Lisa Frankenstein

Summary

“You cut it off for me?”

Universal Pictures took a big swing for the fences with Zelda Williams’s first film Lisa Frankenstein. Written by Diablo Cody, the film is a comedy that also deals with cold blooded murder and romance between a gothic teenager and a reanimated corpse from the Victorian Era. Marketed as a “coming of RAGE story,” the film was made for roughly $13 million but it failed to do much at the box office with just under $10 million in ticket sales. Critically the film was also pretty divisive with some less than favorable reviews more prevalent than positive reviews. That said, the film will more than likely find a second life as a cult picture in the years to come simply based on its bizarre darkly comedic premise. I watched it the other night.

Lisa (Kathryn Newton) has recently moved in with her stepmother Janet (Carla Gugino) and stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano.) Her supportive father Dale (Joe Chrest) remarried after Lisa’s mother was killed by an axe murderer. Lisa has trouble fitting in with the girls at her new school because she tends to be more Gothic despite Taffy’s numerous attempts to help Lisa make friends with the other girls. Lisa likes to read at the local cemetery and finds herself drawn to a specific grave. When she leaves a necklace of hers on the dead man’s grave, she has no idea that an electrical storm will cause lightning to strike and the dead to rise. The creature (Cole Sprouse) finds his way to her house. When she opens the door for him, at first she is frightened, but soon she cleans him up. Through a series of circumstances, Lisa begins helping the creature to rebuild himself through a combination of murder and electric shocks from a dysfunctional tanning bed.

Lisa Frankenstein is a somewhat difficult film to review, because there are so many elements that work and a number of elements that I thought felt half baked. I have been a fan of Diablo Cody’s writing since Juno, and I thought in particular her film Young Adult was very good. I have found her writing to be extremely well thought out in prior films and I could see what she was going for with Lisa Frankenstein. The film has some dark comedy elements a la the high school film Heathers and an excellent Eighties soundtrack that elevates the film. The dialogue for the most part is clever and funny. The issue with the writing regards the essentially callous ways in which the murders are committed in the picture. Only one of the few characters who died in the film seemed like they really had it coming which I thought was a weird choice. The film suffers from wild tone changes and, at the core, necrophilia is pretty nasty, so the core romance feels off-putting. It is not the fault of Zelda Williams or her cast that bring the very best out of the script – Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, and Carla Gugino all do well in the film – the problem lies in the writing. 

I talked with my sister the next day about the film and the conflicting feelings we both shared towards the picture. I definitely was entertained and laughed at a lot of the sequences in the picture, but I also felt like with just another quick polish of the script the film could have been better. At the core of it, the romance between alive and dead may have always been doomed to fail, but I think a little bit smoother transition between some of the more serious and more comedic moments in the film could have been a big help to the film. As it stands, Lisa Frankenstein is definitely an interesting curio that I think will probably attract a dedicated cult audience while repelling many others. I find myself at a loss as to whether I should recommend viewing the film or not. 

Video

Lisa Frankenstein has been released onto Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in 1080p. The film was shot using digital film and Arri cameras using Panavision lenses. The mastering of the film was performed digitally in 4K. As has recently been the case with many of the studio Blu-ray releases, the film looks pretty damn good on the Blu-ray format. The cinematography by Paulo Huidobro is well rendered with enough neon Eighties touches to appeal to nostalgists. The film has style, even if it does not explode off the screen like Universal’s recent film Renfield. Lisa Frankenstein was shot in New Orleans, but it never explicitly refers to New Orleans. Fans of the picture should be pleased with how the film looks on Blu-ray, with only a few small compression anomalies to deal with. Unless the film is brought to 4K UHD, this is a totally acceptable way to experience the film.

Audio

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track sounds pretty good as well. The film is at its best when its excellent soundtrack kicks in, whether it is the Pixies’ song “Wave of Mutilation,” or “The Promise” by When in Rome. The soundtrack is one of the most consistently successful aspects of the picture and it sounds great in the 5.1 track. Dialogue is rendered clearly. While an Atmos track would be welcome, this track is more than capably done.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Zelda Williams 
• Gag Reel 
• Deleted Scenes 
• An Electric Connection 
• Resurrecting the ’80s 
• A Dark Comedy Duo

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.5/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Supplements: 3/5

Overall – 3.5/5

Lisa Frankenstein comes very close to being a great high school dark comedy in the same vein as Heathers, but the central romance between a living teenager and a reanimated corpse tends to just be too off putting to completely work. Despite solid direction by Zelda Williams (in her directorial debut,) and a very good cast of actors, the film suffers from extreme tonal shifts that make the whole film feel a bit wobbly. I really like Diablo Cody’s writing, especially on her film Young Adult, but I think this script just did not quite come together. Fans of the picture will be happy to see that Universal’s Blu-ray offers solid technical specs and some enjoyable supplements. For those curious about the picture, I would recommend a rental prior to a purchase.