There aren’t many movies like Lisa Frankenstein. Written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body) and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Zelda Williams, the 1980s-set supernatural comedy follows a teenage girl whose wish to be with the dead occupant of a local, Victorian-era grave is granted when his corpse is inexplicably reanimated. In order to complete her undead dream guy’s reanimation, the two set out to find and replace his corpse’s missing body parts.
The film is one of the oddest titles in this year’s Valentine’s Day movie season. As unique as it may be, though, Lisa Frankenstein also proudly wears its influences on its sleeve. Thanks to its Tim Burton-inspired aesthetic and its over-the-top period setting, the movie makes its debt to certain 1980s and ’90s comedies explicitly clear. With that in mind, here are three movies that you should check out if you like Lisa Frankenstein.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
There are a few Tim Burton movies that would make sense on this list, including 1988’s Beetlejuice. However, none of the director’s films had as clear of an influence on Lisa Frankenstein as Edward Scissorhands. Both movies focus on misfit girls who fall in love with young men who seem, on the surface, impossible to be with.
From the purposefully artificial nature of its American small town to its characters’ goth costumes, Lisa Frankenstein bears an aesthetic connection to Edward Scissorhands that is impossible to deny. For those reasons and more, Edward Scissorhands is a must-see film for anyone who enjoys Lisa Frankenstein.
Edward Scissorhands is streaming on Max.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Death Becomes Her is a black comedy about two women (Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn) whose rivalry over a man (Die Hard’s Bruce Willis) leads them both to drink potions that grant them everlasting youth and make them immortal, but not impervious to injury.
The film’s premise allows it to take its instances of violence to truly cartoonish heights, and its blasé attitude toward its macabre elements establishes an undeniable link between it and Lisa Frankenstein, which similarly isn’t afraid to pack moments of shocking violence into its largely comedic story. In other words, while Death Becomes Her isn’t nearly as well-known as the other two entries on this list, that doesn’t mean it isn’t just as suitable of a companion piece to Lisa Frankenstein.
Death Becomes Her can be rented or purchased at various digital vendors including Amazon Prime Video.
Heathers (1988)
Unlike the other films on this list, there’s nothing supernatural about Heathers‘ story. It and Lisa Frankenstein‘s heightened, satirical takes on 1980s American high school life are, nonetheless, strikingly similar.
Both films share a clear disdain for their settings and the demands that are made of their teenaged characters, and Heathers’ tongue-in-cheek combination of romance, violence, teen angst, and death makes it a powerful cousin film to Lisa Frankenstein. Like Edward Scissorhands, Heathers is also anchored by Winona Ryder, the ’80s and ’90s icon whose shadow looms large over Lisa Frankenstein.
Heathers is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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