Lisa Frankenstein Review: A Twisted Treat Of '80s Horror Comedy Pastiche For Teenage Weirdos
15 years ago Diablo Cody and Karyn Kusama joined forced to deliver "Jennifer's Body," a genuine cult classic that went from mismarketed box office failure maligned by critics who didn't understand its brilliance, to the reclaimed favorite that became one of the selling points in the marketing for "Lisa Frankenstein." Cody returns to the teen horror comedy space alongside Zelda Williams (in her feature directorial debut) with a zany, heartfelt, and unapologetically odd story about a particularly peculiar high school outcast named Lisa (Kathryn Newton) who goes on a murderous adventure with the reanimated corpse of a young man — whose grave she hangs out at — in search of new limbs, a sense of autonomy, and maybe even love.
Set against the backdrop of the candy-coated neon bubblegum of the 1980s, "Lisa Frankenstein" makes no qualms about being for weirdos, and by weirdos. It's the resulting lovechild of a raucous orgy between "Edward Scissorhands," "My Boyfriend's Back," "Weird Science," "Death Becomes Her" and in a bit of ridiculous brilliance, the films of G. W. Pabst. This is to say that some people will hate "Lisa Frankenstein," but for those who love it, it's going to be one of their favorite films of 2024. I'm thrilled to say that I am one of them, because "Lisa Frankenstein" feels like it was birthed in a laboratory specifically to appeal to my sensibilities.
Everyone wants a goth girlfriend until she starts murdering those who've wronged her to harvest their bodies for parts for her undead boyfriend, but in the case of "Lisa Frankenstein," it'll only make you love her more.
You'll fall in love with Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse
What a gift it is to exist during the same timeline as "Freaky" and "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" star Kathryn Newton to be able to see her unquestionable commitment to whatever absolute madness a script throws her way. As Lisa Swallows (the best Diablo Cody character name since Anita "Needy Les" Lesnicki), Newton is an absolute delight. Too often, "weird girl" characters in films are nothing more than goth-by-way-of-Pornhub-search-result, and not actual weird girls.
Lisa is a f***ing weirdo, and I mean that as a compliment in the highest order. She likes arthouse cinema, she outright refuses to play by the traditional rules of social interactions, and even the other art freak goths think she's too weird to be friends with. Newton absolutely nails it. Every decision Lisa makes is questionable at best, and yet we can't help but root for her to get away with it because Newton is an absolute powerhouse.
Playing opposite is Cole Sprouse, a former child star known by most as the always mouthy Jughead Jones on "Riverdale," who plays the silent, undead corpse known as "The Creature" by way of Charlie Chaplin with perfection. Sprouse delivers some of the best comedic buttons of the whole film and does so without saying a word. His performance is very reminiscent of Doug Jones in "Hocus Pocus" as Billy Butcherson, with the haunting attraction of a young Johnny Depp in "Edward Scissorhands." Thanks to a subplot involving a faulty tanning bed, "Lisa Frankenstein" literally lets the corpse tan, which means The Creature progressively gets more attractive as the film goes on. I fear for whatever fanfic will end up on A03 because of this, and his curiosity surrounding the Hitachi Magic Wand is definitely going to unlock some monsterf**ker thoughts for a lot of viewers.
Liza Soberano is the next big thing
Like the majority of films in Diablo Cody's repertoire, "Lisa Frankenstein" is also loaded with memorable secondary characters you can't help but fall in love with. The always perfect Carla Gugino channels both Joan Cusack in "Addams Family Values" and Shelley Long in "Troop Beverly Hills" (a movie she starred in as a child) as stepmom Janet, and seminal dad-figure Joe Chrest ("Stranger Things," "Assassination Nation") gets to once again play the most '80s father figure humanly possible. Lisa's crush Michael (Henry Eikenberry) channels Chad Michael Murray in "Freaky Friday" so hard that I had to do a double-take, but the real stand out is Filipina superstar Liza Soberano as Lisa's step-sister Taffy.
In lesser hands, Taffy would be nothing more than an archetypal Valley Girl coasting off of a 1000-watt smile and vocal fry, but in Soberano's more than capable hands, Taffy earns her spot in the "amazing sister" roster of the teen girl movie canon. Her comedic chops were a genuine surprise and if she's not waking up on Monday to an inbox filled with leading role offers, something is seriously wrong. She's already a huge star in the Philippines, but her performance here makes for one hell of a Hollywood debut.
In hearing the name "Taffy," I couldn't help but think of my favorite Taffy — Mink Stole's Taffy Davenport in "Female Trouble." And then, like a lightbulb, it all came into view. "Lisa Frankenstein" is what you get when you try to make a John Hughes movie after watching a John Waters movie marathon. It's hard to properly explain just how weird [complimentary] the script and tone of this movie is, but fortunately, every single actor is committed to throwing themselves completely into this maddening world of axe murder, bisexual lighting, and REO Speedwagon.
Lisa Frankenstein is the weird girl sleepover staple for a new generation
I'm desperately trying not to sound like a cliche here, but the existence of "Lisa Frankenstein" feels like a miracle. It's as if Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams took Sprouse's "I'm a weirdo" speech from "Riverdale" and turned it into an entire movie to prove the point. For all of its fantastical elements of undead boyfriends and tanning bed magic, there's a genuine message about how ungodly difficult it is to be a teenage girl in all of its forms, but that gallows humor is one of the strongest coping mechanisms to employ. "Lisa Frankenstein" is the manic, impulsive, neon-soaked little sister of Lucky McKee's "May," and the long overdue, raunchy, coming-of-rage film Gen Z has been missing.
I hope that "Lisa Frankenstein" means that we won't have to wait another 15 years for a Diablo Cody-penned teen horror comedy, but I like to think the world is finally in a place to embrace her artistry and realize what a force of nature she was with "Jennifer's Body" and continues to be today. Zelda Williams' directorial feature debut is an absolute triumph, and I have no doubt that "Lisa Frankenstein" will become a sleepover staple for years to come. Williams and Cody took a massive swing on this one, and fortunately knocked it out of the park and broke a few windows in the process. If this were actually the 1980s, this would be the film video rental stores would have to have waiting lists to check out thanks to high schoolers obsessively replaying it over and over again.
Romance is undead, and it's because "Lisa Frankenstein" is resurrecting it.
/Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10