Lisa Frankenstein

My wife and I attended a screening of Lisa Frankenstein (2024) this evening. The storyline follows a young lady whose mother was recently killed by an ax murderer. Her father remarries, and they move to a new home with her new mom and stepsister. A nearby haunted graveyard becomes her fascination, especially a young man's tombstone. One day, her prayer and lightening revive him, but he needs new body parts.

Directed by Zelda Williams in her major motion picture debut, the film stars Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), Cole Sprouse (Riverdale), Liza Soberano (Trese), Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), and Joe Chrest (Stranger Things).

The film is unfortunately uneven and has a solid beginning reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands, capturing an early Tim Burton feel with its 1989 setting. The attire, soundtrack, sets, and cinematography contribute to this atmosphere. The opening credits' animation and creative sets are praiseworthy, and the dialogue exudes cleverness with a perfect dark comedy feel. While horror elements and kills are hit or miss, the film showcases elite slow-motion blood splatter (making me wonder why more films don't leverage that special effect). However, certain scenes, like the awkward backing away and police interrogation, feel forced and out of place. The hunched-over walk scenes also detract from the overall tone. The ending, however, is a positive note.

In conclusion, Lisa Frankenstein has worthwhile elements but falls short of its potential. I would score this a 5/10 but recommend watching it once. This does have a target audience that will love it.

Lisa Frankenstein is one of those films that I don't like as much as I had hoped I would upon the first viewing, but I like it more and more every time that I see it. In that respect it is similar to Beetlejuice for me personally. A totally campy film with a lot of things that don't make sense or aren't fully explained; it feels like there are some deleted scenes that should have been left in, but maybe they were concerned about the film running too long and kept it short and simple.

Kathryn Newton gives an excellent performance as the main character, and her dad reminds me so much of the dad in Coraline.

It's simply entertaining dark humor in a teen angst storyline! I totally recommend it for a fun night out.

Essentially a blind watch, I must say I surprisingly enjoyed this film.

Lisa Frankenstein was surprisingly enjoyable. It was completely ridiculous and completely stupid, but I found its quirkiness oddly endearing and sweet.

Great performances from the supporting cast and Lisa played fantastically by the beautifully talented Kathryn Newton. She is quickly becoming a favorite actress of mine.

Overall, while I most certainly enjoyed the film, there were certain elements that didn't completely work for me that I'm sure would work for others.

Charming, endearing, and darkly humorous makes Lisa Frankenstein a worthwhile watch that I, for one, did not see myself enjoying.

PS. Still a better love story than Twilight.

IMDb: 6/10 Letterboxd: 3/5

Watched in Theaters.

"They say 'Time heals wounds' but actually, 'Time is the wound.'"

In the year 1989, one's life is about to change forever because of a storm. This is a strange take on Frankenstein's story with something special about it. A film that is entertaining enough and if you do love the 80s, that "Sweeney Todd" vibes, if you love Kathryn Newton, Jughead Jones / Cole Sprouse, this film is for you. Kudos to Liza Soberano's first appearance in a Hollywood film. She did an amazing job and deserves to have more.

Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton did deliver a good performance here too.

A film that I could recommend watching. It was fun to watch!

Loved that they still used When in Rome's The Promise in the film (not just in the trailer).

This movie is an insane humorous romp and I loved it.

Love the 80s technicolor vibes. The fun fashion and hair are always a treat. Light body horror but nothing too repulsive. Weird off beat writing and a bizarre love story that is so bizarre I needed to see how it played out haha. If you want a serious horror flick I can guarantee this won't do it for you. But if you enjoy somthing that is silly and it knows it youll love it. With light hearted gore and caricature characters it fits perfectly in with a triple feature night of Heathers and death becomes her. Also if you love either of these main actors you're in for a treat. A fun silly halloween flick for those not into actual horror.