In some ways, Lisa Frankenstein feels like it arrived on a time machine from the year 1989. To begin with, it seems like a movie that began as a title or a poster, like Twins. Naturally, it features a period-appropriate alt-rock soundtrack and iconic goth-pop fashions. But, most crucially, Lisa Frankenstein flaunts (and lampoons) the specifically Gen-X sociopathy embodied by Winona Ryder in movies like Heathers and Reality Bites. It’s a throwback not only because of its setting, but because it’s zany in a way modern comedies usually aren’t. Writer Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for Juno and the hearts of horror weirdos with her follow-up Jennifer’s Body, pens this bloody camp comedy as if she is the evil twin of peak-era Tim Burton collaborator Caroline Thompson, and this is her twisted, horny Edward Scissorhands. Just to be clear, these are all compliments.

LISA FRANKENSTEIN ★★★ (3/4 stars)
Directed by: Zelda Williams
Written by: Diablo Cody
Starring: Kathryn Newton Cole Sprouse Liza Soberano Henry Eikenberry Joe Chrest Carla Gugino
Running time: 101 mins.

Kathryn Newton stars as Lisa Swallows, a high school senior who’s been traumatized since her mother was killed by a masked psychopath. She has, essentially, already endured one brand of ‘80s movie, and now........

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