The Doctor’s Diagnosis: B-
Lisa Frankenstein has been described by many critics as being like a John Hughes script directed by Tim Burton and, yeah, that is pretty accurate. Whether or not that description piques your interest will probably determine your enjoyment of this movie and I admittedly enjoyed it more than I expected. The film is quirky, fun and different in an era of stock, paint-by-numbers studio filmmaking. However, that quirkiness can only go so far. Lisa Frankenstein is an enjoyable watch, but is also too restrained for its own good.
Oddly, this isn’t a Frankenstein story at all and is actually just a zombie film. Coming from writer Diablo Cody (who brought us Jennifer’s Body) and first-time director Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin Williams), Lisa Frankenstein is set in 1989 (for some reason) and tells the story of Lisa Swallows, a lonely, goth-ish teenaged girl that likes to spend her free time in the local cemetery. In addition to having a name that predestines her for a life in porn, Lisa has a bigger problem when a lightning strike resurrects a young man from the cemetery. The Creature (as the zombie is credited) takes a liking to Lisa and the pair strike up a friendship that leads to zany hijinks, necrophilia and murder.
Even more accurate than the Hughes-meets-Burton description, I would describe Lisa Frankenstein as a cross between Heathers and Edward Scissorhands. The basic teenage nihilism and embellished characters from Heathers feature prominently in the writing, as teenaged problems are elevated ironically to the point of high literature and adult characters come across as buffoonish or humorously evil. One scene is lifted almost directly from Heathers (I won’t spoil it, but you’ll know it when you see it). Meanwhile, the hyper-exaggerated style of Edward Scissorhands is all over the film, from the animated opening titles to the pairing of magnified bright colors with muted, drab colors to create a candy-coated gothic look that will appeal to any teenaged girl that shops at Hot Topic (if that’s still a thing).
The 1989 setting is a bit distracting, though, as it factors little into the plot and very much represents a 2024 view of what the 80s were like. Nobody in this 1989 smokes, which is a popular modern revision, but I also don’t remember everything being bathed in neon light back then. 1980s décor was all about wood paneling and massive wooden cabinets that stored special dishes that you weren’t allowed to use, but modern movies make it seem like we lived in a non-stop MTV ad with weird bright red and green lighting coming from all corners. Sure, it’s a nitpick, but I think most kids now would be shocked to see how drab most houses, clothing and cars actually looked back then.
The plot is fairly generic, borrowing elements from Bride of Re-Animator, Return of the Living Dead Part III, Day of the Dead, and, of course, the seminal C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. The film wears those influences proudly, though, with Lisa even watching Day of the Dead on television at one point. Self-awareness is usually a trait that I hate in movies, but it works here as the movie clearly knows that it is mixing the tropes and shenanigans of a friendly-zombie plot with the goofball tone of Death Becomes Her. The film has a lot of obvious influences, but it comes across as a love letter to those influences rather than a rip-off.
Those are a lot of fun movies to borrow from, but the film is really hampered by the PG-13 rating. I will say that this is a rare example of a movie actually earning a PG-13 rating, unlike PG-crap like Megan and Five Nights at Freddy’s masquerading as PG-13. This is about a teenaged girl fucking a reanimated corpse and going on a killing spree and you can tell that this was originally intended as an R-rated movie. I’m sorry, but you can’t properly do a scene with a guy’s dick getting chopped off in a PG-13 film. I wish that the filmmakers (or the studio) had fully-embraced the film’s influences and just gone all out with the comedic gore that would have fit perfectly with the 80s setting.
Kathryn Newton is great as the lead and, as she did in Freaky, displays a keen ability for blending horror with humor in her performances. I laughed several times at her expressions and reactions and my wife, The Film Nurse, was laughing out loud at various points. The movie also resurrects the 80s-90s trope of having the nerdy, outcast girl being obviously really hot. She even has the equivalent of a taking-off-the-glasses moment when suddenly everybody realizes that she aint exactly ugly. Liza Soberano is also great as the oddly three-dimensional sister character and the dynamic of the entire main family is refreshingly odd and well-performed. Cole Sprouse is also funny and effective as the creature, essentially creating a slapstick version of Bub from Day of the Dead. The whole cast is honestly great and is having a ball with the material.
Lisa Frankenstein is a good movie that could have been great. If only it went full-bore instead of trying to reconcile a PG-13 rating with its own ambitions, this could have been something really memorable. As it is, the film could very well become a cult classic and seems destined to become a favorite of goth girls everywhere (if goth girls are still a thing). For me, I’ll stick with Heathers and Re-Animator until these filmmakers take another shot at it.
Image by: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Frankenstein#/media/File:Lisa-frankenstein.jpeg
