'Lisa Frankenstein' is a 1980s twist on a classic. Why it's just not funny, or scary, enough

Welcome to the Damning with Faint Praise Department.

Or maybe it’s praising with faint damnation? Whatever the case, Kathryn Newton is out there doing all she can for “Lisa Frankenstein,” the latest kinda sorta riff on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” She is the best thing about the movie, for sure, despite Cole Sprouse’s yeoman-like work as the Creature (though he’s good, too).

The trouble is that Newton, or more accurately her character, Lisa, is all over the place throughout the film — not always without justification, though often, and mostly without warning.

Director Zelda Williams, in her feature debut, and screenwriter Diablo Cody, working in slightly kinder, gentler “Jennifer’s Body” territory (Cody has told interviewers she considers the films in the same universe), flit around the narrative edges, and it makes everything feel like a shortcut.

Thus we’re left with some fun, funny and occasionally scary set pieces, but the slices don’t add up to a whole pizza, as it were.

What is 'Lisa Frankenstein' about?

Lisa is a smart, unpopular student at her high school in 1989, where she transferred before her senior year. She has an unusual past: her mother was killed by an ax murderer, whose attack Lisa escaped. The killer was never found and Lisa’s father (Joe Chrest) remarried out-and-out shrew Janet (Carla Gugino, loving it). Now she has a step-sister, Taffy (Liza Soberano), a party-hard popular cheerleader who tries to bring Lisa into the in crowd.

For her part, Lisa likes hanging out in the abandoned bachelor’s cemetery, the final resting place for unmarried men. She is particularly fond of one grave, that of a young man whose bust adorns its top. One night after reluctantly attending a party where her drink is dosed and a drunken boy gropes her, she takes the shortcut home through the cemetery as a major storm brews. She tells the bust she wishes she could be with him, lightning strikes and Lisa doesn’t remember much after that.

Janet does. Lisa broke a mirror in the bathroom the night before. Clearly she just wants the kind of attention she got after her mother was slaughtered, Janet says, out loud, to the entire family — including Lisa. Nice woman. She is a nurse at a psychiatric hospital and openly schemes to have Lisa committed there against her will.

Meanwhile, a knock at the door while Lisa is home. Then a crash through a window. Some chaotic moments later, Lisa is talking to the Creature. Or talking at him, really — he can’t speak. Various parts of him don’t work, as he has been buried for centuries. Why isn’t he a skeleton? Honestly, if you’re going to bog yourself down in that kind of detail, this isn’t the movie for you.

From there things grow darker, though in keeping with the ’80s horror vibe, committing casual murder ranks somewhere near cheating on an exam on the list of bad things you can do. But Lisa, with the help of the Creature and, in particular, his taste in Goth fashion, becomes more popular at school.

Like, overnight. Like went home one afternoon a loser and came back the envy of everyone. Sort of. Except when she isn’t. It’s kind of hard to chart. She’s channeling Madonna in the “Desperately Seeking Susan” era, which the other students seem to like, only sometimes they think it’s slutty.

As all this happens, Lisa helps the Creature undergo certain, umm, improvements. Her after-school job as a seamstress and her sister’s tanning bed come in handy. He’s still got the occasional bug falling out of his mouth, but he becomes more presentable.

Cole Sprouse's performance is comedic and broad

Sprouse’s performance is more comedic, with glances and grunts and groans. It’s effective, as far as it goes, but it’s meant to be broad. (And it is.)

Newton, on the other hand, has to navigate all sorts of teenage bombshells, in addition to developing her relationship with the undead guy staying in her closet. She’s good at playing the absurd straight, which is what the role calls for — too far either way and it wouldn’t work.

But there are too many narrative shortcuts. The timeline is compressed because, well, murders and such. Still, Lisa’s inconsistent transformations feel rushed, sloppy.

Cody clearly loves playing with the horror genre, but, despite recent reevaluations, “Jennifer’s Body” never seemed to know quite where it was going and “Lisa Frankenstein” heads toward a surer destination, but skips too many steps in getting there.

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'Lisa Frankenstein' 3 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Zelda Williams.

Cast: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano.

Rating: PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, sexual material, language, sexual assault, teen drinking and drug content.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, Feb. 9.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Movie review: 'Lisa Frankenstein' isn't horrifying or hilarious enough