Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse and Lisa Soberano
Directed by: Zelda Williams
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 101 minutes
Focus Features
Movie Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
Blu-Ray Score: 4 out of 5 Stars
I’m not really one to talk about the qualities of feminist horror. Not because I don’t like it, but mainly because I’m a man and I’m more than likely going to miss the point. For example, I probably dismissed “Jennifer’s Body” in 2009, solely for its similar feel to the “Twilight” films of the time. Now it’s considered a feminist cult classic. I guess I should re-watch and re-evaluate my attitude towards it. So, I approach “Lisa Frankenstein” cautiously, enjoying the elements I liked and questioning whether or not my dislikes are merely a viewpoint that I’ll need to re-evaluate in 15 years.
When we first meet Lisa (Kathryn Newton), she seems like a modern-day Lydia Deetz, with a wardrobe consisting solely of black-on-black and spending her free time at an abandoned cemetery with her nearest, dearest and deadest friends. We’re uncertain if she’s always been the gloomy outcast, but she explains that her more morose attitude is because of the death of her mother, at the hands of a serial killer slasher. Her father quickly remarries Janet (Carla Gugino), a less than caring stepmother who seems to believe Lisa is the embodiment of every cautionary 80s and 90s PSA about teenage drug use, sex and violence. On the flip side is Lisa’s new stepsister, Taffy (Lisa Soberano) with a personality brighter than the sun.
Taffy, always looking to please her stepsister, doesn’t question anything when Lisa joins her at a house party. Lisa’s intention? Hoping to connect with the cute boy at school who may or may not have a thing for Taffy. During the course of the night, Lisa partakes in a spiked drink, gets incredibly loopy, struggles to get a creep off her and ignores the Biblical lightning storm that resurrects a young Victorian man (Cole Sprouse) in her favorite headstone hangout. The man, simply referred to as the Creature in the film’s credits, goes straight to Lisa who has spent who knows how much time opining about love and loss at his gravestone. The rest of “Lisa Frankestein” involves watching Lisa and the Creature, copy and pasted from Tim Burton’s universe, as they stick out and get in trouble in this John Hughes-esque world.
Despite its glorious goth nature, the film never capitalizes on the 80s aesthetic. There are actually more Gen X vibes in the film’s promotional material than there is in the actual film. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it makes you wonder how much more visually stylish and eye-catching “Lisa Frankenstein” could have been. What it lacks in, it makes up for in dark humor, high school hijinks, and Newton’s magnetism as the lead. The film is also surprisingly energetic, a course of electricity runs through everyone, living and dead. The audience also has to see how it all plays out as Lisa loathes the living to the point that she begins creating her own reality through the Creature.
While the film’s flaws don’t derail the whole thing, they do eat at the back of your brain. There’s a lot of dangling plot threads, like the masked serial killer who killed Lisa’s mother, Taffy connecting with her stepdad, and the fact that as people begin dying, no one seems to be concerned or curious about it. In that regard, it feels a bit like “Heathers.” The absolute lunacy of these situations seems to be like everyday disturbances and the characters at times struggle to state why these issues are minor inconveniences. I’m not sure if the issue is Diablo Cody’s script, Zelda Williams direction, or a combination of the two. It could also be that the studio kneecapped the film, demanding a PG-13 to better sell tickets. I can only imagine the macabre ideas that could have been with an ‘R’ rating. However, I honestly don’t think any of my issues haunt the film. “Lisa Frankenstein” is a late night, teenage popcorn flick. I imagine the film is best viewed in pajamas at a sleepover. Maybe 15 years from now, I’ll see if it is a midnight masterpiece.
For big fans of this film, the “Lisa Frankenstein” blu-ray is loaded. First off, it has a fantastic feature commentary with Director Zelda Williams. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of solo commentaries, but Williams holds her own as she dissects her first film. The blu-ray also comes with deleted scenes and a gag reel that highlights the onset shenanigans. The other features serve as behind-the-scenes peeks that feature interviews with Williams, writer Diablo Cody and others.