When was the last time we saw a movie that targets teenagers and feel nostalgic instantaneously?
Apart from this year’s Sundance, which introduced hacked-filmmaker-and-turned-creator Megan Park’s new film “My Old Ass” (which I personally can’t wait to see), 2018 is the first answer that pops up in my mind. It’s the year we got “The Hate U Give,” “Eighth Grade,” and “Blockers” in my opinion the three most astonishing and diverse cinematic masterpieces. Or even some may add “Booksmart” from the year after. Whatever the case might be, let’s agree that it’s been a long time.
Even though it has a long way to go, on a theoretical level “Lisa Frankenstein” looks like it has the edges to become the timeless romantic comedy of the 20’s. First and foremost, it is an incredibly unique blend of different genres: a horror comedy romance written by Diablo Cody, a writer who has a remarkable understanding of the feminine essence and psychology of girls and women at different ages, and who did not shy away from coming-of-age horror flicks (“Jennifer’s Body”). Then, there is the already wonderful Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin Williams) who makes her feature directorial debut. Last but not least, the brilliant Kathryn Newton (from Blockers) plays the protagonist, who is a reclusive goth girl and falls head over heels in love with a monster.
With all these untapped resources, it is unfortunate that “Lisa Frankenstein” fails to succeed at any level whether it be comedic, a coming-of-age film, or fantastical romance, and leaves us longing for more of each bloody dish it tries to serve. The blame here lies with both the script and direction, with the former too timid and the latter merely blending the visual dullness with the story’s timidity instead of amplifying it.
The story revolves around the oddly named Lisa Swallows, a get who saw her mother being brutally murdered by an ax-wielding maniac only to watch her father wed the bigoted Janet (Carla Gugino) post the horrific event. Currently, Lisa spends her days idle, blankly staring into space at a cemetery and wishing to be with the skeletal occupant of her favourite grave which is adorned with a vintage bust. After suffering extreme torment at the hands of her school crush and her predatory lab partner, the wish she makes is a little too literal. Let’s just say the unfortunate corpse misunderstands the command and leaves behind the coffin to join her in reality.
You could not be chastised for hoping for a “Beetlejuice” level of cheekiness when diving into “Lisa Frankenstein”, aside from perhaps a pep tune and truly schadenfreude-ometer worthy performances, or at the very least some deeply Edward Scissorhands-esque soulfulness. While Cole Sprouse’s squandered monstrosity does his best young-and-sad-Johnny-Depp impression and for some time it is rather strangely pleasing to witness – the film fails spectacularly in combining its genres. Therefore, there is no syrupy, sloppy, or cringe-worthy misc en scene where even when Lisa and her zombie set out to fetch severed human limbs to finish off the Victorian fuse monster’s gory body, there seems to be no emotion in the “Lisa Frankenstein. The adventures of a psychotic teenager in the most outrageously 80s costumes this side of the “Wedding Singer” appear to be strangely effortless, even with a fully capable director Newton, in the words of Gilbert Gottfried: “What the fuhk?”
There’s some credit due to Cody for modernizing the script that he shaped in the Jill-of-all Trades, it literally becomes a gamble in the contemporary landscape as it attempts to be sympathetic to the oddball teens who wish to be appreciated just as they are. In other respects both she and Williams are clearly in step around a notion of the eighties, the high water mark of high school cinema when something like “Lisa Frankenstein” would have fit right in. Unfortunately, the duo seems to have unlearned the fundamental essence of the kind of movie they want to make in the twenty-first century. “Lisa Frankenstein” has an uncanny quality of being out of touch combined with drabness which gives it an uninspired feel, even with the overbearing presence of magenta in the production design and the power ballad “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon. At her best, Williams’ debut is most strikingly reminiscent of its titular monster: a metaphorical entity that is dead yet, so alive, and, not at all, a fighting chance. It’s a universal bummer.
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