THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We all know we gotta adapt in life to thrive, but no one really says how and in Lisa Frankenstein, there was quite an alternative route.
PLOT
The 2024 film takes place in 1989 and follows Lisa Swallows grieving over the death of her mother who was murdered two years prior. Her father Dale however quickly moved on when re-marrying Janet, who has a teenage daughter of her own named Taffy. Taffy tries to maintain a healthy relationship with Lisa and wants her to fit in, as she spends most of her time at an abandoned cemetery. When trying to socialize at a party, she has an awkward encounter with her crush Michael Trent and ends up accidentally getting drugged after having a laced drink. After almost being sexually assaulted by her lab partner Doug, she goes back to the cemetery and speaks to the grave of a Victorian man who died in 1837, expressing her desire to be with him. That wish quickly comes true when lightning strikes the said grave and brings him back as a zombie. Originally scared as the creature would briefly chase her and make a mess around the house, Lisa would be in awe of his reawakening. She keeps his presence secret when her family comes back from the theater, who were in shock to find the mess left behind. Lisa makes up that a burglar appeared, but Janet claims she’s acting out for attention. The following day, she would threaten to send her to an asylum but that is prevented when the Creature kills her. He and Lisa cover it up by burying her in the cemetery. Lisa also sews up Janet’s ear to the Creature’s body and electrocutes him with Taffy’s tanning bed to make the limb worth the rest of his body. She chooses to further bond with the zombie when killing Doug and using his right hand to sew to her new companion. With each electrocution, he starts resembling the way he was before he died. As investigation begins for the missing persons, Taffy sulks over Janet’s disappearance while Lisa is unfazed. She even avoids implication when finally choosing to pursue Michael as she wants to lose her virginity to him. Sadly, she would find herself lividly disappointed to find Taffy in bed with him, when she knew was into him. Just when Michael admits he was never into her, the Creature retaliates by severing his penis which causes him to bleed to death. He almost kills Taffy too, but Lisa intervenes and spares her when she knows she was mostly kind beforehand. In exchange of returning sympathy and kindness, she gives her her mother’s rosary. When she confronts the Creature at the cemetery, she realizes how much he’s fallen for her. They rush back home however when throwing a cop into an open grave puts them back into the suspect list. Lisa sews Michael’s penis to the Creature so they can have sex and afterwards, she asks to be electrocuted to avoid arrest. He does what she requests as she gets burnt to death on the tanning bed. The film ends in a time jump showing Lisa resurrect after lightning struck her own gravestone and the Creature has already regained his voice.
THOUGHTS
If you didn’t think writer Diablo Cody didn’t push boundaries with her horror enigma that was Jennifer’s Body, she does here and with Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, helming the director’s chair, it makes the whole film fun as well. The premiss of falling for a zombie ain’t new yet feels refreshing since it’s still a rare kind of tale. Since it’s clear how abnormal it is, it’s let loose to be funny in the right ways. I mean it’s hard to keep a straight face on the normalcy of seeing someone slowly put a zombie back together with sewing and electricity. The chemistry between Kathryn Newton & Cole Sprouse was incredible as they played off each other so well in their respective roles. They’re able to become their characters thanks to the incredible combo of makeup/costume design. With every second together, they’re making you smile for the bond they make for what’s unordinary to others but normal to them. We root for them no matter how weird it gets we see how they relate to their own heartache. The Creature died alone after being rejected by someone he first fell for, as shown in the animated intro. When he came back, he fell for Lisa so fast because he was so flattered in actually seeing him for what he can do, which was being an incredible pianist he expressed when having the chance. Lisa was more emotionally alone than ever because the love of her mother was so strong it didn’t feel possible for her to move on so fast like her dad did. She felt so attached to the Creature because he was willing to listen to how grief stricken she was. The time they put in respecting each other’s perspectives, it was an easier decision for them to decide in protecting each other and becoming meant to be. Their dynamic teaches the lesson that you can find an equal as long as you put effort into it. If their happily ever after involves being dead together, then nothing was gonna stop them from having that no matter how tragic it would be. In the very least, at least they found happiness in the long run whereas everyone else did not in comparison. Surprisingly, the only one before the Creature that put an effort in showing compassion towards Lisa was Taffy. Liza Soberano made her feel grounded because despite being obliviousness to her selfishness, there was no doubt she tried to help Lisa regain comfort in socialism. Since her biological father was out of the picture, she had an idea on how she was feeling and did whatever she thought would help her fit in. She was undoubtedly in the wrong when it came to sleeping with Michael, but she redeemed herself when keeping secret of the Creature to Dale because he would never understand how much she meant to her. Wearing the rosary now, it’ll give her the motivation to do right by others and prevent being the mean girl. You can joke that Dale was the villain since Joe Chrest made him too dense to notice how much help her daughter needed. But in a truthful sense, the real villains are those who intentionally harmed her. Henry Eikenberry made such a prick out of Michael for playing him as a self absorbed figure who only wanted to sleep with girls that don’t share the same interest as him, girls that were basically too dumb to function. He saw Taffy like that and rather than being upfront with Lisa, he pays the price in hysterical fashion. Bryce Romero definitely got on my nerves as Doug for being too selfish of a boy who used mixed signals as his excuse to try taking advantage of Lisa, so I didn’t even flinch when he got what was coming. When it comes down to it, the boys don’t top the impact made by Janet because Carla Gugino slays as a narcissistic bitch. She never cared for Lisa at all and was only concerned for herself, believing her duty as nurse gives an excuse to take it out on her. She never wanted Lisa to be part of her life because she only wanted Dale, which put them at odds very quickly. Every time she talked down on her to the point Taffy disagreed with her point of view, you knew she was bound for a comeuppance. The big surprise though was how fast it happened and from there we knew this was a different kind of narrative if the presence of the creature wasn’t enough to imply it. With all the ties that got cut in advance, there’s no doubt Lisa is in content with the new life she made for herself. This movie was fun to watch in more ways than one, but fun stuff like this don’t excuse some things that bothered me storywise. For example, Taffy should’ve taken Lisa home after she got drunk. No matter the generation, it’s guaranteed to go alone in her condition and she’s lucky nothing happened to her at that point. It was one thing for the neighbors to ignore Lisa too, but how could they not be fazed of seeing a zombie chasing her? It’s not like that was her dad pranking her if that were ever possible. The tanning bed did become useful for Lisa for the most part, but why should Taffy keep it if it’s broken to the point you can get electrocuted? Just because she won it for free, doesn’t mean she needs to keep it. Based on how fancy their house is, there’d be nothing wrong in getting a new one. And my head shrugged like crazy when Dale only noticed the Wite-Out on Lisa’s hands and not the freaking blood? I mean that is a really blind man for one who has glasses. Speaking of which, how did Lisa not clean up the blood after Janet died? That should’ve been a priority right after the body was hidden. And lastly, she should’ve snuck into school at night to lure out Doug with the letter. I mean you’re bound to get caught if you’re gonna do it during a school day no matter how alone she thought she was. Other than that, this movie is still a blast. In short, Lisa Frankenstein is the definitive answer for what coming of rage stories look like. If you dig the combo of horror comedies, this one is meant for you.
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