Lisa Frankenstein (2024) | Film Review

At this point, there might be more films shot after the 80s but taking place during the 80s than came out IN the 80s. It is easily the most popular decade for nostalgic overload, and why shouldn’t it be? It was a time of unbridled, upbeat pop music, overindulgence, bonkers accessorizing, and the height of romantic comedies buried in any genre, even horror. Films such as Once Bitten, My Demon Lover, Edward Scissorhands. It was a time where blood, laughs, and romance could quietly co-exist even if the budget was scarce. Now taking a stab at this rather tricky style is Lisa Frankenstein.

Kathryn Newton stars as Lisa, a morbid and recluse teen still reeling from the murder of her mother by an unseen maniac. Her father, Dale (Joe Chrest), has quickly remarried an evil stepmother in Janet (the gleefully manic Carla Gugino), bringing along an adorably peppy positive stepsister in Taffy (a wonderfully chipper Liza Soberano). After imbibing a little too much at a party one night, Lisa stumbles through her daily happy place – a local graveyard – and makes a wish over her favorite headstone that she could be down there with him, just as a freak storm covers the area.

Cut to the next day, and Lisa’s dream has come true… kind of. A corpse, credited solely as The Creature (Cole Sprouse), has arisen, and tracked Lisa down. Though Lisa is still smitten with a guy at school, she takes in The Creature, utilizing a shorted-out tanning bed to gradually jolt him back to life, and allowing him to murder anyone who might have wronged Lisa in the past. As her confidence evolves from this newfound power of a loving beast at her fingertips, so does the body count. But will Lisa grow to love her monster in the same way he obviously cares for her, or is this relationship doomed from the start?

Right out of the gate, director Zelda Williams gleefully captures the 80s with plush reverence and adoration. The crimped hair, neon backdrops, and choice soundtrack all accentuate this recapturing of the time period as well as an obvious appreciation for early Tim Burton films with its wickedly wild fairy tale overtures. Williams does a solid job bringing this outlandish premise to life, unfortunately, many struggles lie in the script.

Diablo Cody is a wonderful writer overall (the brilliant Juno and the underappreciated Jennifer’s Body spring immediately to mind), yet like The Creature himself, this screenplay feels far too much like several great ideas stitched together into a rough draft. Even with all of the absurdity, there is very little logic or coherence in the plot or tone that fits even within the established rules of this universe, and the film strains extremely hard in an attempt to squeeze out the quirk.

While all of the actors do their best to bring this project to life, Cole Sprouse does everything he can being limited by grunts and eye acting, none do more than Kathryn Newton as Lisa. Hitting every 80s cliché as she molds Lisa into the love child of Winona Ryder and Madonna, Newton injects nuance and subtle tics into every moment she has access to, crafting a fully memorable character rather a vaguely thin caricature.

Lisa Frankenstein struggles with maintaining its tone while simultaneously suffering from a script that wanders aimlessly searching for its own voice, but Zelda Williams effectively captures the visual palette of the time, and Kathryn Newton’s enigmatic performance nearly carries the film to cult classic status all on her own.