If you can’t meet your perfect boyfriend… make him.
Lisa Frankenstein follows lonely teenage girl Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton, Freaky) who has recently moved to a brand new town following the brutal murder of her Mother, after her Father Dale (Joe Chrest) remarries new Step-Mother Janet (Carla Gugino, The Fall of The House of Usher). Lisa struggles to fit in at school, especially compared to her new stepsister Taffy (Liza Soberano), and instead spends most of her days in the graveyard, tending to the graves and sitting by herself. After an attempt at socialising then goes wrong and Lisa nearly ends ups assaulted she runs to her favourite grave and wishes she were ‘with’ the statue of a man she has fallen for.
Unbeknownst to her a lighting strike brings ‘The Creature’ (Cole Sprouse, Riverdale) back to life, where he then travels back to Lisa’s house and begins living in her closet. The two soon bond, with the creature encouraging Lisa to be more outgoing and in return she promises to find him the body parts he is missing. After the pair then accidentally murder Janet they develop a taste for blood and go on a killing spree, murdering for parts as well as anyone who crosses them. With the police closing in however can this new dynamic duo escape with their lives intact or will the star-crossed lovers be doomed to spend eternity apart?
This was without a doubt a film for the weirdos of the world and for me it completely hit the target market. I just felt so seen through Lisa and her antics, really relating to that socially awkward teenage phase and not fitting in with those around you. Add in the classic monster, an epic love story and just a splash of murder and you had an absolute hit on your hands, I cannot stop talking about how obsessed I am with this movie. I definitely foresee Lisa Frankenstein becoming a cult classic in the next few years and I really hope people get to find this film for themselves, it really resonates with my inner goth side.
The blend of the 80s vibe with the goth girl aesthetic was brilliant here and everything about this film was perfectly done. The music, wardrobe, general appearance and overall vibe made for such an enjoyable viewing experience and I really loved that complete contrast between the 80s pop of colour and the darker gothic moments, especially in the black and white dream sequences. Lisa Frankenstein was visually stunning and the whole thing feels like the love child of an 80s cult classic and a gothic Victorian novel, I truly cannot get enough.
With this obviously being a Frankenstein retelling I really enjoyed how the film incorporated ideas and themes from the original novel and was then able to modernise it for both a 1980s storyline but also a 2024 audience. Now I’m not exactly an expert on Mary Shelley’s original novel, I read the book back in High School and also saw the recent stage adaptation but even I was able to pick up on some of the little easter eggs and I really loved how Lisa and The Creature’s relationship mirrored the original Doctor Frankenstein and his creation. Lisa and The Creature had a very interesting dynamic, with The Creature being very co-dependant and longing for his ‘master’s’ love. Initially Lisa only bonds with Creature on a platonic level (and this might just be me but I definitely picked up on some queer themes, especially with Creature forced to ‘live in the closet’), getting him to kill her enemies and use her newfound confidence to bond with her crush Michael (Henry Eikenberry). In this regard Creature is very much a victim, linking to some of the more modern interpretations that Frankenstein’s Monster is in fact the good guy all along and the Doctor is in fact the monster, which again was mirrored in the film in a very interesting way.
Lisa was an absolutely brilliant character from start to finish and it’s kind of scary how easy I was able to relate to her. Newton gave a fantastic performance, especially acting against a mostly silent Sprouse, and she really nailed the socially awkward goth girl persona. Like I said above the vibes here were immaculate and Lisa’s wardrobe felt like a whole other character in itself and I loved how it got gradually more and more outrageous the more violent she got. Feeling very much the Veronica Sawyer of the 2020s, Lisa feels like an outcast icon and I loved her journey from wallflower to serial killer, she completely carried the film here and I just want to be her in every way I can possibly be.
Overall Lisa Frankenstein was an absolute marvel of a film and I still can’t go over how utterly obsessed I am by the entire vibe of it all. This was absolutely a film for the weirdos of the world and everything from the storyline and characters to the music and the visuals screamed classic goth girly. I really enjoyed the modern Frankenstein spin and how the film was able to adapt the classic novel for the 80s and how everything came together in a brilliant mash of romance, monsters and murder!
Ramblings of a Supposed Writer 