“Lisa Frankenstein” is a delightful send-up of the classic 1818 Mary Shelley work. Reminiscent of horror-comedies such as “Freaky” and “Happy Death Day,” it nevertheless breaks new ground in having a lead actor who mimes his performance as The Creature. It effortlessly blends gore with dark humor in a whimsical, unpredictable plot.

The film begins with an non-verbal animated intro of a Mr. Frankenstein. He is a musician and does not seem to be successful in love. After his young death, he is buried in Bachelor’s Cemetery in 1837.

In more modern 1989, we meet Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton). Her mother was axe-murdered in her home. Her father Dale (Joe Chrest) almost immediately remarries to a passive-aggressive psychiatric nurse, Janet (Carla Gugino), a living embodiment of Nurse Ratched.

Lisa is expected to be over the mourning period for her mother’s murder. She is assisted in this by her new popular stepsister, cheerleader Taffy (Liza Soberano). Taffy encourages Lisa, a classic social misfit, in her wardrobe, hair and makeup choices as they prepare to go to a rager.

Taffy encourages Lisa to use the tanning bed she won in a contest to improve her skin tone. This is located in a shed on their property, but has an electrical short that almost kills Lisa. This bed will become a key focal point of the story.

At the party, Lisa meets up with her crush, school newspaper editor Michael Trent (Henry Eikenberry). She is slipped a drugged drink and starts to space out. Her lab partner Doug (Bryce Romero), seeing her plight, takes her upstairs to a bedroom. He starts to hit up on her but she is repulsed and flees.

She ends up at Bachelor’s Cemetery, now abandoned and unconsecrated. Previously, she has been visiting the stones there to do grave rubbings. Becoming enamored by the statue atop Frankenstein’s grave, she had given him a piece of jewelry.

Now wasted, she makes a wish that she could be like Frankenstein. Later we see her go through a dream sequence and green lightning strike Frankenstein’s grave.

Staying at home one night, the Creature (Cole Sprouse), caked in mud, breaks through a front window. In his lumbering way, he chases Lisa around until exhausted he brings her a slipper that she lost.

Realizing that he is not all bad, Lisa gives him a shower and more modern clothing. He is missing his left earlobe and his right hand. He indicates that he wants Lisa to give him new parts, but she is baffled as to how to do this. Her closet becomes her hiding place.

When everyone else returns home that night, Janet accuses Lisa of staging the whole break-in scene to get attention. Janet threatens to send Lisa to a juvenile center for treatment.

Will the Creature get new parts? Will they work? What other parts is he missing? Can true love between the undead and the living work out?

The star of this production is without a doubt Cole Sprouse as the Creature. He has to convey through movement, gesture and vocalizations the character of Frankenstein. The production notes indicate that he studied mime for the part and his success in this role shows the results of that effort. He is completely believable and enables the viewer to effortlessly suspend disbelief.

The second star of this movie is the 1980’s, specifically the year 1989. This is a year that was on the cusp of the major technological revolutions that would irrevocably alter the way we interact. There are no cellphones and very few home computers at the time. A malfunctioning tanning bed is about as high-tech as this era gets.

In a way, two simplicities are evoked in the movie. There is the pre-tech one of 1989 but also the more distant world of the 1800’s. It seemed refreshing to me to see a past time looked at through the eyes of a dark comedy.

All of the technical crafts had to come together to pull this off. Whether it is the high school, Lisa’s home, autos, clothing, accessories, or hair and makeup, they ring true to the time. I learned an interesting cinematic trick in the production notes which is to look at what the extras were wearing in 1989 movies to get a clothing sense for the time.

The tone of the film is consistent. Not every sight gag or line of dialogue hits. But if something is not to one’s taste, you only have to wait a minute or so before the picture moves on to something wickedly funny or gory.

The screenplay itself is a marvel of whimsy and extrapolation as you try to guess where this story is going next. Diablo Cody outdoes herself. She mentions “Weird Science” as a reference point in the production notes, and you can see the homage. I never knew what was going to happen and I loved the wild ride.

The gore mostly revolves around getting new body parts for the Creature. It is not overtly gruesome, i.e. no guts coming out. But there is blood spurting around at times. Seeing Lisa sew new parts onto the Creature was quite the sight.

Kathryn Newton strikes just the right notes as Lisa. It would have easy to make her a caricature of a transition from a nerd to a more dynamic woman. But the gradualness of her changes is artfully wrought.

Liza Soberano is a pivotal part of the cast. As the supportive sister, she comes off as sincerely concerned about Lisa, while recognizing her limitations in a relatively (to her) non-judgmental way. Again, this is a part that could have descended into caricature, but Soberano is superb in giving a thoughtful, nuanced performance.

Carla Gugino gets to play a character reminiscent of Bette Davis in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” She chews the scenery well in her over-the-top performance. She is a character that one loves to hate.

In a way, this could be a perfect date movie for the horror set. It is a rom-com in its own way, albeit one with a meet-gross instead of a meet-cute moment.

Five out of five stars

A coming of RAGE love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody (JENNIFER’S BODY) about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness…and a few missing body parts on the way.

Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Eikenberry, Joe Chrest, and Carla Gugino
Director: Zelda Williams
Screenwriter: Diablo Cody