later that night, lightning strikes the grave, and the next day the undead Creature (Cole Sprouse) shows up at Lisa’s house. Her wish misunderstood—she wished she was in the ground with him, rather than having him come to her—she must make the best of her situation with her new friend and sets out to help make him whole.
The film was a bit rocky for me at first, but the movie changes completely soon after The Creature appears and Lisa starts gaining some confidence in herself. Kathryn Newton’s performance is transformative as she pushes it over the top when she begins to embody Lisa’s true self, even changing the way she moves in a wonderfully exaggerated physical performance. Likewise, Carla Gugino seems to relish pushing the envelope as evil stepmother Janet, who is convinced Lisa is out to ruin her perfectly curated suburban family life; she nearly dips into Faye Dunaway playing Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest territory.
Carla Gugino stars as Janet in LISA FRANKENSTEIN, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Courtesy of FOCUS FEATURES, © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.
Cole Sprouse does a fantastic job as The Creature, portraying his slow rejuvenation through an entirely physical, mimed performance, with no way to communicate other than gesture, facial expression, and zombie groans. He’s able to manage this even through heavy prosthetic makeup. I liked how his look eventually evokes a young Johnny Depp with Tim Burton style hollowed eyes, just like I loved that Joe Chrest as Lisa’s dad vaguely resembles John Hughes: this movie wears its influences proudly on its sleeve.
Lisa Frankenstein not only takes place in 1989, but it feels like it was plucked from the era. The costumes, sets, and color palette feel authentic. Most of the special effects look like they’re practical. The clever conceit of a short-circuiting magenta tanning bed as Frankenstein’s lightning powered lab table could have been in a Weird Science sequel. I couldn’t help but think that in an alternate universe, Tim Burton could have made this movie at that time instead of Edward Scissorhands. What would have blown this movie out of the water is if it had been shot on film.
Cole Sprouse stars as The Creature and Kathryn Newton as Lisa Swallows in LISA FRANKENSTEIN, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Diablo Cody’s script made for a hilarious movie. Her characters are vivid, their dialogue clever. All the jokes land thanks to Zelda Williams’ handling of the material. There were some moments, particularly before the movie really picks up, where I felt like maybe some shots were held too long after a gag, but that feeling went away quickly. Maybe it just took me a little while to get into the movie’s rhythms. In the end, there were a lot of laugh out loud moments for me.
Under the right circumstances, this movie could become a classic that people will watch over and over. There’s a world where REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling” tops the charts again. I hope the audience shows up and catches on, that Focus Features handles this movie’s release well and does the film justice.
Lisa Frankenstein will open exclusively in theaters on February 9, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Go with your partner and bond over the living dead, 80’s music, and ax murder.
