LISA FRANKENSTEIN: Blunt Force Black Comedy

LISA FRANKENSTEIN (Blu-ray)

2024 / 101 min

FROM UNIVERSAL

Review by Pepper the Poopy😾

Lisa Frankenstein is slickly directed, looks great and features good performances. But while there’s plenty of comic horror potential in the basic concept, the film squanders it with shallow characters, heavy-handed satire and a misguided idea of black comedy.

The title character (Kathryn Newton) is your standard-issue misfit emo teenager who’d rather hang out in a graveyard than with her peers. After nearly being sexually assaulted at a party, she visits the grave of a long-dead musician, wishing aloud she could be with him. That wish ends up being granted when he’s resurrected by a lightning strike. Lisa is initially horrified by his stench and missing appendages, but after cleaning him up a bit, he becomes infatuated with her, enough so that when bitchy stepmom (Carla Gugino) threatens to send Lisa away, he kills her.

At this point, Lisa’s entire personality and appearance changes fast enough to give the viewer whiplash. Suddenly sexy, bitchy and outgoing, she ends up sewing missing pieces back onto the Creature (Cole Sprouse) with the body parts of those he kills. This includes a boy who tried to assault her at the party, as well as Michael (Henry Eikenberry), a guy she has a crush on but ends up sleeping with her stepsister, Taffy (Liza Soberano). 

"Stay off the bike...it's where I hang my clothes."

The plot isn’t the problem…it’s the execution. First of all, Lisa Frankenstein takes place in the ‘80s for no discernible reason. Not only is poking fun at that decade like shooting fish in a barrel, the setting has nothing to do with the plot. Additionally, virtually everyone is a caricature…the ditzy cheerleader, the sensitive hunk, the goofy dad, the narcissistic stepmom and, of course, the eye-rolling goth protagonist who’s increasingly nonchalant about the murder and dismemberment going on around her. I guess they'd all be funny if you'd never seen them before.

There’s a lot of situational black comedy in Lisa Frankenstein, but it’s presented with the subtlety of a mallet, as if hearing a sensitive ballad during a brutal murder is inherently humorous (which has been done to death in plenty of other horror comedies). Yet at the same time, the film pulls its punches in an obvious attempt to keep a PG-13 rating. Should any black comedy that takes place in the 80s and features the severing of body parts really be concerned with the tween crowd?

First time director Zelda Williams (Robin’s daughter) has a good visual eye and puts together some neat sequences. But she and the able cast are let down by Diablo Cody’s screenplay which, considering her resume, is surprisingly ham-fisted, derivative and superficial.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Resurrecting the ‘80s takes a look at the production design; An Electric Connection is about the characters; A Dark Comedy Duo features director Zelda Williams and screenwriter Diablo Cody.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Zelda Williams.

5 DELETED SCENES

GAG REEL

DIGITAL COPY

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1: Not All Together Ooky

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

2023 / 480 min (8 Episodes)

FROM WARNER BROS / #InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Pepper the Poopy😽

It seems like the first season of Netflix’s überpopular Wednesday is getting a physical media release a lot faster than many of the platform’s other shows. Perhaps it’s a matter of striking while the iron is hot, since I can’t imagine the basic premise has much of a shelf life. 

Not that Wednesday is a bad show. Quite the contrary. Despite aiming for a demographic far younger than yours truly, these eight episodes were more entertaining than I expected. It feels a little more padded out than necessary - creating an entire season when a single movie could have sufficed - but when focused on the droll, cryptic world view of its titular character (wonderfully played by Jenna Ortega), it’s highly amusing. It’s also the only time the show resembles anything related to the original Addams Family.

Season 1 is basically a murder mystery, with Wednesday forced to attend Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcasts” such as vampires, werewolves, sirens, telepaths, gorgons and shapeshifters. Gomez & Morticia’s alma mater, the school has long been viewed with suspicion and disdain by the “normals” in the nearby town of Jericho. When a vicious beast begins to murder people, Wednesday, who’s as brilliant as she is morbid, becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, which reveals connections with the town’s dark past, as well as her own family history.

While shooting Season One, Jenna works on Season Two.

Along the way are numerous subplots, mostly related to Wednesday’s classmates (and one episode where she clears her dad of a decades-old murder rap). The suggested love triangle with her and a couple of hunks is perfunctory teen soap fodder, but the relationship between Wednesday and roommate Enid (Emma Myers) is both humorous and charming. Overall, the show is less interesting when things turn serious, which is often. It also grows increasingly derivative, with episodes conceptually and aesthetically similar to the likes of Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo (even referenced in one episode), Ghostbusters, Carrie, Twilight, director Tim Burton's own work and, of course, any CW drama you’d care to name.

Other Addams Family members show up throughout the show, with Thing being quite funny as Wednesday’s sidekick, while the appearance of Luis Guzman & Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez & Morticia are essentially glorified cameos. Wednesday is all about its main character. As such, the show is fairly entertaining, at least for these episodes. It ends with the usual set-up for a second season (which has already been announced), but how long can Wednesday’s creepy, kooky, all together ooky persona carry an entire show?

Family Movie Night with POOR THINGS

POOR THINGS (Digital)

2023 / 142 min

FROM SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Review by Mr. Bonnie😺

Poor Things is also available on Blu-ray on DVD

In the end, I’m glad I waited as long as I did to watch Poor Things.

Both of my daughters were very interested in seeing it as well, so when it was made available to review, I extended them an invitation. The challenge was picking an evening we were all free and up for a movie. Finally, with the Academy Award broadcasting the next day, I couldn’t wait on them any longer. Since the Oscars are sort of like the Super Bowl for me, it’s important to see as many of the major nominees as possible before the statues are handed out.  

And thank God I ended up watching it alone, because even though both daughters are more or less grown up, I’m still uncomfortable watching movies with them that contain explicit sex or nudity…of which Poor Things has gobs. There are enough naughty bits on display for two Ari Aster movies. 

But like Aster, there’s a twisted rationale behind these scenes, particularly in relation to the themes of female empowerment, sexual liberation and independence. So while graphic and plentiful, I’d stop just short of labeling them gratuitous, though lead actor Emma Stone certainly goes all-in with her character (in more ways than one) and demonstrates a ton of bravery.

Emma cosplays as a croissant.

Now having seen it, did she deserve the Oscar for Best Actress? Perhaps I should reserve final judgment until seeing Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, but Stone certainly provides a strong case for herself as Bella Baxter, resurrected from the dead by kindly-but-deranged doctor Godwin (Willem Dafoe, in yet another wonderfully eccentric performance). I’m gonna refrain from discussing any more of the plot because I went into the film relatively cold and can attest that much of what keeps Poor Things’ episodic narrative compelling is having no idea what it’s gonna throw at you next (though I will say the whole thing does carry on longer than it needs to).

The film certainly deserved a lot of its other Oscar wins, especially the production design, which is a knock-out. More so than any previous effort by director Yorgos Lanthimos, virtually every shot is an elaborate, imaginative work of surrealist art, alternately oppressive & whimsical, drab & vivid. And even though he didn’t win, Robbie Ryan’s cinematography brilliantly enhances the mood of each scene. I especially liked the use of black & white to reflect Bella’s confinement in Godwin’s house, while her journey of self-discovery is bursting with color. In addition to Stone & Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef are excellent in key supporting roles.

Like every Lanthimos film, Poor Things will be a little too “out there” for some tastes and a twisted breath of fresh air for others. Either way, there hasn’t been another Oscar nominee quite like it. With equal measures of comedy, fantasy, pathos, sexuality and no small amount of cultural commentary, it’s Lanthimos’ most accomplished film.

As for my two girls...they later watched Poor Things on their own. Both liked it, but concurred it wasn't something they needed to experience with Dad.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - Possessing Beauty: The Making of Poor Things (running 21 minutes, this features interviews with the primary cast & crew).

3 DELETED SCENES

Three Obscurities from MGM: "Hey, didn't I see that once?"

RED PLANET MARS (Blu-ray), KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS (DVD) and STRANGE INVADERS (Blu-ray)

FROM MGM

Available at MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

These three oddball obscurities (from different decades) aren’t classics - maybe not even cult classics - but chances are one or more of them evoke a few fond memories in sci-fi/horror fans of a certain age. Re-released by MGM, the discs are bereft of bonus material, but at least they’re once again available at a reasonable price (most previous editions are either out of print, overpriced or unavailable domestically).

On Blu-ray for the first time, Red Planet Mars (1952/87 min) gets this writer’s vote for the weirdest sci-fi movie of the ‘50s. In a decade of alien invasions and radioactive behemoths, here’s one with no special effects or monsters…just a pair of married scientists (Peter Graves & Andrea King) making contact with an advanced civilization on Mars, which throws the world into turmoil in ways that must be seen to be believed (and isn’t entirely explained). A bizarre mix of social commentary, paranoia, red scare politics and heavy-handed religious dogma, the film is sometimes perplexing and unintentionally humorous, but it certainly thinks outside the box.

Made and released shortly before William Shatner returned to the captain’s chair, Kingdom of the Spiders (1977/94 min) is one of countless nature-strikes-back creature features that followed in Jaws’ wake. But unlike most similarly-themed B-movies of the time, this one manages to get under your skin. Granted, much of that is due to the fact spiders are inherently scary, but considering the budget, the film has a lot of well-executed sequences, creepy arachnid action (with thousands of real tarantulas) and a chilling conclusion. Despite dated aesthetic trappings and a cringeworthy romantic subplot, this is the second best spider movie ever made (after Arachnophobia) and Shatner gives a surprisingly subdued performance. My only beef…it’s only being released on DVD.

Bill sees the light.

Previously released on Blu-ray by now-defunct Twilight Time, Strange Invaders (1983/93 min) is another one of those movies that came-and-went in theaters unnoticed, then seemed to play on HBO forever. An affectionate tongue-in-cheek homage to such paranoid sci-fi classics as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film boasts a good cast of familiar character actors in a story of aliens who’ve infiltrated a small town under the guise of people who live there. While the film is fairly enjoyable, one can’t help but think the premise would have been a lot better served if someone like Joe Dante were directing. Still, its heart is in the right place and the creature effects aren’t bad. 

None of these titles are gonna be jewels in anyone’s collection. However, nostalgia can be a strong motivator in movie buying decisions and I’m sure some folks reading this are going, “Hey, didn’t I see that once?” (as I did with Kingdom of the Spiders and Strange Invaders). Revisiting one to see if it’s better or worse than you remember is kinda fun.

THE DEVIL’S PARTNER & CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA: A Surprising Pair

THE DEVIL’S PARTNER and CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA

(Blu-ray)

1961 / 73 & 61 min (2 movies)

FROM FILM MASTERS

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Film Masters have recently released several restored double features from Filmgroup, the Roger Corman company that produced a slew of profitable cheapies throughout the 1960s. I generally look forward to reviewing these…not necessarily expecting good movies, but a goofy good time at the expense of these movies.

So this two-disc set sort of surprised me. One film - dare I say it? - is legitimately decent, while the other has its tongue planted so firmly in-cheek that I found myself laughing with it, not at it.

No one will ever mistake The Devil’s Partner for Rosemary’s Baby. However, this backwoods tale of an evil old man who sacrifices goats to become an evil young man is pretty engaging. It’s even a little creepy at times, largely due to a subtly malevolent performance by Edwin Nelson. Storywise, it’s nothing particularly complex, but the film is well made on a low budget and never descends into stupidity. Scenes of various animals doing the devil’s work could even be seen as a precursor to similar ideas in the Omen franchise (okay, probably not).

"You're not in here worshiping Satan again, are you?"

The animated opening credits inform viewers right away that Creature from the Haunted Sea is gonna be a hoot…on purpose. Robert Towne (yeah, that Robert Towne) narrates and plays an undercover agent who infiltrates a gang planning to scare Cuban exiles out of their smuggled gold by claiming a sea monster is killing people onboard their boat. What they don’t expect is a real sea monster showing up. While the creature (and its ping pong ball eyes) is goofy as hell (again, on purpose), the real laughs come from the dialogue and cast, especially head gangster Renzo (Antony Carbone), whose reaction to the attack on his girlfriend is priceless.

Are these great films? Forgotten classics? Hell, no, but both are quite entertaining for different reasons and make a great double feature. As usual for this Blu-ray series, the films are nicely restored and come with some great bonus features, which continue to chronicle Filmgroup’s fascinating history. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

THE DEVIL’S PARTNER

THEATRICAL (16:9) & TV VERSION (4:3)

HOLLYWOOD INTRUDERS: THE FILMGROUP STORY, PART 3 - Another great chapter in the story of Roger Corman’s Filmgroup production company. 

ROGER CORMAN REMEMBERS FILMGROUP - From the horse's mouth. 

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By members of the Monster Party Podcast.

TRAILER

CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA

THEATRICAL (16:9) & EXTENDED TV VERSION (4:3)

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Tom Weaver, Roger Corman, Kinta Zertuche & Larry Blamire (theatrical cut only).

BEFORE & AFTER RESTORATION VIDEO

ORIGINAL & RE-CUT TRAILER