The ‘80s-themed horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstein opens with Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton), who has already survived a slasher movie in which her mother was killed by a masked psychopath. This is shown in a riotous flashback by Diablo Cody, the screenwriter of Jennifer’s Body, and first-time-feature director Zelda Williams. The grieving Lisa has bigger terrors to face, such as the uptight narcissist her insipid father (Joe Chrest) married, the challenges of a new high school in a new town, and the complex sexual dynamics of adolescence. The frizzy-haired loner prefers the company of the dead and takes a particular interest in a tombstone in a derelict cemetery. It belongs to a Victorian pianist (Cole Sprouse) whose tragic death is attractively depicted in black-and-white over the opening credits, setting up his eventual resurrection and vengeful connection with Lisa.
Lisa Frankenstein is a quirky and campy film that lacks the sharpness of Cody’s previous works due to its PG-13 rating. Newton’s portrayal of Lisa is a whirlwind of slapstick, with Williams’ direction emphasizing the visual humor in ways that the dialogue doesn’t always match. The jokes may be a bit ordinary, but Newton’s wide-eyed and droll performance ensures most of them earn a laugh.
This is very much The Kathryn Newton Show, but Sprouse throws himself flamboyantly into his gruesome role. He’s playing a mostly mute character but proves to be a gross yet endearing romantic lead and the subject of a nostalgic makeover sequence that’s sure to please Clueless fans. The film is packed with references to ’80s and ’90s cinema, and Newton is paying homage to Winona Ryder by engaging in a toxic, murderous romance like Veronica in Heathers while channeling the macabre fixations and awkward demeanor of Beetlejuice’s Lydia Deetz. The film also includes vintage Tim Burton references, such as the juxtaposition between Lisa’s dark fashions and her family home’s pinks and pastels, as well as Sprouse’s portrayal of a misunderstood “monster.”
The movie piles on the high-school comedy clichés, but Cody also flips those tropes on their heads. Taffy (Liza Soberano), Lisa’s stepsister, is written more like a friend than a foe. Cody further skewers nerd and cool-guy archetypes by offering a female protagonist who’s smart and cultured, and whose coming-of-age journey catapults her into becoming even more unapologetically herself. Unfortunately, a late-stage speech about “cool guys not wanting cool girls” lacks the weight to warrant such sincerity in a film overflowing with silliness.
Lisa Frankenstein might not prove as timeless as the movies it references, but it’s fun and frothy enough to pass the time for now. A period-appropriate namecheck of The Cure earns one of Newton’s biggest laughs, and the pioneering British goths provide one of the many ’80s bangers soundtracking the whimsical antics of this antiheroine and her undead beau. Plus there’s a few horny black-and-white live-action and animated sequences, with nods to The Bride of Frankenstein and Georges Méliès’ Le voyage dans la lune to further tickle classic film fans’ fancies.