Remember 1985’s “Weird Science”? That’s the one where two bozos design their ideal woman on a computer, and a freak electrical accident brings her to life in the form of Kelly LeBrock. Well, screenwriter Diablo Cody has decided to riff on that film, in her ever-obsessive ‘80s fandom, but switched the genders around — there’s also a little bit of Burton-esque goth added to the mix.
Cody wrote the script for Lisa Frankenstein” and enlisted Zelda Williams, in her directorial debut, to helm the proceedings. The result is a lifeless rom-com about outcast Lisa Swallows (the lovely Kathryn Newton) who spends an alarming amount of time at the local cemetery, only to accidentally wish for a 200 year old Victorian era corpse (Cole Sprouse) to spring back to life.
Lisa, whose mother was murdered by an ax-murder, don’t ask, lives with her weakling dad (Joe Crest), and a stepmother from hell (Carla Gugino). At least she has step-sister Taffy (Liza Soberano), a ditzy cheerleader who tries her best to make Lisa feel at home.
They all have no idea that Lisa is hiding a living corpse in her closet, nor do they suspect that she’s actually murdering people to revive him with organ parts. Sure, the townspeople Lisa kills are fairly awful individuals, but it’s still murder. And so the film goes on, from horror to high school comedy to, even, Lisa getting sexually assaulted at a party. It’s a mess.
Yes, this is camp, pure and unadulterated camp — minus the fun. Williams doesn’t want to push her film into more creative territory. She doesn’t embrace the preposterous nature of what she’s been handed here. Some scenes are played too straight, and not in the way Cody intended them to be performed.
“Lisa Frankenstein” is rated PG-13, so certain creative restrictions had to be made here. The film, a little too clever for its own good, has no narrative momentum, its characters feel like cardboard and the story is lazily told. Lisa eventually falls hard for the corpse which results in some soapy YA inspired moments.
Cody’s witty screenplay isn’t necessarily the problem as much as the execution. Williams’ direction is lifeless. She takes the story of a misunderstood teenager, and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse, and renders it devoid of energy. Instead of feeling like an homage to the films she grew up with, “Lisa Frankenstein” is dated and monotonous in nature.
Eventually, things are kicked up a notch at the climax, the absurd becomes the preposterous — it’s neither scary nor funny, just flat. At that point, my attention had wandered away, I didn’t care anymore, I just wanted to leave the theater. [C-]