Jesus And Mary Chain, Bauhaus poster, set of hair crimpers and a novelty telephone means we’re firmly in the 1980s, in a teen horror comedy. But this is penned by Diablo Cody, so it’s much smarter than your average ‘American Graffiti Risky Time Machine Scream’. In actual fact, it’s more like ‘Sexy Beetlejuice’.
Lisa (Kathryn Newton) lives with her uncooperative steppmom, dad and her step-sister Taffy (Lisa Soberano) is a typically vacuous cheerleader. But Lisa is goth- adjacent , prone to hanging around in a graveyard and taking rubbings of names on the stones. It’s safe to say we’re fully in school misfit territory.
The era is rendered well, all neon, consumerism and innocence. Newton is well cast as Lisa, the classic Winona Ryder type; her big eyes and wild curls resemble a young Bernadette Peters in ‘Slaves Of New York’ which is definitely another reference point.And Handsome Dead Guy (Cole Sprouse) created using a Victorian corpse and a tanning bed- of course- teaches her how to find herself.
So it’s pretty silly, playing with teen movie tropes and Zelda Williams’ direction is too broad and awkward. Somehow, though,like the various body parts stitched together at the last minute, it somehow fits. Dead funny in certain places, too. I was occasionally charmed.
