A Totally Rad Mad Scientist: Lisa Frankenstein’s Queer Articulations of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature

Abstract

Screenwriter Diablo Cody’s long-awaited return to the horror genre took up the highly influential science fiction novel Frankenstein (1818) with a synthy 80s soundtrack, a dynamic cast, and the comedic eye of director Zelda Williams. Lisa Frankenstein (2024) does not attempt to adapt Mary Shelley’s classic with exact detail. Rather, the film reinvents it through a horror-comedy-romance-monster-mashup and uses the source material to capture the queer essence of Victor Frankenstein’s monster. Lisa Frankenstein’s premise highlights the ways in which a high school social outcast can locate their confidence and sense of self through monstrosity. In turn, the film indicates that the monster’s standing as a figure for selfhood and transformation is stronger than ever in the 2020s.