Lisa Frankenstein seems to have the recipe for a perfect horror film: It is set in the ’80s, riffs on an already beloved horror icon, has slasher elements and is a mix of camp and gothic. Sadly, though this film had every opportunity to be wonderful, it’s a dud.
Lisa Frankenstein came out this year and was directed by Zelda Williams, the daughter of Robin Williams. It is her directorial debut for a feature film. Set in 1989, the movie centers on 18-year-old Lisa, played by Kathryn Newton. Lisa fits easily into the archetypal misunderstood teen goth girl, with an evil stepmother to boot.
She’s obsessed with one particular dead Victorian man—whose name we never learn—played by Cole Sprouse. Do you know those actors who can just never believably play someone before the year 2000? Cole Sprouse might be the greatest example of this phenomenon. Plus, I hope it’s not just me, but every time I see his face I’m reminded of his Riverdale “weirdo” monologue.
Anyway, after a party Lisa attends goes horribly wrong for her, the dead Victorian is resuscitated by a lightning bolt and goes to visit her. What follows is a series of murders committed by the duo to stitch the undead Victorian back into a whole man, using the body parts of the murder victims.
I’ll start with what I like about the film, because I’m trying to be an optimist. The introduction sequence is this really sweet cartoon detailing the life of the undead man, and it made me think: Wow, this is going to be a great film. The aesthetics overall are wonderful. The ’80s style isn’t overdone, and Lisa’s goth persona doesn’t seep into every inch of the film. Her outfits, post-murdering, are super cute.
I also loved the soundtrack, but that might be just because there was an Echo & The Bunnymen song in a scene. Additionally, I think the family dynamics are well done. Lisa’s stepsister, Taffy, isn’t demonized just for being her stepfamily, or for being popular and pretty. In fact, Lisa and Taffy have a really sweet friendship.
Sadly, those are all of the pros I can mention. A major flaw of the movie is that it had no clue what it wanted to do. The film itself was a Frankenstein of sorts: Every scene, stylistic choice and character decision seemed pieced together haphazardly. It was as if Williams had too many ideas for individual scenes and shots, and she threw them in randomly without thinking how the parts would fit into the whole.
Remember how I said Taffy wasn’t demonized? I’m not completely sure about that— because so often her actions didn’t mesh with the rest of her personality. At times, she was sweet to her odd new stepsister, but at others, she backstabbed Lisa. Each murder scene was stylistically executed (no pun intended) in a different manner, which was upsetting. Each was stylistically interesting, but put together, they felt disjointed.
Also, the timing was never done well. Boring, unimportant scenes went on too long, and the most important ones were completed swiftly. Not to mention all the loose threads that went ignored— early on, it’s mentioned that Lisa’s mother was murdered, and her killer was never found. Just think about how easily that unsolved crime could have been a subplot! Imagine my disappointment when her mother’s death was never brought up again. There was also a strange dream sequence, set in the Victorian era with Lisa as the bride of Frankenstein, and this dream never came up again.
Overall, Lisa Frankenstein wasn’t horrible, despite my many complaints. It’s a cute, entertaining movie, with an enjoyable romance at its core. I could give Williams the benefit of the doubt and say she was so committed to Frankenstein that she chose to direct a pieced-together monster of a film! I would recommend watching it if you had time to kill, but sadly, this film’s biggest flaw is probably its price point. It’s available on five platforms and costs $20 on each one. I’m pretty sure that’s the scariest part of this whole movie.