In my heart I am truly a hopeless romantic. Give me a soppy love story and I will watch it and weep. We can all name our favorite couples, Han Solo/Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker/Padme, Troy/Gabriella, Leslie/Ben, Rose/Jack and Satine/Christian. Well now I have a new movie to cry to every Valentine’s Day: “Lisa Frankenstein” (2024).
It’s 1989 and 18-year-old outcast Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) would rather spend time in Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery at her favorite Victorian man’s grave (Cole Sprouse) who died tragically young. She talks and reads to the bust that is attached to the grave, Lisa’s life has changed a lot since her mother’s tragic murder. Her dad remarried and she has a new stepsister named Taffy (Liza Soberano).
One night green lightning strikes and Lisa’s wish comes true, the undead man of her dreams comes alive. Lisa and the Creature go on a killing spree to replace the limbs he is missing. Each time Lisa sticks her new beau in a tanning bed and he comes a little bit more re-animated. The ending will shock you!
The title alone of this movie does give you a clue that this is a twist on “Frankenstein.” A story that has been reinvented many times throughout pop culture. With “Lisa Frankenstein” asking the question “What if we combine “Frankenstein,” John Hughes’ movies and the horrors of being a teenage girl?” You think all of these contrasting elements would not work together, but they surprisingly do with very few errors.
What made me interested in the film were the taglines of the posters “She’s slaying, he’s decaying” and “If you can’t meet your perfect boyfriend…make him.” They sum up the plot pretty well. This was a solid directorial debut from Zelda Williams. You can tell that Williams took inspiration from old school horror movies and ‘80s teen comedies.
The script was written by “Jennifer’s Body” screenwriter Diablo Cody. This was my first time watching something written by Cody and it makes me interested in finally watching “Jennifer’s Body.” The writing had the right amount of morbid humor.
One of my favorite pastimes is watching B-level horror movies because the plots and dialogue are always bizarre and the production looks like they had the budget of a dime. This movie had a similar feel to it, but with a bigger budget. And this movie is no different mixing horror and comedy together which made it a blast to watch in the theater. The actors understood what type of movie they were in and played the characters so eccentrically.
Lisa is weird and as a fellow weird girl I felt a kinship in her love of old horror movies and The Cure. She goes full mad scientist and it was refreshing to watch a film where the mad scientist type character was a girl and not a guy with a God Complex. Newton nails the awkwardness and unhinged moments of Lisa.
Her character growth is indicated by replacing her bright sweaters and subtle makeup for a more traditional goth look of dark makeup, black tutu, black polka dots and corset tops. Her wardrobe was to die for (pun intended). Also side note I love that her room is very girlish and pink, but the walls are filled with Universal monster movie posters (specifically 1932’s “The Mummy” and 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein”) and the band Bauhaus.
In many reviews of the film Soberano performance is highlighted and I agree. Soberano’s cheerful demeanor in her acting is a contrast with the angst that Newton brings to her performance.
Cody could have easily written Taffy as the stereotypical evil stepsister whose only goal in life is to make Lisa’s life a living hell, but she doesn’t. Taffy even though she does not fully understand Lisa she does try to get her out of her shell.
Sprouse is mute (a few grunts here and there) a majority of the movie and because of this he relies heavily on body language to portray the Creature. I felt sympathy for his character while watching the film. His and Newton’s chemistry made me root for these two crazy kids to make it.
Surreal moments inspired by silent films particularly Georges Melies “A Trip to the Moon” (1902) gives “Lisa Frankenstein” a dreamlike quality. Even though it is classified as a horror movie it has a PG-13 rating so it’s not that gore heavy, but I do not think that takes away from the viewing experience. With clever camera angles and the aforementioned surreal moments it makes up for the movie not being scary.
This horror-comedy reminded me of “Heathers” (1988) with its subject matter of two teen love birds murdering people and the zany one-liners. Another movie I recommend if you liked “Lisa Frankenstein” is one of my favorite horror movies “Re-Animator” (1985) because like with “Lisa Frankenstein” it deals with the complications of bringing the dead back to life and the hilarity that comes with it.
“Lisa Frankenstein” was a nice change of pace from all the franchise movies that have been coming out in recent years. The film had me dying of laughter!