“Lisa Frankenstein” Review

An undead hopeless romantic (Cole Sprouse) and a lonely teenager (Kathryn Newton) begin a whirlwind gothic romance in the 1980s in “Lisa Frankenstein”.

To put my viewing of “Lisa Frankenstein” into perspective, I saw this film immediately after watching “Madame Web” and let’s just say that I really needed a film with any sense of life in it after my first screening. To my surprise and delight, “Lisa Frankenstein” was just that and so much more. With a strong blend of the campy and gothic with a gleefully twisted sense of humor, this teen-romance take on the “Frankenstein” story is a fun time that I hope gets more attention.

In 1989, Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) is an unpopular girl whose introverted demeanor is in sharp contrast with her popular stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano), who is the popular cheerleader that everyone loves.  Instead of going to parties and football games, Lisa would rather spend her days watching old horror movies, listening to The Cure and hanging out at the old cemetery where she talks to the statue of a young man who died in the 1800s. One day, a massive bolt of lightning hits the young man’s grave and brings him back to life with “The Creature” (Cole Sprouse) becoming hopelessly devoted to Lisa who decides to help her new decayed friend by improving his look with fresh body parts. 

While the basic idea of the film is based on the classic Mary Shelley novel and you could definitely draw parallels between “Lisa Frankenstein” and films like “Heathers”, “Edward Scissorhands” and “Warm Bodies”, watching this film felt so fresh and much of that is on creative voices behind the camera. Director Zelda Williams, making her feature directorial debut, has such a powerful energy that you can feel in every frame. It’s as if Williams was committed to making each scene of the film feel as crazy and entertaining as possible. 

The film’s script, penned by Diablo Cody, is wickedly delightful with the same kind of snarky wit that she used in her Oscar-winning screenplay for “Juno” and for the underrated horror comedy classic “Jennifer’s Body”. Working with stereotypes, Cody bends the archetypes of her characters to make people that feel fully realized while also having the comedic charm the film’s premise promises. 

Leading the film, Kathryn Newton is endlessly likable as the gothic Lisa whose desire for love pushes her deeper into comedic levels of psychopathy. I can just envision Cody, Willams and the film’s casting director Nancy Nayor searching for the perfect Lisa when they saw Newton’s performance as a teenage girl who switches bodies with a serial killer in “Freaky” because Newton has a very similar love of the macabre in this film. Like her murderous turn as the Blissfield Butcher trapped in the body of a teenager, Newton is relishing every scene she’s in, especially when she gets to play mad scientist with her new friend. 

Despite being silent for most of the film, Cole Sprouse uses this to his advantage by giving an expressive physical performance as the creature. Although he was dead at the time, the creature apparently knows that Lisa has spent time talking to his grave and heard how much she would like to meet him. When he comes back to life, this creature is completely in love with Lisa but she doesn't feel the same way about him, instead having a crush on the editor of her school’s literary magazine Michael Trent (Henry Eikenberry). However, she still keeps him around because she views him as her responsibility. Seeing Cole Sprouse being friend-zoned so much was constantly cracking me up and the film’s humor only goes up from there. 

While having strong roots in gothic horror, it should be pretty obvious that “Lisa Frankenstein” is a comedy and it excels in that field. I especially found it funny how quickly Lisa becomes okay with killing people for the sake of helping her new friend, much like Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors” but without the guilt. I’m sure, with all the new films and series being set in the 1980s, that the nostalgia for this decade can feel old but “Lisa Frankenstein” is smart for juxtaposing the bright kitsch of the time with the gothic nature of the story. 

Liza Soberano and Carla Gugino also leave a lasting impact on the film with two outstanding supporting roles that get as many laughs as the protagonists. Gugino plays Lisa’s stepmother and clearly relishes being as mean as possible. One of the best jokes that only I laughed at was an obvious yet clever “Rocky Horror” reference to the fact that Lisa’s stepmother is named Janet. As for Soberano, she brings much dimension to the popular cheerleader airhead archetype that everyone in the film is working to make fresh. 

I feel that “Lisa Frankenstein” has a well-executed vision but there are some factors that do work against the film. The film’s 101 minute runtime is pretty breezy and keeps things moving but the film’s ending does suffer as it feels rushed. I think there could have been more meat to the climax of the story. In terms of anything new being added to this kind of story with this aesthetic, I think that Newton’s descent into crazy is something more original but I think “Lisa Frankenstein” does have a tough go of escaping from the shadows of the other films it will inevitably be compared to. 

“Lisa Frankenstein” is one of those films that I’m sure will generate a cult-following and I'm very excited to see it prosper. I also hope that this will lead to more twisted, funny and enjoyable work from Zelda Williams because I can’t wait for more.