Lisa Frankenstein is an electric neon, horror comedy about a wayward teenage girl who accidentally resurrects the boy of her dreams. It’s the feature length debut for director Zelda Williams, with Diablo Cody of Jennifer’s Body and Juno fame as the screenwriter. It’s a loose adaptation of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein, borrowing the gothic aesthetic and of course Frankenstein’s monster himself. Kathryn Newton stars as Lisa, a brooding teenager who’s grappling with the tragic death of her mother, struggling to fit in with her step-family, and has difficulty making friends at her new school. After a bad night at a party, she takes a shortcut through the old cemetery and wishes she could be with the dead instead. One bolt of green lightning later and a Creature, played by a deeply committed Cole Sprouse, emerges from the ground, eager to meet his new lover.

Newton does a fantastic job keeping the whole story from going completely off the rails. She has just as much fun in her role as the more outlandish supporting cast, but still manages to find the heart and truth to Lisa’s character, even if it is under a thick layer of eye liner. The untimely demise of Lisa’s mother is a bit of eye roll inducing exposition, but it ends up really informing Newton’s portrayal. There’s a heavy grief behind her snarky quips and a deep desire to belong and be loved. It gives the actress something to return to, every time the audience starts to feel like “Why should I care about this unhinged, and eventually murderous, teenager?” or when things start to feel just a little too silly. Newton slowly pulls back the defensive layers Lisa has built up when she starts to fall in love with the Creature and in turn, it lets the audience get closer to her as well. In doing so, she brings to life a newly iconic horror comedy protagonist that can easily stand alongside the likes of Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice.

The supporting cast received some of the best comedic material in the script and are responsible for doing a bulk of the heavy lifting. These performances are the connective tissue that bridges the gap between the script’s weak plot points, helping to sustain some of the momentum lost in the film. Carla Gugino as Lisa’s wicked step-mother is a cold and judgmental psychiatric nurse who believes herself to be an “IP”, intuitive person or empath. The jokes practically write themselves here, but the dissonance Gugino captures in her performance makes every single one of them land. It was disappointing to see her absent from the entire second half of the script, despite it being necessary for the story. Maybe the character could’ve been too one note had it gone on any longer, but as the primary antagonist, the plot sort of meanders for a bit once she has been killed off. 

Sprouse as the undead 19th century lover gives a solid comedic performance with few words beyond the occasional croak and moan. The practical makeup team did an excellent job at completely transforming him into a monster and the visual storytelling that unfolds as he becomes more human throughout the film gives an extra layer of character development. The rest of the character is informed by Sprouse’s unabashed physical comedy and commitment to fully embodying the monster. His love for Lisa, grows organically and is sweet, even if his acts of romance usually involve axing one of her enemies. It is impressive what Sprouse is able to do with an otherwise blank slate of a character and succeeds at bringing the romance and horror to what otherwise is a mostly straight comedy. 

However, the star of Lisa Frankenstein is without a doubt Liza Soberano who plays Taffy, Lisa’s plucky and kindhearted step-sister. Soberano has a captivating onscreen presence and steals every scene she is in, nailing her “not always in on the joke” line deliveries. Taffy is the ever perfect, beauty queen, and hyper-feminine foil to Lisa’s gloom and doom. Soberano gives a fully fleshed out performance, providing dimension to this stereotypical character type. It’s a common trope in teen fiction, especially the kinds of 80’s movies Lisa Frankenstein is inspired by, to have a character like Taffy be shallow, dim, and usually mean spirited. Yes Taffy loves beauty pageants and may not have the quickest wit, but she is so full of love and understanding for her new step-sister. It is an interesting way to flip this dynamic on its head and gives much needed depth to this outdated and sexist character type. Taffy’s unwavering support of Lisa, right up into the film’s climax, is endearing and serves to remind Lisa that despite feeling like the world is against her, there are still genuine and kind people out there. Soberano is the (reanimated) beating heart of Lisa Frankenstein and I look forward to what she stars in next.

Lisa Frankenstein is an uneven and goofy film that does not quite live up to its predecessors. It has the horror camp elements of Jennifer’s Body without the sharp social satire that elevated that movie to cult classic status. It has the irreverent and quirky characterization of Juno which Cody won an Academy Award for, but lacks the punchy dialogue that solidified its place in film history. The film has a bit of heart underneath its campy exterior, but never lets itself fully invest in this aspect. It’s unfortunate because it does have something to say about grief and honoring the dead, both of which informs the film’s romance, but it is sidetracked by going all in on the murder hijinks. It is difficult to know where Lisa Frankenstein will land in hindsight, but for what it is, it succeeds at being a tongue-in-cheek horror romp that genre fans will appreciate. Lisa Frankenstein is a non-stop riotous, glam goth affair that unfortunately suffers from trying to be too many movies at once, but its quirky charm is sure to shock and excite.