Lisa Frankenstein
Year: 2024
Rating: PG-13
Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours
I can appreciate when movies try to do something a little different. Like how Warm Bodies (2013) made Romeo & Juliet into a zombie movie. Often, there’s some element of the public domain involved, but a good remix doesn’t negate the source material. Lisa Frankenstein (2024) takes its obvious inspiration from Mary Shelley, but with a 1980s John Hughes teen comedy slant similar to Sixteen Candles (1984) or Pretty in Pink (1986). The combo somehow works, even if its plot seems to paint itself into a corner.
Kathryn Newton kills it (har har) as the titular Lisa, giving those loner vibes that all girl protagonists from the 1980s seemed to exude before “finding themselves” and having a big glow-up. The entire premise that she’s trying to build a boyfriend with pieces of other people is grotesque, but played for laughs due to the PG-13 rating. I don’t say this often, but I think an R rating would have helped this movie’s comedy out immensely by allowing more gore. As it stands, it’s fairly safe as it’s trying extremely hard to stay in that “John Hughes” lane.
Of course, since there’s a lot of (off screen) violence, the plot heads down a path that either ends with Lisa and her boyfriend/Creature (Cole Sprouse) in jail for killing and dismembering a bunch of community members or escaping to live their new life somewhere else. Instead, it took an odd turn that I don’t entirely think made any sense. It felt like an easy out and was unsatisfying. Still, as long as you go into this movie expecting a fun time (or a nostalgic 80s trip), you’re likely to get a good chuckle or two out of it.
1800s goth meets 1980s goth, I give Lisa Frankenstein 4.0 stars out of 5.
