Lisa Frankenstein follows Lisa (Kathryn Newton), a shy teenage girl who lives with her father (Joe Chrest) and her new stepfamily (Liza Soberano as Taffy and Carla Gugino as Janet) after losing her mother in a horrific tragedy. One stormy night, an unusual set of circumstances reanimates a corpse (Cole Sprouse) whose grave Lisa had been tending in an abandoned cemetery. Lisa must keep her new companion hidden from her family and help him replace a few body parts- at a bloody price.

I already had a feeling that I would love this movie based on the cast alone- specifically, Kathryn Newton, who was incredible in 2020’s Freaky, and Carla Gugino, whom I have adored in every Mike Flanagan project I’ve seen her in. Neither actor disappoints; Kathryn does an excellent job showing Lisa’s arc from a traumatized wallflower to a confident (and slightly unhinged) young woman, and Carla Gugino gives a fantastic performance as a truly punchable evil stepmother. The standouts for me, however, were Liza Soberano as Lisa’s ditzy but kind stepsister, whose comedic timing and genuine sweetness perfectly match the character’s nickname of “Laffy” Taffy, and Cole Sprouse as The Creature; his physical comedy is so good, and despite having no real dialogue until the very end of the movie, he manages to make low, guttural moaning sound adorable.

Besides being well-acted, this movie looks incredible. Despite it being a horror movie, it’s so shiny and colorful; even the darker scenes are glossy and vibrant. The late 80’s costuming and hair and makeup is so much fun, especially Lisa’s as she gains more confidence in her style, although I really loved her look pre-corpse revival; her wild curly hair and Victorian features made me think of Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley in Ken Russell’s 1986 film Gothic, and considering the subject matter of this film, I wonder if that styling was intentional.

Writing-wise, I love how the script captures the fun and wackiness of an 80’s comedy, matching the movie’s visual setting in tone as well. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud lines of dialogue and none of it comes across as forced or quippy (as much as I love screenwriter Diablo Cody, this was a concern I had going in). My main gripe is that the pacing is uneven; the inciting incident feels rushed and a little confusing, as does the end. At a modest runtime of an hour and 41 minutes, I feel like a little more time could have been spent fleshing those parts out a bit without the movie feeling too full.

Overall though, Zelda Williams’s feature directorial debut is an incredibly enjoyable horror comedy. While I know it’s being marketed as a fun Valentine’s Day movie, and it of course has solid Halloween vibes, I would absolutely watch this any time of year.

Have you seen Lisa Frankenstein? What did you think?

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