Sometimes it’s ok to be weird!

“Lisa Frankenstein” is a modern (esque) inspiration of Mary Shelly’s famous novel. In the film, a 1989 teenager (Kathryn Newton) accidentally wishes a corpse in a local graveyard to come alive (Cole Sprouse), and tries to turn him into the man of her dreams. Zelda Williams directs and Diablo Cody writes.

I generally speaking enjoy screenplays written by Diablo Cody, from her Oscar-winning “Juno” to the cult hit “Jennifer’s Body.” Her latest work is a gothic/punk/techno spin on a classic monster tale, and while it doesn’t reinvent the genre and at times struggles to stick with a tone, “Lisa Frankenstein” is too much of a hoot to brush off.

I’ve been a fan of Kathryn Newton for a while, dating back to her small roles in 2017 Best Picture nominees “Lady Bird” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” I think she’s got the cute charm yet dry wit of the stars of the John Hughes-era of movies, so playing a 1980s teen is right up her alley. Newton perfectly pulls off the giant hair, lowered sunglasses, and bubble gum-blowing of the era. Newton also recently starred in the latest “Ant-Man” film, which hopefully gave her enough of a payday that she can keep doing weird projects like this.

She shares some nice back-and-forth with Cole Sprouse’ undead lover boy, and he has a few good moments of physical humor (though really anyone could’ve been in the role; if this was made 10 years ago it feels like the type of thing a Timothée Chalamet would get). And it’s always nice to see Carla Gugino pop up in things.

Diablo Cody’s script has some funny bits and setups, and it’s clear early on that we’re here more for fun vibes than any real hefty plot. Some character backstories are introduced and then taken nowhere, and at times the tone isn’t sure if it’s horror-comedy, gothic love, or abstract period piece, and I think if it leaned into the camp just a touch more (or smidge less) than it would’ve all flowed a bit better. It also could’ve benefitted from being rated-R (like most of Cody’s films, including “Jennifer’s Body” which this most closely emulates, but I get you need that teenager Valentine’s Day money).

The film runs a fairly brisk 101 minutes, and while the ending is sudden (and a tad unearned) I didn’t feel cheated when the credits began to roll.

“Lisa Frankenstein” is very weird and at times very inconsistent, but Cody’s witty script, Newton’s winning performance, and the retro ‘80s vibes are all too fun to ignore. Anyone who likes early Tim Burton projects or had a Tumblr account in the early-2010s should get their fix here, and I imagine this’ll go down as a (albeit niche) cult classic for teenage girls at sleepover.

Critics Rating: 7/10