New Lisa Frankenstein trailer unveils first look at Fall of House of Usher star in comedy twist on classic monster movie

05.01.2024 - 14:51 / gamesradar.com / Mike Flanagan

The new trailer for Lisa Frankenstein offers up all you could want from the comedy-leaning romance horror: splashes of blood, resurrected, rotting Romeos, and a first look at Carla Gugino's character.

Described as a "coming of rage story" that puts a kooky teenage spin on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel and Universal's 1931 adaptation, it centers on Lisa (Marvel's Kathryn Newton), who spends her days journaling and daydreaming about the young man whose anonymous tombstone takes pride of place in her local cemetery.

Lisa's lackluster life gets turned upside down, though, when her cadaver crush inexplicably returns from the dead, and she sets about trying to teach him how to be the perfect boyfriend. Soon, the lovers embark on a twisted joint mission: to rid Lisa's town of all its "bad people", all while collecting fresh body parts to restore The Creature (Cole Sprouse) back to his former glory.

Written by Diablo Cody, who famously penned beloved cult classic Jennifer's Body, and directed by Zelda Williams, the movie also features Liza Soberano, Joe Chrest, and Henry Eikenberry.

Gugino, who most recently appeared in Mike Flanagan's Netflix series The Fall of the House, shows up around the 1:20 mark in the flick's latest featurette, which you can watch above. It seems as if she's playing Lisa's aerobics-loving stepmother, who isn't so fond of the ghoulish guy her partner's "psycho" daughter keeps having over.

"I have something called aphantasia [the inability to create mental imagery] so I need visual references," Williams told Total Film in a recent interview, when asked about her genre and '80s influences. That meant creating a lookbook when she was initially approached about the project, which wound up being crammed with references to A Nightmare on Elm Street, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, and An American Werewolf in London. "I loved how they played such gory horror visual effects for comedy," she says of John Landis' 1981 hit. "I wanted to approach that with Creature where you could make something gruesome without it being scary."

Lisa Frankenstein releases on February 9, just in time for Valentine's Day. Meanwhile in the UK, it will hit cinemas on 1 March. For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.