Lisa Frankenstein (Blu-Ray + Digital HD)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Apr 9th, 2024
Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino
Written By: Diablo Cody
Directed By: Zelda Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures
Buy on Amazon.com
If Heathers, My Boyfriend’s Back and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein mashed up and produced an uneven horror comedy that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. But hey, Diablo Cody and Robin William’s daughter Zelda wrote and directed this.
The movie takes place in the 80s, I guess based on the bitchin’ soundtrack (The Chameleons, Jesus and Mary Chain, When in Rome, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc.) and high hairdos. It follows a teenage goth girl Lisa (Kathryn Newton) who’s obsessed with an undead Victorian-era dead guy (Cole Sprouse) buried in her backyard. One night, the corpse gets reanimated and comes alive, and she develops a bond with him. They go on a murder spree for some reason, I don’t know it’s a bit fuzzy towards the end.
This movie is pure camp and while others praised it for the campiness, I just couldn’t get into this movie. I laughed at some things, but then other times things were just flat. I don’t mind the premise of a Frankenstein-like story set in the 80s, but then it goes into killing people for parts. It was just weird to me. Kathryn Newton knew the assignment, but her character isn’t that likable to begin with. Cole Sprouse (one of the twins from Big Daddy) played a mute well. Joe Chrest is just the typecast dad type stuck in the 80s now (Stranger Things).
I didn’t receive a Blu-Ray but watched the movie on Vudu (Fandango at Home is what it’s called now I suppose). There’s some bonus material to watch, along with the digital code like deleted scenes, gag reel, and other behind the scenes/making-of featurettes.
I liked the high school element of the movie, but something just feels off about Lisa Frankenstein. It doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. A horror? A comedy? Having it be both doesn’t work. At least for me it doesn’t. Others out there might enjoy this more than me.
Bottom Line: Uneven and suffers from not knowing what type of movie it wants to be.
Running Time: 101 mins
Rating: PG-13
Overall Rating:
