Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

“I have The Cure…..”

Written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body), helmed by director Zelda Williams (her feature-length debut) and featuring a cast loaded with talent, 2024’s Lisa Frankenstein has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, the writing and direction just don’t click for some reason, despite the best efforts of a very enjoyable cast. The film is pretty good, but seems to have trouble finding any direction.

The film stars Kathryn Newton as Lisa Swallows, Cole Sprouse as The Creature, Liza Soberano as Taffy, Lisa’s stepsister, Carla Gugino as Janet, Lisa’s stepmom, and Joe Chrest as Dale, Lisa’s father. The entire cast is brilliant. Sprouse manages to have a number of hilarious moments with nothing more than grunts, eye movement, and body language. Gugino is deliciously evil as Lisa’s stepmother, quickly becoming one of the most unlikable characters in the film. Chrest is pretty much the same character that he portrays in Stranger Things (Mike’s dad), albeit with a lot more heart, especially towards Taffy after an especially traumatizing event in the film. The best performances in the movie, at least in my opinion, come from Newton and Soberano. Newton’s character quickly pushed away my sentiments, turning into a monster that’s even more despicable than her stepmother. It was an excellent transition for the character despite the weak script. Her character shift didn’t sit well with me, either, but I’ll talk about that later. Soberano’s Taffy is sugary sweet, but also has an edge to her, quick to defend her misfit stepsister, but also a tad clueless about life in general. She’s the standout for me in this film.

In the film, Lisa is still recovering from the brutal murder of her mother. Her father quickly falls in love with Janet and marries her, moving himself and Lisa in with Janet and her daughter, Taffy. Lisa is an outcast and frequents the local abandoned cemetery, building a relationship with a deceased young man whose own tragic story is told in the film’s opening credits (a brilliant piece of art in my opinion). One night, the young man is resurrected by a bizarre storm. Believing that Lisa is in love with him, he finds her home and attempts to befriend her. When he learns that she wanted to be “with him” in the ground because the living are jerks and not “with him” in a romantic way, he is disappointed, but continues to care for her. Eventually the duo begin picking off the living to cull parts to repair the Creature’s body. Lisa is also hoping to have sex with her high school crush because she doesn’t want to die a virgin. Lisa and the Creature ultimately end up being hunted down by the local police for the murders. Do they make a clean getaway? Watch Lisa Frankenstein to find out what happens!

Despite a disjointed script and multiple rushed scenes, I enjoyed Lisa Frankenstein. I did not enjoy the transition of Lisa into the villain, but I did enjoy Newton in the role. When Lisa turns bad, it leaves the viewer wanting to find a new hero to cheer for and, sadly, there really isn’t one. The Creature is likable enough at first, but even his turn into a murderous villain didn’t sit right with me. Basically, the two of them were the outcasts that I wanted to support, but they turned into villains that just weren’t justified in their actions. Even poor Taffy has a brief character turn late in the film that mars her otherwise decent outlook on life. Diablo Cody’s story shoots itself in the foot by making the heroes unlikable villains.

The film does have an amazing soundtrack and amazing cinematography. I was especially fond of the cemetery scenes. I also enjoyed the hints and nods at the classic Universal monsters. Cody and Williams seemed to channel Heathers, every Tim Burton film ever made, and the lighting for every goth and/or horror kid that has a YouTube show or TikTok channel as well, as the movie is full of pink and blue neon lighting, dark comedy, and Burton-esque atmosphere. I loved the look of the film, but the script just didn’t hold up as much as it should have.

Is Lisa Frankenstein worth a look? It is if you’ve ever been the outcast, a goth kid, a horror fan, or just really, really love the aesthetic of Tim Burton. I’ll probably end up purchasing a physical copy of this film for the look alone, but I can’t say that it’s a great film. It tries very hard to capture the coolness of Heathers and the atmosphere of Burton’s work, but it just falls a tad bit flat.

Thanks for checking out my review. I’d love to see this cast return in a sequel, as I really did enjoy their performances despite the lackluster script and the character turns in the film. Williams did a fine job on her first feature-length debut, so I’m sure that she’ll only get better with more experience. I was really disappointed in Diablo Cody, she’s so much better than this film’s script shows. See you all again real soon!