New Lisa Frankenstein Trailer Brings Totally Awesome '80s Movie Vibes

There are a lot of genre movies we're already looking forward to in 2024, and at the moment, Lisa Frankenstein is near the top of the list. With a great roster of talent behind it, a wonderful dark comedy concept, and a blend of warmth and irreverence, it's exactly the kind of movie we're ready to see. Oh, and if you love nostalgia vibes, it's also got that '80s movie feeling, and lots of it.

Written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer's Body) and directed by Zelda Williams in her feature directorial debut, the film follows Lisa (Kathryn Newton), a weird teenager who doesn't fit in for a lot of reasons, including her taste in men. See, Lisa has a crush, but her crush happens to be on a Victorian man who's buried in a local cemetery. She visits him, talks to the handsome statue that marks his grave, and dreams of what their life might be like together. Then, a lightning strike unexpectedly reanimates the man (Cole Sprouse), making Lisa's dreams seemingly come true.

RELATED: Everything to Know About Lisa Frankenstein

But as the trailer below points out, there's a big problem: He's still, you know, a dead body, with all the rot and smell and missing body parts that go along with that condition. So, to try to build the romance she really wants, Lisa sets out with her boyfriend to collect all the missing parts he needs... even if they have to kill a few classmates along the way. 

Check out the latest trailer for Lisa Frankenstein:

Like we said, it's a delightfully wicked concept, and it's enhanced by the 1980s setting, which the new trailer really embraces with shots that call to mind everything from Stand by Me to Sixteen Candles to Beetlejuice. 

Turning Up the '80s Vibes

The movie's overall hook and the promise of watching Newton and Sprouse play out an unconventional romance is reason enough to be excited about this movie, but it'll also be very interesting to see how Cody's script, and Williams' direction, play with the '80s movie as a kind of tonal linchpin here. Speaking to Empire about the film, Williams said that the '80s tones were always not just part of the story, but very integral to it.

"It absolutely started on the page," Williams said. "I remember [Diablo] put in the script how many seashells were in [Lisa's] house. So I embarked on it that way. A lot of movies don't go full kitsch; they tend to hold back and be based on our reality of the '80s. I was like 'No. The things that people have one of? I want ten of them.' I fell down a rabbit hole on eBay finding those silly fiber optic lamps. So that was the starting point. Seashells and fiber optic lamps."

It's clear that there's a vibe at work that's distinctly a part of the irreverent teen comedies of that period, and something about it seems to go hand in hand with the more morbid notes in the story. Plus, you know it's gonna have a killer soundtrack.

Lisa Frankenstein hits theaters February 9, just in time for Valentine's Day.