‘Lisa Frankenstein’ 4K UHD Review

Stars: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino | Written by Diablo Cody | Directed by Zelda Williams

Billed as “a coming of RAGE story”, this undead comedy-horror is directed by Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin) and scripted by Diablo Cody, making a return to the teen girl horror genre after her 2009 cult hit Jennifer’s Body. As befits a film involving various dismembered body parts, Lisa Frankenstein is occasionally patchy and clumsily put together, but the witty script and fun performances carry it through.

Set in 1989, the film centres on Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton), who’s still withdrawn after witnessing her mother’s butchering during a home invasion by an axe murderer. Meanwhile, her taciturn father (Joe Chrest) has moved on and remarried, meaning that Lisa now has both an evil stepmother (Carla Gugino) and a popular, kind-hearted, but not too bright sister-in-law, Taffy (Liza Soberano).

After a night at a high school party goes horribly wrong, Lisa makes a wish on her favourite gravestone – that of a 19th century poet-type – saying, “I wish I was with you”. One thunderstorm later and the dead poet (Cole Sprouse) rises from the grave, and Lisa has to hide him in her closet from the rest of her family. Then she discovers that his missing body parts can be replaced by sewing on new ones and shutting him in a tanning machine with an electrical fault, so she sets out to fix him and turn him into boyfriend material.

As you’d expect from Diablo Cody, the script is full of great lines, such as Taffy lamenting that their newly-formed family need to spend more time together because, “How can we Brady, if we don’t Bunch?” However, it’s fair to say that the screenplay is stronger on dialogue than it is on actual plot, because the story never really commits to a proper direction, beyond people getting murdered for body parts.

The basic idea is that the darker elements of Lisa’s personality gradually emerge as a result of her connection with The Creature (he’s never named), but while this is obvious in her dress sense (she goes from boring to full-on movie goth, 1980s-style), it’s less clear in her behaviour and attitude and the movie rather hedges its bets on whether or not she’s gone insane (it is hinted, for example, that she may have murdered her mother, but this promptly ignored afterwards).

Fortunately, the performances make up for the script’s shortcomings. Newton (who has form for this sort of thing after Freaky) is always enjoyable to watch and is clearly enjoying herself throughout, indulging in several different looks and amusing facial expressions.

Sprouse is equally good, playing the whole part with almost zero dialogue, but still managing to give the Creature a degree of nobility and soul. He’s also very funny – the way he holds himself when Lisa is sewing on a particular appendage is genuinely hilarious and worth the price of admission alone.

There’s also strong support from Gugino, who gleefully gives it both barrels as the bitchy stepmother, while Liza Soberano is a constant delight as Taffy. Indeed, the depiction of her character emerges as the most refreshing and interesting thing about the film, since the step-sister role is almost always antagonistic, whereas here, her genuine kindness towards her step-sister effectively forms the unexpected heart of the film.

The tone may be a little off, but Williams nonetheless keeps things moving along nicely, whilst also creating a suitably nostalgic atmosphere – courtesy of some brightly coloured production design work and lighting choices – that harks back to horror comedies of the 1980s. On top of that, there are a couple of other touches that make this stand out, such as a pair of superbly made animated sequences and some terrific soundtrack choices, including one that is a guaranteed laugh-out-loud moment.

In short, Lisa Frankenstein isn’t entirely without flaws, but it delivers its fair share of laughs and is still a fun Friday night diversion, even if it doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its (body) parts. Having said that, if it ends up flopping in cinemas, it’s easy to imagine it winding up with a similar following to Jennifer’s Body once it lands on a streaming service, as it practically screams cult-movie-waiting-to-happen. Worth seeing.

Extras:

• “An Electric Connection”- A featurette on the film and characters.
• “Resurrecting The 80’s” covers the 80’s setting and production design.
• “A Dark Comedy Duo” – about the collaboration between Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams.
• Commentary by Zelda Williams.
• Deleted scenes
• Gag reel
• Theatrical trailer

*** 3/5

Lisa Frankenstein is out now on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD Collectors Edition.