Entertaining movie, suspend your beliefs as a lot of things are left unanswered or implausible and just enjoy the movie.
This feels like a dark comedy plucked from a different era and it works in that respect. A few misses here and there yet comes together nicely in the end.
Proper portions of eighties nostalgia, levity, and murder.
Finally a wide release for mainstream weirdos
This is a weird movie. There are aspects that are so cheesy its painful, but the next moment I love it. It will be difficult to recommend, but I also want to talk about this one with everyone. It is in the same vein as "Warm Bodies", and there are parts of it I like more and less. If you have Peacock, check this out!
Rating: 3/5 - 75% - Worth Watching
It was just an okay movie overall, but Newton made it worth the watch.
Honestly didn't know what to expect when I started this, but I started to really enjoy it by the end. Kathryn Newton did a great job acting in this campy horror rom-com movie.
Instantly liked this movie from the trailers' soundtrack alone. I thought it was a kids type film, but oh, was I wrong. THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS. I can imagine a gigantic number of parents thought this was alright for kids. It's very unexpected, I knew this was a love story, but it's more. It's almost iconic. The characters and design and story at least. Haven't seen a new horror that's been this refreshingly psychotic. The casting was great, the design was great, the comedy was great, the soundtrack was great, the yucky mucky was great, the story was great, the dialogue was great, you get it. It was slightly dragging, but it's mostly because it focuses on the romance, and instead of horror, it's more gruesome. I'm still thinking about some of those scenes because, oh my, was it unexpected. Once again, NOT FOR KIDS. NUMBER 2? WHEN?
Like a scarecrow watching porn: Lisa Frankenstein is a disturbing amount of slapstick.
Apart from the Benny Hill style humor which goes from ingratiating to grating in the blink of an eye, the writing of Lisa Frankenstein is problematic. It's not just the unclear motivations and characters / plotlines that litter the film, it's the central character who completes her arc in the first 5 minutes of act I (and we're left guessing you're she achieved this feat) so she has nowhere to go but in circles for the rest of the running time.
If you're like me, you'll keep wishing you could touch the screen to see how much time you have to wait until it's over.
Like Frankenstein’s monster himself, the tropes of the man-made creature just can’t seem to stay dead. Luckily, Lisa Frankestein is a ludicrous, hysterical, and pastiche-smattered adaptation that – pardon the pun – really kills the delivery.
Lisa Swallows (Katheryn Newton) is an intelligent social outcast goth whose failure to connect is mostly attributed to witnessing her mother’s brutal murder at the hands of a home intruder. When she’s sexually assaulted at a high school party, she flees to a graveyard in the woods that has become a place of solace for her. One odd lightning storm and a drug trip later, a body from that graveyard has reanimated, and is set on becoming Lisa’s lover. He’s just missing a few parts – but never to be deterred, Lisa and the corpse set about collecting these appendages and slowly returning him to his former glory. As the body count rises and getting caught becomes increasingly likely, the unlikely pair romp through the sky-high camp and deadpan comedy to deliver a puddle-deep horror-comedy that’s so incredibly funny, it’s scary – or is that reversed?
It’s apparent here that the entire cast (including Cole Spruce, Carla Gugino, Liza Soberano, and Joe Chrest) was having a fantastic time making this movie, but Katheryn Newton’s performance here in particular proves that her vapid and vacant turn as Cassie Lang in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) was a product of poor writing and direction, and clearly not indicative of her body of work. Newtown seems to be carving out a niche for herself in horror-comedy, having delivered handily in Freaky (2020) and additionally starring in the upcoming Abigail (2024). (One can only hope that Marvel learns how to employ her talents fruitfully. I mean, come on – Young Avengers is right there.) Considering the majority of her screentime is spent opposite of an undead mute, her demonstration of moving from a shy, socially awkward writer to a confidently dark, sex-postive murderer contains real depth and is very entertaining to watch, despite the brevity of the screenplay and speed at which this transformation must occur. At roughly 100 minutes, Lisa Frankenstein is the shortest film I’ve seen in a while, and it’s all the better for it; concision in storytelling is essential.
For a movie about hacking and slashing body parts, it is tame in the execution. The PG-13 rating prevents a Tarantino situation, but I think that the absurdity of this movie could have used a bit more of a bloodbath. As the vaporwave aesthetic demands, needle drops are abundant, one of the funniest featuring Jeffery Osborne’s “On the Wings of Love” blaring over a slow motion castration. Regarding those particular parts, this movie is also sexually charged – but again, it is mostly tame because of the MPAA rating. It’s a teenager’s view of sex: exciting, mostly awkward, and completely unconcerned with the details.
With a story that’s sewn up tight by the time the credits roll, the only question I was left with was why this film was released in February, when it is clearly fodder for a massive Halloween hit. I was unable to find anything indicative of a release change due to the strikes, so I’m simply left to assume that the angle was never meant to be Halloween, but rather, Valentine’s Day. In a way, that makes sense; Lisa Frankenstein shows us that love means “until death do us part” – and even then, it’s debatable.
Silly movie, but entertaining. It's a MEH. I would like to see Kathryn Newton in a more serious role I think she has potential.
Set in 1989, Lisa Frankenstein is the latest tale from Diablo Cody; What we get is a sweet, romantic horror/comedy.
It would be easy to describe this as Burton-esque, however it is quite dissimilar from his work. Sure, you could find some comparisons if you really wanted to stretch and dig - Edward Scissorhands (1990), Corpse Bride (2005) - but this is its own body.
I would actually say this is closer to movies from John Hughes - Pretty in Neon Pink and Blue, if you will.
The soundtrack is amazing, the clothing is fantastic - particularly our titular character - so, fans of the '80s will enjoy that.
With a rating of PG-13, I'd say the director was pushing the line, while keeping the movie fun; so it has dark, violent moments, but it plays wonderfully as comedy and never gets too gory.
The real draw here is Lisa herself, Kathryn Newton. She is going to speak to many a young goth girl. While goth kids of the past had Lydia Deetz, and Nancy Downs, Lisa is going to be the new queen for gen Z, and gen Alpha goths.
If I had any complaints, it would be that the movie is too short. That is to say, I wish I got to spend more time getting to know these characters. I'd be fine with a sequel or just watching this one several more times.
I'd totally recommend this to fans of horror/comedy, but even more so if the name drops I included matter to you.
thought this would be a new queer but not queer movie but instead it was just straight.
Watched it because it was talked up on a Podcast I listen to, but it was a miss for me. Definitely not a film I would have picked on my own nor am I the target audience.
If you have seen Heathers this is VERY similar to that.
Therefore awesome and entertaining to me! Bullies and cruel people get their comeuppance! Underdogs finally have revenge. 80s and romance included! what more could you ask for?!
Had some good moments - a few chuckles. But none of the aspects of the movie were really good. Cast, eh. Humor, eh. Story, eh. Style, eh. 80s nostalgia, none.
Worth a watch if you got nothing else to watch... Nothing memorable though.
I didn’t like this. I’m completely shocked at that. I expected to love this movie. Late 80s. Frankenstein. Comedy horror. Diablo Cody. That’s a recipe for a movie I’d love!
But I didn’t like it. It was boring at parts. Trying too hard at others. Not funny enough. Not scary at all. I just thought it was lame.
im someone who loves My Boyfriend's Back from 1993, so i enjoyed this outing
This film has some clever/charming moments, but overall, moves so fast that it doesn't feel cohesive. Something will happen with no context and then it quickly moves to the next thing. Most of the characters are underdeveloped, but in particular, the character of Lisa goes from 0 to 100 with no transition. Because of that, most of the antagonists are more sympathetic than evil. Which makes Lisa a protagonist that's difficult to rally behind. The overall tone is cynical enough that I can't tell whether the characters are intentionally unlikable or if it's from the frenzied pacing. There are certain bits with potential but lots of holes and some interesting segments that are quickly abandoned.
Didn't really like this as much as I thought I would, but I love that it's so obviously having fun with the story and visuals.
Target demo will be for those younger than us, but this had its moments. Some asinine, some well executed. On the whole it felt a bit more cringe than not, but I appreciate the intent and it looked like everyone involved had fun making it. The 80s style is what drew us to this one, and the sets, music, and colour palates used were fun. Good editing and decision on overall length as well. 5.9
I had high hopes for this as it had a promising story and visually looked good but it was devoid of humour and poorly executed. If you want something better, then check out Frankenhooker, Re-Animator or Young Frankenstein instead
I loved it so much. Finally something you don't regret watching
Film 120 (Goal: 300) of 2024:
I was surprised how much I was enjoying this (or more so, how little I was disliking it) but you have to bend and accept a lot of the rules of the Universe, just because. However once the film heads towards the end of Act 2, it loses a lot of momentum and never really recovers. Film definitely has a style that harkens back to the angsty, neon drip films of the 80s, like Heathers. There's an element of Tim Burton here as well, and Edward Scissorhands comes to mind as a primary example. But yeah, this was just a little too low on story especially towards the middle.
I like Kathryn Newton though. Don't know if she's a particularly great actress but I like her. And Cole Sprouse seems to make people happy. Having him not talk was a bold move though.
There are glimpses of goodness, though so short they don't hide the film's frailties.
'Lisa Frankenstein' is, in my opinion, a disappointment. I can kinda see what they were going for and at times I could appreciate it, but all in all it doesn't really work for me. I will say the pacing isn't actually that bad, the film went by relatively quickly. The two big weaknesses to me were the dialogue and simply the story in general, both are rather quite dull... if they weren't, I may have enjoyed this.
The cast are one of the film's more positive features. I like Kathryn Newton, I remember thinking she was great in the similarly underwhelming 'Freaky' from 2020, and she does try with what she's got to work with here. Carla Gugino is possibly the standout, I would've liked to have seen more of her. Liza Soberano is alright, while Joe Chrest plays a literal continuation of his Ted Wheeler.
I will say that I felt the film did slightly improve towards the end, just not enough for me to say that I had a good time watching it unfortunately. I got to see this in an empty cinema, which is always nice. I see this got released basically a month ago everywhere else, wonder why the UK got it so late. I guess as there seemingly aren't as many films out right now due to that sandworm movie thingy taking over? Who knows.
Lisa Frankenstein - :heart:x6
This was OK but not great. It could have been much better. Anyway, I thought the ending just fizzled out. Also, a thought came to mind. . . is Cole Sprouse this generations Johnny Depp?
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
Weird and nonsensical, but I couldn’t stop watching and laughing… Entertaining
A campy mix of comedy romance horror. The comedy wasn't for me, I never laughed but I did chuckle one or two times. The romance is so cliché, silly and demands a suspension of disbelief, it sorta redeems itself in the third act but that's a little too late. The horror elements are very light with only two kills I believe. Really dig the 80's aesthetics with the costumes, hairstyle, colorful sets, neon lighting and soundtrack. Good performance from Kathryn Newton but her character lacks depth and not much of what she does makes any sense to me. Carla Gugino instantly steals the spotlight, love her as the evil stepmother. Overall not a terrible take on Frankenstein but it just doesn't come together like it should.
While the little amount of advertising I saw clearly showed the first posters and tagline to be garbage (meaning they're nothing like the movie) even that first trailer which sold me didn't really reflect the final product.
This movie in any given scene looks like it's going to be something along the lines you predict like My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987). It's got some similar vibes and certainly Diablo's script and Zelda direction pay enough homage to the 80s even if I would have preferred some more modern synth tracks just for variety to the well worn tones of REO Speedwagon.
But even though it's not what I expected walking in. I can't say I hated it. It's a movie that loves it's characters as much as it loves the 80s. Lisa makes decisions that one might call bad but the movie doesn't hate her for it. She's not a longer constantly bullied by literally everyone around her. She's a girl in pain being bullied by mostly everyone around her. The difference is slight but interesting. Visually it's fantastic. A delight for the eyes.
I've been saying for a long time since I found out how wrong I was about Jennifer's Body (2009) that I wanted to see more Diablo Cody work. Finally I've taken the time to do it and yeah great stuff. Zelda's debut is an excellent one. Should be interesting to see how she fares in the future.
we actually really loved and enjoyed the movie! just don't take it seriously, haha. it wasn't that bad, although the plot is weird and some scenes were just toooo comical, but still an enjoyable movie!
If this movie had anything going for it, it was vibes costume/sets/music) and some jokes that seemed a little past pg-13 that I could appreciate and sure the directors late father could as well. This movie feels really empty though and paper thin. Just wish their was more story and character to this.
Shout by RayTaylorhomeBlockedParent2024-02-17T01:44:42Z
We enjoyed it overall. There were a few funny parts but the story had multiple holes. My wife enjoyed it and I got to spend time with her so it was a good day overall.
I thought this was going to go a different direction. They bring up an axe murderer early on in the movie. I would have preferred if she was actually the murdurer and the entire Frankenstein thing was just something that was in her head.