Film Review: Lisa Frankenstein delivers an offbeat blend of gothic romance and 80's spoof
Cole Sprouse stars as The Creature and Kathryn Newton as Lisa Swallows in Lisa Frankenstein. Picture: Michele K. Short / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
- Lisa Frankenstein
- ★★★★☆
- Cinema release
Lisa Frankenstein (15A) stars Kathryn Newton as Lisa Swallows, a frizzy-haired high school teen who accidentally reanimates an 18th century corpse (Cole Sprouse) whilst tripping on PCP.
The Creature, alas, is lacking some body parts — an ear here, a hand there — and so Lisa and her mouldering beau embark on a killing spree to restore the Creature to full capacity.
Written by Diablo Cody and directed by Zelda Williams, this is an offbeat blend of fairytale, gothic romance, and 1980s spoof that sneakily subverts the teen movie tropes.
The Creature’s amorality liberates Lisa’s simmering rage against her wicked stepmother Janet (Carla Gugino), a liberty-taking classmate, and the bland assumptions of middle-class suburbia in general, inspiring her to channel a lethal brand of rebellion that involves considerably more hacking, hewing, and decapitations than is customary in tales of teen refuseniks.
It won’t be to everyone’s taste but Kathryn Newton’s dust-dry comic delivery as she channels the evil alter-ego of Stevie Nicks is a joy to behold.
