Diablo Cody has been likening Lisa Frankenstein to her cult classic Jennifer’s Body, but I’d more liken it to ‘80s classic movies like Beetlejuice. Unfortunately, while Bob Marley: One Love has actually found a lot of people who are willing to show up in theaters, Lisa Frankenstein has not really picked up in a way I thought it might. It’s a fun horror film and I think it deserves more love and attention than it’s been getting.
Lisa Frankenstein is a wild movie that takes some big swings. It’s also messy in parts and has less to say than its spiritual monster predecessor Poor Things. In short, it’s not a perfect movie, but it is a fun one and given horror’s continued popularity at the box office, I wish this was one people would be willing to go see.
One thing I like most about Lisa Frankenstein is that it balances the teen eighties vibes, pithy dialogue, and gore really effectively. I’d rather have a horror film that is played a little more for comedy, like this one, than something super gory or mentally disturbing for its whole runtime. Yes, the premise of Lisa Frankenstein is kind of messed up, but tonally the movie is a really fun watch.
Critics have called Lisa Frankenstein “deliciously gory” and more, but it’s only running at 51% on Rottten Tomatoes. I honestly think this is one of those cases where Rotten Tomatoes is a terrible format for really helping inform the audience. The problem with the algorithm on the aggregator is that it simply sorts Lisa Frankenstein reviews into “good” or “bad” brackets, and for a mildly likable popcorn flick this can be a recipe for disaster. The audience score for the film is 82%. To clarify:
- Is this movie going to win award accolades? No.
- Is this movie perfectly executed? No.
- Is it the best example of this sort of crossover genre horror film I’ve seen? Also no.
- And yet: Are you going to regret having seen it in the theater? I doubt it. It’s a good time. I like what it’s trying to do.
In some critical ways, the movie is mirroring the journey of Bob Marley: One Love, just minus the box office returns. That biopic has also only seen middling reviews though fans seem to like it well enough. (In fact, CinemaBlend’s One Love review mirrors our score on the monster flick.) Unlike Kathryn Newton’s new movie, however, Marley has a built-in fanbase who wants the popcorn, and the milk duds, and to see the film on as big of a screen as possible. Unfortunately, the new horror film isn’t getting that same chance.
This isn’t really meant to be a shot at people who enjoyed One Live. The history of box office rundowns are full of movies that flopped and movies that didn’t that are roughly the same level of good. Yet, that doesn’t make it any less sad when a movie that’s pretty cool doesn’t find a fanbase.
It’s too bad, really. Made on a reported $13 million budget with the likable but not-yet-movie-stars Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse, the Focus Features film really didn’t need that many people to show up in theaters in order to start making money. Unfortunately, in its first couple of weekends, it has only garnered a little over $8 million, so it still has a ways to go.
The only good news is the Universal Pictures film will doubtless get a second life (pun intended) when those with a Peacock subscription get a chance to see it. But Listen: If I’m going to watch someone get their body parts hacked off, I’d definitely rather do it on the big screen.