I have mixed emotions about this film. On the one hand, I’m a huge Tim Burton fan (loved the movie Heathers which this movie is vaguely reminiscent of) and am of an age that I too was a teen in 1989, so there was a lot of nostalgia for me. Trust me, they got the ‘80s exactly right.
I loved the dark humor and the weird little twists, but, murder for no reason…not so much. Let me explain.
[Here there be SPOILERS – alert! Alert!]
I felt that I could not root for the main character when she started being okay with people being killed for yelling at her, or making an inappropriate pass, or coming on to her and not meaning it. Those were really horrible to be sure, but not sure any of those things should be seen as capital crimes. (What’s next? Sending someone to the electric chair for not picking up their dog poop?)
I’m certain that writer Diablo Cody and director Zelda Williams tried to show titular Lisa’s transformation into a monster just as her monster started becoming more human (as if he were sucking away her humanity). And I’m being asked to feel that “aw! They’re dead cute!” when they end up together – instead of what I actually felt which was a need to cry into my popcorn.
I wish that the movie, instead of centering on the romantic relationship between Lisa and Creature (whatever Cole Sprouse’s character’s name was) which was nothing but toxic and destructive (aw! Murder is so cute!), but instead on the platonic love between Lisa and her sister which was sweet and nurturing – and the two protected each other. And Lisa should have done what needed doing (which if you see the film, you'll know what I mean).
Anyhow, it did cross a lot of lines for me (plus, I wasn’t expecting horror, instead thought it was dark comedy…well, neon blue comedy according to the poster), so it impeded my ability to like it, plus I thought the message of the film was, um, mixed at best (be mean to a weird outsider and end up dead). I think Diablo Cody’s perversity went a little too far for me – which is disappointing since I absolutely loved everything else (acting, sets, costumes, the comedy, the characters – even if they were a little mean spirited, the whole weird vibe of the film).
I kept thinking how I’d re-write things to make the deaths hilariously accidental (even a little more gory) or at least more deserved (one of the victims should have turned out to be her mother’s killer so that we could resolve that plot point AND justify their death). The very last death did not resolve any of the problems for me (which is what it was supposed to do) – it actually made me feel WORSE about the film, because well that’s NOT how I’d want to end up. A grudging three stars from me.