Lisa Frankenstein
People are so afraid of death, because they don't know when it's going to happen to them.
Since Mary Shelley released Frankenstein on January 1st, 1818, the novel has been adapted into films over 150 times. Everything from J. Searle Dawley's 1910 silent film Frankenstein to Jim Sharman's 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show is credited as one of the many adaptations of Shelley's work. The latest was a straight-to-digital release drama called Frankenstein Legacy, but about a month before that, Oscar-winner Diablo Cody put her screenplay in the hands of Robin Williams' daughter Zelda Williams, and the two released their campy comedy-horror, Lisa Frankenstein.
How Lisa Frankenstein Nails The 80s Aesthetic
Lisa Frankenstein is set in 1989, and it follows its main character, Lisa, an outcast living with her dad, evil stepmother, Janet, and stepsister, Taffy, who does her best to make Lisa feel welcome. The late 80s time period, in my opinion, is one of the film's most appealing elements. Lisa Frankenstein dedicates itself wholeheartedly to the decade, which is something some films and television shows struggle with. In my Now and Then newsletter, I wrote about how brilliantly filmmakers transformed the actors and settings into the year 1970, and Lisa Frankenstein does the same with the 80s.
It helps that Cody grew up in the 80s and Williams was born in 1989, but the set and design departments really got to work making sure Lisa Frankenstein authentically embraced the late 80s. The 80s were full of bright colors, and we often see this when people try to emulate the 80s today–like bright workout Halloween costumes or the scenes from Stranger Things season 3 when Eleven and Max spend all of their time at the mall. However, Lisa Frankenstein also incorporated some of the less desirable style choices of the 80s, like the powder pink bathroom vanity in Lisa's bathroom or the floral living room couch.
A few other notable aspects that stood out were the pastel art deco table lamps (that kind of resemble seashells), the baby blue living room carpet, the linoleum floors in the foyer, the seashell decor in Lisa's bathroom, her shower radio, her hair crimper, and of course, the tanning bed. Here's where Williams incorporated more stereotypical 80s brightness. The tanning bed, which Lisa uses to put Frankenstein back together throughout the film, is bright pink and surrounded by neon lights. This plays into the character Janet, who is a pretty shallow and narcissistic person.
“Oh, no... it's not that kind of cure. It's like, it's a band. They can't make you better. I mean, they can. But like, Emotionally,”-Lisa, Lisa Frankenstein.
Janet, in contrast to some of the pastel elements in her home, wears bright colors, including a purple and green shirt with a pattern that resembles an arcade carpet. She's heavily into fitness, dieting, and the self-help industry, which was booming in the 80s (Louise Hay released her acclaimed book You Can Heal Your Life in 1984.) On top of this, we explore more of the grunge side of the 80s, when Lisa gains confidence in herself and starts dressing goth to embrace her inner darkness. This feels heavily inspired by 80s films like Heathers (which was released in 1989.)
We also see other nods to the 80s, like some of the movie posters on Lisa's bedroom walls and a performance between Lisa and her back from the dead friend, Frankenstein, of REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling."
An Ode To Mary Shelley
While Williams' film is set around 200 years after Mary Shelley's novel (released in 1818 but set in the late 1700s), the director still incorporates some elements from the original story, which I appreciated. Lisa Frankenstein begins with a black and white animated short film for its opening credits, which honors the 18th century with silhouettes dressed for that time period and acts as a prequel for the film.
There are also references to Georges Méliès A Trip To The Moon, not only through the poster on Lisa's closet door but also in a dream sequence. Lisa has a dream that she's in her bedroom with Frankenstein and watching the 1901 film, but everything is black and white. She is dressed as if she is from that era, and her hairstyle is inspired by Elsa Lanchester’s in Bride of Frankenstein. This scene seems like an ode to the early days of the film industry, which is when the original Frankenstein film premiered.
This Is How You Do Camp
What I love so much about Lisa Frankenstein is that it wasn't really trying to be anything other than fun. I knew going into it that it would be easy to pay attention to and I wouldn't have to think too hard to understand it. After a year of films like Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon, this is exactly what I needed to see. To be frank(enstein), Williams' film is straight-up camp. It's as camp as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Heathers, and Death Becomes Her, and it's camp in a way I haven't seen in a very long time.
Lisa Frankenstein exists in a heightened reality. We know someone coming back from the dead and living as a kind of zombie-human doesn't happen in real life, but we're being told that the film is set in the average midwest town. There are scenes of teenagers drinking at parties, Lisa hanging out in the graveyard like a typical goth kid, and even a scene where Lisa and her father are seated in their living room watching Bob Ross on TV. These are all pretty average, easily understandable concepts. However, everything is not as it seems. Lisa's house is lined with pink siding, whether pastel or bright pink, all the colors are over the top, and a lot of the sets appear to be taking place on a soundstage.
The graveyard Lisa frequents, where Frankenstein eventually crawls out of his grave, is so evidently fake, but this only adds to the campiness of the film. To me, camp is defined by over-exaggeration, and Lisa Frankenstein overexaggerates everything, from Janet's over-the-top personality to Lisa's teased and frizzy hair. Sometimes, people try too hard to be camp (look back at the 2019 Met Gala), but the best way to do camp is not to try too hard at all.
How Lisa Frankenstein Makes Us Root For A Murderer
One of the first things I learned in my screenwriting class in college is that to write a main character, you have to make them likable. This isn't necessarily true, as there are a lot of unlikeable main characters out there, but for the most part, I do believe we have to make audiences root for our main character, whether they're likable or a relentless murderer. Last week, I wrote about Scream, and this is a prime example of how the killer in a film is typically a villain. So, how did Diablo Cody make us root for Lisa?
In order to make us empathize with and root for Lisa, we have to first see her as the victim. We learn early on that Lisa's mother was killed by an ax murderer, and Lisa heard the whole thing because she was hiding in a closet in her home. This basically justifies her killing spree because we see her as a traumatized teenager who doesn't know how to cope with witnessing her mother's murder and wants to finally be the one with power.
It also helps that when Lisa and Frankenstein go on their killing spree, they're not necessarily killing innocent victims. The first person Frankenstein kills is Janet, who we know is vicious and abusive toward Lisa–she even turns Lisa's own father against her. When Janet tells Lisa she is going to lock her in a psych ward, Frankenstein attacks. While we do feel sad for Taffy for losing her mother, Janet isn't a character the audience values, so it isn't very sad to see her go. We also don't feel bad when Lisa and Frankenstein murder Doug since earlier in the film, he nearly sexually assaulted Lisa.
It's one thing for a villain to kill innocent people, but when a villain is killing other villains, we find it easier to justify. Lastly, Michael Trent's murder is probably the least sad of all. Michael seemed to be the romantic interest of the film as Lisa liked him and believed he might like her back. It turns out he was actually having a secret affair with Taffy. When Frankenstein kills him, not only do we not feel sorry for him because he seemed to be leading Lisa on throughout the movie, but we also no longer feel sorry for Taffy. Taffy seemed like a good sister, but she was actually betraying Lisa by seeing the guy she liked behind her back, so her innocent image has been tarnished.
Even though Lisa has murdered several people and certainly deserves to go to jail, we root for her to get away with her crimes. In the end, she kills herself by burning herself to death in her tanning bed. This is a satisfying ending because we get to see her choose her fate, though it's even more satisfying when it's revealed Frankenstein has rescued her from her grave and is now seemingly going to bring her back to life the way she brought him back to life. The end suggests Lisa lives on and we're happy about this despite her evil ways.
Why Lisa Frankenstein Is Already A Cult Classic
Lisa Frankenstein was met with mixed reviews and is currently certified rotten on the Rotten Tomatoes tomato meter with only a 55% critic score but an 81% audience score. That, to me, is confirmation this is already a cult classic. A cult classic is defined by its ability to appeal to a niche group of people but be completely misunderstood by the majority. Lisa Frankenstein wasn't trying to prove anything, and it wasn't trying to be a box office hit. Lisa Frankenstein simply set out to find its audience, no matter the size, and it did just that.
Lisa is an outcast, which immediately makes her relatable to audiences who feel like they don't fit in anywhere. However, Lisa isn't an outcast in the way Mia Thermopolis is in The Princess Diaries. Mia goes on a hero's journey, becomes a better person, gets a makeover to make her stereotypically attractive, and ends the film as Princess of Genovia. Lisa arguably gets worse as the film goes on. She begins the film as a dark character who hangs out at the graveyard, but she just becomes darker throughout until she's flat-out a cold-blooded killer with no remorse for her victims. This is a little harder to market to the general public.
However, no matter what decade we're currently living in, there will always be the outcast teenagers who feel a connection to Lisa because of how seen they feel by her. I'm not saying they're murderers, too. I'm just saying that maybe because Lisa Frankenstein allows its main character to be a villain, it makes it easier for audiences to accept their own dark aspects, which we all have whether we want to admit it or not.
I thought Liza Soberano who played her sister was especially good and funny. Had never seen her in anything before.