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Anybody who grew up in the ‘80s or ‘90s is likely aware of the brightly colored stickers and school supplies designed by Lisa Frank. So it’s pretty easy to assume that there’s some nostalgia-fueled intrigue for the upcoming horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein. This movie with the clever portmanteau title puts an ‘80s twist on a classic monster flick and is set to hit theaters on February 9, but critics have already had a chance to screen the movie, and some definitely liked the effort better than others.
Diablo Cody, writer of Juno and Jennifer’s Body, returns to horror with Lisa Frankenstein, and Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda Williams makes her feature film directorial debut with the story of teenager Lisa (Kathryn Newton) reanimating a Victorian Era corpse (Cole Sprouse) in hopes of creating the perfect boyfriend. In CinemaBlend’s review of Lisa Frankenstein, Sarah El-Mahmoud calls the film “plenty playful” and “deliciously gory.” She rates the upcoming horror movie 3.5 stars out of 5, writing:
Lisa Frankenstein is a fun time for horror fans who also love a classic John Hughes movie. The February release isn’t afraid to contort itself into creepy corners whilst simultaneously living in a dreamy, cotton-candy ‘80s world where grief and lust are explored with twisted passion. It’s a Frankenstein flick where the wheel isn’t being invented, but it’s a great time nonetheless.
Taylor Gates of Collider rates it 7 out of 10, calling Lisa Frankenstein “a bloody good time,” thanks to the actors’ performances, a rich script and Zelda Williams’ direction. It doesn’t do much to further the horror comedy genre, but it’s “delightful” nonetheless. Gates continues:
Though the rules of this universe and its magic system can be slightly muddled and unclear — and the ending suffers because of it, feeling a bit confusing and rushed — the world director Zelda Williams creates is still a hell of a lot of fun to live in. Because of that, some plot holes and pacing can be easily overlooked. Williams is a master of juxtapositions, masterfully balancing and blending contradictory ideas. Lisa Frankenstein pays tribute to the 1980s and the 1800s, nails comedic and horror aspects, and will be a movie you want to make both a Halloween and Valentine’s Day tradition.
Sophia Ciminello of AwardsWatch likes that the movie is endearing and unafraid of its strangeness, but it doesn’t quite find the balance between horror, comedy and revenge fantasy. The critic grades it a B-, saying:
The film escalates from a wacky teen comedy to a completely off-the-wall tale that is an uneven blend of a coming-of-age story, a horror comedy, and a revenge fantasy. Tonally, the film isn’t consistent, and I often wished it would lean even harder into its morbid, campy moments to push the story forward and to say something sharper and more specific. The body horror is particularly inspired, though. The Creature has a few missing body parts (e.g., an ear, a hand) and together, he and Lisa, decide to go on a killing spree to collect them from the living. … Like The Creature, the script begins to feel like a collection of disparate parts and ideas that struggle to come together to form something cohesive.
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times shares this view, scoring Lisa Frankenstein at 2 out of 4 stars. Hopping from horror spoof to survivor story to high school comedy camp, the movie can’t seem to decide which genre to land on. Roeper says:
Cody’s script has a few choice zingers and Williams displays a sure-handed and smooth directorial style and a good sense of timing, but there’s a lot of scenery-chewing on the part of the cast as they try to wring some laughs out of some pretty thin material. (It doesn’t help that a number of characters in this story are flat-out idiots who are less plausible than the most thinly drawn of sitcom characters.)
David Rooney of THR says the movie fails in its attempt to be a celebration of a defiant teenage weirdo and instead is a “painful” reminder of all the bad ‘80s horror comedies that never lived up to titles like Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice. Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse are more appealing than their characters deserve to be, Rooney says, writing:
If your idea of a laugh riot is a high-school dreamboat being separated from his penis by an axe while treacly ‘80s classic ‘On the Wings of Love’ soars on the soundtrack, then Lisa Frankenstein might be for you. So long as your frame of reference doesn’t go as far back as Edward Scissorhands. Diablo Cody’s screenplay about a maladjusted teen who finds a sense of purpose by bonding with a reanimated corpse delivers enough funny lines to make you want to cut it some slack for a minute. But Zelda Williams’ clunky direction soon stifles that good will as this retro-minded horror-comedy-romance lurches from scene to scene without ever building much steam.
While many of the critics praised the lead actors, they didn’t find common ground on the movie’s success overall. However, after reading these assessments, if Lisa Frankenstein sounds like a teen horror comedy that’s right up your alley despite any faults, you can catch it on the big screen starting Friday, February 9 — just in time to snuggle up to a loved one for a gothic pre-Valentine’s Day date. Be sure to also check out our 2024 movie calendar to see what else is coming to theaters soon.