There’s sort of a slump in movie releases lately with choices seemingly at the bottom of the barrel – at least in my opinion.
Then again, maybe it’s just the fact that February is such an uninspiring month for me.
Still, I decided to take a chance on “Lisa Frankenstein” after hearing it’s gotten such mixed reviews from “professional” critics.
I was pleasantly surprised by its rampant run through teenage movie genres to be so entertaining by the end of it all – I think placing it squarely in the 1980s certainly helped.
Lisa Frankenstein is an American comedy horror film directed by Zelda Williams, in her feature-length directorial debut, and written by Diablo Cody.
The film stars Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, and Carla Gugino.
Clocking in at 101 minutes long, the film is rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, sexual material, language, sexual assault, teen drinking, and drug content.
In 1989, Lisa Swallows (Newton) is a lonely weird girl still reeling from her mother's gruesome axe murder a few months earlier.
Her father Dale (Chrest) remarries a horrid and narcissistic woman named Janet (Gugino), while Lisa gains a stepsister named Taffy (Soberano).
She spends much of her time in a local bachelor's cemetery, much to the chagrin of her stereotypical family.
After an unfortunate tanning bed electrocution, Lisa ends up at a party where she is ultimately drugged and almost sexually assaulted.
However, whilst in the middle of her drug trip, Lisa returns to the cemetery and speaks to the grave of a young Victorian man who died in 1837 saying she wishes she were with him.
A bolt of green lightning strikes the grave after Lisa leaves the grounds, and the young man is brought back to life as a lovesick zombie, known in credit as "The Creature" (Sprouse).
While Lisa is left home alone, the Creature breaks into the Swallows' residence and chases her down – triggering memories of her mother’s death.
Despite her initial fear, decides to hide the creature and keep him safe in her bedroom closet.
The Creature, as a traditional undead, is nonverbal, missing multiple body parts, and extremely dirty, and he expresses some semblance shame at realizing all of this.
Lisa helps him get bathed and after a silly fashion show, ends up dressing him in something they can both agree on before he spends the night in the closet.
Roughly a day later, Janet antagonizes Lisa and threatens to send her to an asylum, the Creature spontaneously kills Janet.
The Creature then cuts off Janet’s left ear, hoping the now unsympathetic Lisa can attach it to his head.
He manages to explain to Lisa that, with electrocution, new body parts can become one with him, and she puts him into Taffy's tanning bed to do so.
Lisa later lures her classmate Doug, her former assaulter, so that the Creature can cut off Doug's right hand.
In Doug's panic, the Creature ultimately kills him and hides the body along with Janet's in the bachelor’s cemetery.
With these new attachments, the Creature starts looking more like his old self, and he and Lisa start to bond.
While I didn’t find the film to be anything groundbreaking or awe-inspiring, it was fun and had an abundance of teenage clichés.
I recommend this flick if you’re a fan of other horror/comedy mash-ups like “The Lost Boys”, “Jennifer’s Body”, or “Warm Bodies.”
