'Lisa Frankenstein' Review: A Quirky, Offbeat Charmer For Valentine's Day
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, director Zelda Williams has brought audiences Lisa Frankenstein, a quirky, charming throwback that is destined for cult classic status.
‘Lisa Frankenstein’ centers around a young girl named Lisa, played here by Kathryn Newton, who is an outcast at school, always quiet and timid, spending her afternoons in the cemetery while her peers go to parties. However, one night after lightning strikes her favorite gravestone, it awakens the dead young boy buried beneath who wanders into her home, thus beginning a wonderfully strange kinship between the two.
The horror comedy genre, which was once a staple in the 80s and 90s, has slowly faded into obscurity over the past decade, fewer entries hitting theaters with each passing year. Fortunately, director Zelda Williams refuses to let it go quietly into that good night. From the outset, the atmosphere, production design, and costumes are all stellar, completely immersing the viewer in the 80s. The colorful, neon-drenched cinematography pulls you in and Williams proves she has a firm grasp on the offbeat tone of the film. She was clearly influenced by Tim Burton, but that visual aesthetic works wonders for the film and perfectly suits the material.
The performances are also top-notch here, especially the two central performances from Newton and Cole Sprouse. The latter is completely mute for the vast majority of the film, but he’s able to bring a terrific physicality to the role, nailing the humor and heartache of the character with effortless ease and proving that he’s a talent that hasn’t been fully utilized just yet. However, Newton walks away with the film and is dynamite as Lisa, not only selling the shy, awkward nature of the character early on, but her transition into the charmingly deranged version of her as well. Her performance becomes completely magnetic and unpredictable, channeling a young Helena Bonham Carter in the best ways imaginable. Simply put, this film doesn’t work without their performances and electric chemistry.
The film is also written by Diablo Cody, well-known for films like Juno, Jennifer’s Body, and Young Adult. Her signature humor is splattered all over this story, which gives the film a dark, sardonic sense of humor that works to its advantage throughout. The dialogue is zany and quirky, but not overdone, striking the perfect balance between horror and comedy. Sure, this may not be her finest script and there are some pieces of dialogue that can feel a little clunky and don’t always stick the landing, but Cody’s sensibilities are a perfect match for this story. The script works far more often than it comes up a little short, giving its talented cast juicy material to work with.
The film also works as a unique coming-of-age story, Lisa’s relationship with her undead lover pulling her out of her shell and helping her overcome her childhood trauma that nearly swallowed her whole. The central relationship of the film, despite its peculiar inception, is warm and tender, never veering too heavily into gross or over the top territory. The film serves as a welcomed reminder that sometimes the most bizarre things that can happen to someone, the people they meet, can launch them into new, exciting territory, pushing them out of their comfort zone and changing their lives for the better. Telling that kind of story through this macabre, blood-soaked lens is just the cherry on top.
However, this isn’t a perfect film by any means. It suffers from two significant issues, the first of which being its pacing, which is sluggish at best. For a film that only clocks in at about 100 mins, it feels awfully long, struggling to find its footing out of the gate and moving quite glacially still once it does. The film could’ve definitely used another pass in the editing room to tighten it up and give it more momentum. Also, while its easy to understand why this film was made to be PG-13 from a financial standpoint, its clear that it yearns to be an R-rated horror comedy on several occasions. There are multiple scenes where you can feel the film being hindered by its rating, unable to deliver the visceral comedic gore that would’ve only enhanced the story and humor of the film. This is a genre comedy that needed to be let off the leash, but couldn’t break free.
Lisa Frankenstein is the kind of movie audiences rarely get the chance to see in theaters anymore, a charming throwback to the classic horror comedies of decades past. This is a film that is unfortunately destined to do poorly in theaters, but find a considerable following once it hits home video. With so many remakes, sequels, and reboots hitting theaters nowadays, it’s refreshing to see a film like this that not only shows there’s still life and charm left in this genre, but proves that Williams is a directorial voice worth following going forward.