10 Dark Teen Movies To Devour If You Loved ‘Lisa Frankenstein’
Lisa Frankenstein may be the latest dark comedy about gothic teens involved in star-crossed romantic entanglements, but it’s certainly not the first film to tackle the subject.
Writer-producer Diablo Cody herself has ventured into this territory before with 2009’s Jennifer’s Body, a film that was poorly received by critics but went on to become as much of a feminist cinematic mainstay as the 2000 horror classic Ginger Snaps.
Lisa Frankenstein is intended to exist within the same universe as Jennifer’s Body, and both feature misunderstood goth teens who claim their inherent power in dark and twisted ways. Assuming you’ve already seen both of Cody’s dark horror-comedy offerings, here are a few other films that scratch the same quirky cinematic itch.
Freaky (2020)
Before she was Lisa Frankenstein née Swallows, actress Kathryn Newton stepped into the shoes of a serial killer in Freaky, a twisted version of the body-swapping classic Freaky Friday. In the movie, Millie (Newton) swaps bodies with the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) after being stabbed with an ancient dagger called La Dola. With help from her two best friends and older sister, Millie must stab the Butcher back before midnight or the change will be permanent.
Heathers (1989)
The Heathers walked so the Plastics could run. Like the fearsome foursome in Mean Girls, the Heathers—three girls named Heather in an Ohio high school—rule the school with an iron fist. Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) rounds out the group as the former geek-turned-reluctant-popular girl, but when brooding new guy J.D. Dean (Christian Slater) enters the picture, everything goes out the window. Veronica and J.D. set out for petty revenge against the popular clique, but things go too far when Veronica realizes J.D. intends to actually murder them all.
Warm Bodies (2013)
What makes someone human? In Warm Bodies, the answer is the presence of a heartbeat, which zombies don’t have after (sort of) surviving an apocalypse. A teen zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult) encounters Julie (Teresa Palmer), a human girl attempting to gather supplies for a group of human survivors. They fall in love, which slowly brings R back to corporal form. In the end, humans and zombies must team up to take on the Boneys, zombies who are so far gone they’ve lost their flesh and feast on anything … and everything.
Jawbreaker (1999)
If the bubble gum girl clique in Jawbreaker looks familiar, there’s a reason: They were based on the group in Heathers. This film stars Rose McGowan as Courtney Shayne, a Heather Chambers/Regina George type who deftly controls her group of cronies, including Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart) and Marcie “Foxy” Fox (Julie Benz). A birthday prank goes wrong and leaves one of their group dead, and worse yet, there’s a witness: meek, nerdy Fern (Judy Greer). Courtney swears Fern to secrecy, and in return they give her a makeover and transform her into a hot, popular girl. Everything comes to a climax at the prom, naturally!
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Tim Burton directed Edward Scissorhands, a gothic romantic fantasy about an artificial humanoid (Johnny Depp) whose creator inexplicably gave him scissor blades instead of hands. When his maker dies and leaves him alone, Edward is taken in by a kindly realtor (Dianne Wiest), and he soon falls in love with her daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder). At first, the villagers are kind to Edward, who returns their kindness by cutting their hedges into artsy topiaries and giving them avant-garde haircuts. But soon the villagers turn on him, forcing the young lovers apart.
Better Off Dead (1985)
Savage Steve Holland wrote and directed this ’80s cult classic starring John Cusack, and it still holds up today. In Better Off Dead, Cusack stars as Lane Myer, a goofy teenager who repeatedly tries to take his own life (to comedic effect) after his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) breaks up with him. He winds up in a ski-off down a challenging mountain with Beth’s new boyfriend, the school jock, falling in love with the French exchange student (Diane Franklin) in the process. With a kooky cast of characters and infinitely quotable lines, this is one dark comedy you’ll watch again and again.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Another movie starring Winona Ryder? It’s almost like she was our gothic teen queen for a while! (She totally was.) Beetlejuice is the much-loved story of Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), a sweet couple who die suddenly and become trapped in their house as ghosts. They enlist the help of Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a “bio-exorcist,” to get rid of the (hilarious) new inhabitants of the house, a posh city family. Things go awry, and the family’s daughter Lydia (Ryder) agrees to marry Beetlejuice … unless the Maitlands can stop him.
Totally Killer (2023)
Like Freaky, Totally Killer uses several familiar tropes to tell a supernatural tale of time travel and revenge. Kiernan Shipka stars as Jamie, a teenager who was raised to be ultra-careful because her mother Pam (Julie Bowen) narrowly avoided being murdered by a serial killer 35 years earlier. One night, Jamie goes out, and her mother is brutally murdered. Luckily, her friend Amelia (Kelcey Mawema) has created a time machine, so Jamie goes back in time to 1987 to find the killer and stop him before he can murder her mom.
The Craft (1996)
The Craft is a lot like the other girl-gang offerings on this list, but this one has witchcraft! Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) moves to L.A. and befriends a group of witchy outcasts lead by Nancy Downs (Fairuza Balk). The girls practice casting spells and realize Sarah is the ingredient they’ve been missing to make their magic work. They start abusing their power, however, and turn against Sarah, who has to tap into inner depths she didn’t know she had in order to stop them.
Tragedy Girls (2017)
Last but not least, Tragedy Girls is a slasher flick about high schoolers McKayla Hooper (Alexandra Shipp) and Sadie Cunningham (Brianna Hildebrand), best friends and bloggers who are obsessed with crime and murder. Their interest in capturing a serial killer (Kevin Durand) kicks off a string of gruesome murders.
There you have it: ten movies to fill that Lisa Frankenstein-shaped void in your viewing schedule. It’s great to know that the dark teen comedy is still alive and well!
(featured image: Focus Films / Universal Pictures)
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