Lisa Frankenstein review: Diablo Cody’s triumphant return to teen girl horror
Prepare to fall in love with a goth weirdo and her undead BFF in Zelda Williams’ feature debut
Screenwriter Diablo Cody was done dirty upon the release of Jennifer’s Body, a horror film inappropriately marketed to teenage boys that only later found its proper cult following in the form of terror-loving girls and women. It’s heartening then that Cody was not put off from returning to teen girl horror with director Zelda Williams to present Lisa Frankenstein, a film more appropriately sold as a pastel gothic ode to the teen girl movies of the ’80s and, perhaps more obviously, to cinema’s most famous undead monster.
In practice, it’s like a gothic negative print of She’s All That filtered through early Burtonesque whimsy, a la Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice. Wearing those inspirations on its sleeve is enough to hint at an exciting blend of high school drama and bloody body horror hijinks, but Lisa Frankenstein has such an immaculate sense of identity that it transcends the impression that it’s cobbled together from the dead parts of other films, strutting confidently into the annals of teen horror royalty in its own right.
Soft-spoken Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) struggles with living in a new town with a new stepmother (a deliciously wicked Carla Gugino) and stepsister (a bubbly Liza Soberano) after her mother was murdered and her father (Joe Chrest) has emotionally shut down. Her only solace is a gravestone in an abandoned cemetery, where she lusts after the bust of a handsome, long-dead man. However, after a freak lightning storm strikes the grave, the dead man (Cole Sprouse) comes to life, following up on Lisa’s professed desire to be together.
Storing the shambling monstrosity in her closet like a rotting E.T., Lisa soon finds that this mute companion is the perfect sounding board for her to finally open up about her feelings. This sets up an engrossing dynamic wherein the monster encourages Lisa to lean into her darker impulses in terms of fashion, attitude, and, eventually, murder for the sake of harvesting replacement body parts. The combination of Newton’s hypnotically awkward charisma and Sprouse’s flailing sad puppy dog routine makes them an instantly iconic couple, and the more messed-up their gruesome motivations become, the more likable and relatable they are in their oddness.