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Tag: Frankenstein

  • Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Is a Monster Made in Canada

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    As Guillermo del Toro earned another Oscar for his 2018 sci-fi romance The Shape of Water shot in Ontario, J. Miles Dale, the film’s producer, proudly said of most key creative positions, from the production and costume designers to the sound team and editor: “They’re all Canadian.”

    Now, after del Toro shot his latest creature feature, Frankenstein, on soundstages in Toronto, Dale says his creative artists and department heads not only are world-beaters but also part of “our film family.” That close-knit community of artists — many of whom are members of the Directors Guild of Canada — Ontario — follows del Toro’s long collaboration with Canadian crews on movies he shot locally.   

    Their challenge on Frankenstein was bringing to the big screen the horror-meister’s vision of egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein and his monster as part of a diabolical experiment. “Look, the worst fear on a Guillermo del Toro movie is letting him down because ultimately he’s the hardest working guy on the movie,” Dale says.

    With Frankenstein, an endlessly driven del Toro fulfilled a lifelong passion to adapt Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel about Dr. Frankenstein, played in the movie by Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi as the creature he gives birth to, with Mia Goth as Elizabeth. As the lavishly shot Frankenstein lurches toward a TIFF premiere, THR sat down with Dale to talk about the local talent behind del Toro’s passion project.

    You’re a big supporter of Canadian talent. Tamara Deverell, a best production design Oscar nominee for Nightmare Alley, designed Frankenstein. Talk about her contribution.

    I really think of it as our film family. I’m old. I’ve been at this a long time. And a lot of these people I’ve been working with a long time. Tamara Deverell, for example. We first worked together on Blizzard in 2001, one of her first jobs as a production designer. She was an art director on [1997’s] Mimic, so she goes back with Guillermo even further.

    You speak about this tight film family. But that’s reflected across an Ontario industry that has weathered the storms of the pandemic and Hollywood strikes to become a major production hub for Hollywood and other foreign producers — thanks in part to you and del Toro.

    The thing I’m most proud of is having started in this business as a kid when we didn’t know much. And all these big American DPs and production designers and costume designers came up and we studied them, and we learned from them, at their feet. Now Canadian artists and talents and producers and artisans are in that league. Having watched that development of our talent pool from early days to now, it’s just remarkable to see. The level at which some of these people are working. You look at Craig Lathrop, a local production designer who got nominated for Nosferatu last year. Paul Austerberry won an Oscar for The Shape of Water. Luis Sequeira, our costume designer, is twice-nominated. Not that that’s the be-all and end-all. But it’s certainly recognition from peers at the very highest level that you’re doing something that is among the best in our industry. That’s gratifying to be able to stand with these people and say they are operating at that high level, and now they are there to train other Canadians, other Torontonians, to be doing the same thing. That’s a generational kind of passing of knowledge and a really lovely thing. I’m just happy to have been a part of it, and I think we can stand pretty tall right now where we are as an industry, and where our folks rank.

    Walter Gasparovic, first assistant director on Frankenstein, is another longtime collaborator with del Toro and yourself.

    Walter Gasparovic, whom I’ve done many films with, was the first AD on Mimic. You know, Guillermo first came here in 1997 with a notoriously difficult shoot with the Weinsteins on Mimic. That was only his third movie, and his first big studio movie. But the crew made an impression on him. And even though he and I didn’t know each other at that time, many of that crew were people I had worked with — Gilles Corbeil, the steadicam operator, Penny Charter, second AD.  So when we came together in 2011 as Guillermo was directing Pacific Rim, he had also agreed with Universal to produce Mama. He said we’ll do it in Toronto. And he needed a producer. I had just produced Scott Pilgrim. And Edgar Wright, a good friend of Guillermo, told him about me. We met. He said, “Yeah, you produce that movie. I’ll be down the hall if you need me.” And that was the beginning of our relationship.

    Jacob Elordi as The Creature and Oscar Isaac as Dr. Victor Frankenstein in ‘Frankenstein.’

    Cr. Ken Woroner/Netflix

    And the film family you have brought along for the ride, they must by now get del Toro’s visual and design aesthetics?  

    Some of my crew and some of his crew were the same crew. So in 2011, we started to build that film family. [Gasparovic] didn’t come back until Frankenstein, but Tamara came back right away on The Strain and Nightmare Alley and Cabinet of Curiosities. And then, of course, Frankenstein. Luis Sequeira, our costume designer, he and I have been working together since he was a PA on Friday the 13th in 1987. So I brought Luis in for Mama, and Guillermo liked him, and he did The Strain and The Shape of Water, Cabinet of Curiosities, Nightmare Alley. He’s part of the family.

    We always hear Guillermo del Toro has high expectations for his creative talent but trusts those he brings on board, making it a tight production.

    That’s what happens when you have a very easy shorthand in a group instead of a bunch of new people being thrust together. You have trust relationships that make it easy because you’ve been down the road with the same people. They trust you. You trust them. Everyone’s not kind of having to cover their ass in case something messes up.

    Guillermo has been called a true visionary director. What does that mean in practical terms for Canadian creatives charged with bringing his directorial vision to the screen?

    Here’s the thing. More than any other director I’ve ever worked with, he is very design-
    oriented — and in a very specific way. Nothing is arbitrary, down to the color scheme, down to characters and associated colors for them. Red is a key color in the film — as in all his films. But in Frankenstein, it’s Oscar Issac’s. Red gloves, scarf and, of course, all the blood making the creature. It’s the memory of his mother in red. Whether it’s conscious or not for Victor, that’s what he gravitates to because he’s always missing his mother. For an art department, for a production designer, set decorator, costume designer and a cinematographer and hair and makeup even, having those specifics and being able to have those conversations to that degree of specificity is great. Because now you’ve got a direction to go in. And, also, he can speak about any era and any research. He knows the difference between baroque and art deco and art nouveau — and very specifically. So, where people have to go, he will steer them down research roads that will give them a direction, and then they come back.

    I sense del Toro and his creatives speak their shorthand very much with visuals and backed by ample research and film references. 

    It’s a beautiful two-way street where, instead of a director saying, “Yeah, just give me something that is good and flashy,” he’s doing a deep dive. That’s what makes it not easier, but certainly a more fruitful relationship that’s going to lead to something better. He knows what he wants. He can show pictures. He can show drawings. He can give books of his own to say, “This is kind of what I want.” Now go and use that inspiration to kick it up a notch, because the standard is very high.

    Talk about building Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, where he created a monster as part of a mad experiment on lavish sets.

    We knew what Guillermo wanted to do with the lab and Victor’s workshop. We’d need a sculpture here, a painting there, these wax figures here, and all of those things. We used artists in Mexico and in France and a painter over here to do a family portrait. So having had many years to curate these ideas in his head, that bore fruit. And, of course, the novel — he also was obviously moved by the novel. The drawings of [comic book artist] Bernie Wrightson from many years ago were a big part of his visual inspiration for the movie, and they informed the production design. I really think our film stays much truer to the novel than any of the other many Frankenstein films that have been made.

    Besides being a master storyteller, del Toro is also legendary for his work ethic.

    Look, the worst fear on a Guillermo del Toro movie is letting him down because ultimately he’s the hardest-working guy on the movie. He never stops, and he’s going to answer any question — he answers a million a day — and he’s always the smartest guy in the room. That is just going to either make all of us better or we’ll fail and we won’t make the cut, and we won’t make be part of the film family, the film family that everyone so desperately wants to be a part of. Because he’s the best. 

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    Etan Vlessing

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  • Oscar Isaac Will Bring a ‘Rock Star’ Energy to His Victor Frankenstein

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    Entertainment Weekly recently sat down with Oscar Isaac to discuss Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein movie, which will hit theaters in October before rolling out on Netflix. While the article breaks down the overall thrust of the movie—namely, that Dr. Frankenstein is haunted by the specter of an abusive father (Charles Dance), prompting him to create new life in an attempt to break the chains of generational trauma more than scientific achievement—the piece hones in on Isaac’s quote that his portrayal of the good doctor is meant to imbue the character with a “rock star” quality.

    “When Victor goes into the lab for the first time, Isaac states, ‘He is looking at it like a concert hall, and he is saying, ‘Where do I want my singers? Where do I want the pyrotechnics? Where is all this gonna be?’ So that was a really fun energy. Guillermo [said], ‘This guy’s a rock star. He is the rock star of the moment,’ because at the moment, what everyone’s psyched about is these new incredible discoveries in science, and he’s at the frontier of that. There’s like a euphoria around that.”

    Yes, Del Toro’s Frankenstein will take a page from Captain Jack Sparrow and that Shakespeare episode of Doctor Who in envisioning Victor Frankenstein as a historical “rock star,” unique to his specific time and place in history. However, since the rock stars of our cultural moment play Magic: The Gathering, devolve into neo-Nazis, and enjoy humble beginnings on Broadway and the Disney Channel, Del Toro has opted to “look at references from the late-’60s and ’70s,” noting the late Jimi Hendrix and Prince as inspirations.

    This raises an interesting question: does comparing a popular historical figure to a “rock star” even scan anymore? It’s certainly not a timely comparison. Jimi Hendrix has been dead for 55 years now, while Prince has been dead nearly nine. If the visual shorthand for a character’s influence has slipped into history this tremendously, the analogy begins to read more like a non sequitur. Would you say, “Oh, Donna Reed? She was the Tamagotchi of her day!” I mean, you could, and you wouldn’t be wrong, necessarily, but…

    I’m concerned the genre fans of tomorrow will see Oscar Isaac sashaying around onscreen and not think, “Ah yes, Mick Jagger in his prime! Truly a man on top of the world,” but instead, “Oh, it’s Grandpa doing one of his bits.” Who would take that seriously? To borrow another reference from over 50 years ago: “It’s pronounced Frankenstein”—not “Fronkensteen.”

    If you’re not busy spinning your Chuck Berry acetates, Frankenstein arrives in select theaters October 17 and then starts streaming November 7 on Netflix.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Gordon Jackson

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  • Telluride Awards Analysis: ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Sentimental Value’ Join ‘Sinners’ Atop List of Oscar Frontrunners

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    The 52nd Telluride Film Festival is now in the books. Margot Robbie, Ryan Coogler, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Rian Johnson, Janet Yang, Kathy Kennedy and Frank Marshall were among those who came just to watch movies. Screenings were introduced with a group meditation (Chloé Zhao), a song (Jesse Plemons) and a wave (man of few words Bruce Springsteen). Adam Sandler and Emma Stone posed for photos in the streets with ecstatic local schoolkids. And the Oscar race came into clearer focus.

    Below, you can read my biggest awards-related takeaways from the fest.

    Four high-profile films that already have U.S. distribution had their world premieres in Telluride: Ballad of a Small Player (Netflix), Bugonia (Focus), Hamnet (Focus) and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (20th Century). How did they go over?

    Focus has plenty of cause for celebration, as both Bugonia and Hamnet played like gangbusters and look almost certain to land Oscar noms for best picture and plenty else.

    Zhao’s Hamnet, an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling 2020 novel of the same name, which centers on the Shakespeare family and its tragic loss that allegedly inspired the play Hamlet, garnered rave reviews (it’s at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 95 percent on Metacritic), including particularly strong notices for leading lady Jessie Buckley, who plays William’s wife Agnes. Some are already proclaiming it to be the best picture Oscar frontrunner. I certainly think it will be a big factor in the season. I would just caution that numerous Academy members quietly expressed to me their feeling that the film has tonal issues — some called it “trauma porn” — and that it has been so hyped by critics that other Academy members will inevitably feel disappointed when they catch up with it. We’ll see.

    As for Bugonia, which reunites filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and actress/producer Stone in a dark comedy about people who “do their own research,” reactions have been nearly as enthusiastic. It played, for me, like a high-end Black Mirror episode — I mean that as a major compliment — and it also has been likened to a prior off-the-wall Lanthimos/Stone collab, Poor Things. Like that 2023 film, it could land multiple acting noms (Stone and Plemons are great), if less recognition for below-the-line work.

    Scott Cooper’s Springsteen, meanwhile, is not what a lot of people expected it to be — a jukebox musical in the vein of Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman or Elvis — but rather an examination of the causes and effects of a deep depression that engulfed The Boss (The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White) in the early 1980s and resulted in his iconoclastic 1982 album Nebraska. It remains to be seen if/how that will impact the film’s box office appeal, but reviews have been solid, and White and Jeremy Strong, who plays Springsteen’s manager, stand a real shot at lead and supporting actor Oscar noms, respectively.

    Then there’s Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player, which comes a year after Conclave and three years after All Quiet on the Western Front, Berger films that were of a large scale and about matters of social import (and landed a bunch of Oscar noms, including best picture). Ballad is neither of those things — it’s about a gambling addict in present-day Macao who grows increasingly desperate as his luck runs out — and the no-holds-barred performance of its lead actor, Colin Farrell, is its best bet for a nom.

    Of films that came directly from world premiering in Venice to make their North American debut in the Rockies, did anything pop?

    Yes, La Grazia (Mubi) and Jay Kelly (Netflix). And it was striking to me how differently people reacted to those two films in Telluride versus in Venice.

    Ironically, La Grazia, the Italian film that opened both fests, was far better received in America. The seventh collab between filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino and actor Toni Servillo, it centers on an Italian president during the last six months of his term. (Maybe Americans were just happy to be reminded that dignified leaders still exist?) I suspect that Italy will eventually submit it for the best international feature Oscar, as it previously did two other Sorrentino films, 2013’s The Great Beauty (which won) and 2022’s The Hand of God, and also that Servillo could make a run at a long-overdue first Oscar nom.

    A similar thing happened with Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, a film about a movie star (George Clooney) who experiences an existential crisis that forces him and his “team” to question their life choices. It was written off on the Lido, but rebounded in a major way — along with its Rotten Tomatoes score — in Telluride, where Baumbach was fêted with a career tribute, Billy Crudup’s big scene received mid-movie applause at each screening, Adam Sandler cemented his status as a frontrunner for the best supporting actor Oscar, and Clooney, who was absent due to illness, was talked up by his collaborators. I think the film is tailor-made for the Academy.

    The reverse sort of happened with Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which played through the roof in Venice — it got a 14-minute standing ovation — and then came to Telluride as a surprise late-night screening, and engendered a more muted response. It’s certainly well made, with a knockout score by the great Alexandre Desplat that the Academy’s music branch will surely nominate. But, even given how much people love del Toro, I think that the film’s bloated story and runtime (two-and-a-half hours, versus 70 minutes for the 1931 original) will make it hard for it to crack the top Oscar categories.

    What about films from earlier fests, including Sundance, Berlin and Cannes?

    In Telluride, as far as I could discern, only one film accumulated as many hardcore fans as Hamnet, and that was the Norwegian dramedy Sentimental Value (Neon), which reunites Oscar nominee The Worst Person in the World’s filmmaker Joachim Trier and actress Renate Reinsve, and which won Cannes’ Grand Prix (second-place award). Festival attendees ate it up, to the extent that I think it deserves to be grouped with Coogler’s Sinners (Warner Bros.) and Hamnet in the top tier of best picture contenders.

    Like Jay Kelly, Sentimental Value is about a filmmaker who neglected his family in order to focus on his career — a character played by the veteran Swedish thespian Stellan Skarsgård, who will probably duke it out with Sandler for the best supporting actor Oscar. Unlike Jay Kelly, Sentimental Value also devotes a significant amount of attention to the filmmaker’s children, played by Reinsve (who I see as neck and neck with Buckley for best actress at the moment) and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. Elle Fanning also stars.

    Neon also had two other films — both political thrillers — that were celebrated at Cannes and then proved popular in Telluride, as well.

    Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, which underscores how the brutality of Iran’s current regime haunts the republic’s citizens, won Cannes’ Palme d’Or over Sentimental Value, and was widely admired here as well. (Panahi, visiting the U.S. for the first time in nearly 20 years, enlisted the audience at one screening to join him in recording a video singing “Happy Birthday” to his script consultant, Mehdi Mahmoudian, who is currently incarcerated in Iran, as Panahi himself was until recently.) Obviously, Iran will not submit It Was Just an Accident for the best international feature Oscar, but France, from which the film drew much of its financing, might. More on that in a moment.

    People also couldn’t stop raving about Wagner Moura, the Brazilian best known for TV’s Narcos, who was awarded Cannes’ best actor prize for his tour-de-force turn in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent. Moura should not be underestimated in the best actor Oscar race, and Brazil, which won best international feature last year with I’m Still Here, might well make another run for it with this smart and funny epic.

    The film that is probably an even bet with It Was Just an Accident to be the French entry is Nouvelle Vague (Netflix), Richard Linklater’s black-and-white homage to the French New Wave. Cineastes loved it in Cannes — I was shocked that it wasn’t awarded a single prize there — and again in Telluride, ahead of which I discussed it with Linklater.

    Other titles that came to Telluride and held their own, even if they didn’t set the world on fire, were, via Cannes, The History of Sound (A24), The Mastermind (Mubi), A Private Life (Sony Classics), Pillion (A24) and Urchin (1-2 Special); via Berlin, Blue Moon (Sony Classics); and via Sundance, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24).

    What about the sales titles?

    THR exclusively broke the news of the two deals that have come out of the fest thus far: Netflix bought Oscar nominee Joshua Seftel’s All the Empty Rooms, a powerful doc short about an effort to memorialize children killed in school shootings; and Amazon/MGM nabbed Oscar winner Morgan Neville’s energizing doc feature about Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles life, Man on the Run.

    Of the films that are still on the table, I’ve heard a lot of enthusiasm for Tuner, the narrative directorial debut of Navalny Oscar winner Daniel Roher, which stars Leo Woodall and Dustin Hoffman; one Academy member even likened it to Whiplash. Hamlet, Aneil Karia‘s reimagining of the Shakespeare play in present-day London, is all about Riz Ahmed’s compelling performance as the title character, and will probably find a buyer. And Philippa Lowthorpe’s H Is for Hawk features a committed turn by the great Claire Foy as a falconer, but is way too long at 130 minutes; I suspect that any potential partner will insist on tightening it up.

    Among the distributorless documentaries that played at the fest, the most talked about was surely Ivy Meeropol’s Ask E. Jean, a portrait of the former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault and twice won legal judgments against him — but is any potential distributor willing to risk the wrath of Trump? I hope and suspect so.

    Mark Obenhaus and Citizenfour Oscar winner Laura Poitras’ Cover-Up profiles another muckraker, Seymour Hersh, and won a lot of admirers both in Venice, where it debuted, and in Telluride. I heard a lot of chatter about The White Helmets Oscar winner Orlando von Einsiedel’s tearjerker The Cycle of Love. And if the turnout of doc branch Academy members at screenings of Robb Moss’ The Bend in the River is any indication, it, too, will soon find a home.

    The bottom line

    Much of the awards-industrial complex, including yours truly, has just returned home from Telluride, and is laying low today and tomorrow before decamping to Canada for the 50th Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday. There, many titles that played in Telluride will resurface. A few that debuted in Venice but then skipped Telluride will have their North American premieres, including The Smashing Machine (A24) and The Testament of Ann Lee (still seeking U.S. distribution). And most excitingly, the Canadians will host the world premieres of a bunch of potential awards contenders, including Rental Family (Searchlight), The Lost Bus (Apple), Hedda (Amazon/MGM), Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix), Roofman (Paramount) and Christy (still seeking U.S. distribution).

    There are 194 days, or six months and 13 days, between now and the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, 2026. A lot can still happen. Stay tuned.

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    Scott Feinberg

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  • Guillermo del Toro Explains Why His Frankenstein’s Monster Looks So Unique

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    Clearly, we’re all very, very excited about Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which is coming to theaters on October 17 before arriving on Netflix on November 7. That’s because it’s del Toro, one of our most beloved filmmakers; his cast is incredible; and there has rarely been a better pairing of filmmaker and subject matter. One other thing has us hyped up too, and that’s Frankenstein’s monster. Del Toro loves a monster and, in a new interview, he talks about how he approached his monster differently, both visually and in his on-screen creation.

    “Ever since I started drawing the creature in the late ’70s and early ’80s, I knew I didn’t want symmetric scars and I didn’t want sutures or clamps,” del Toro said to Variety. “What I thought was very interesting was to make him like a jigsaw puzzle. I wanted him to look beautiful, like a newborn thing, because a lot of times, Frankenstein steps into the frame and he looks like an accident victim. But Victor is as much an artist as he is a surgeon, so the cuts had to make aesthetic sense. I always thought about him as made of alabaster. I never understood something about the other versions: why does Victor use so many pieces from so many bodies? Why doesn’t he just resurrect a guy who had a heart attack? And the answer for me was, what if the bodies come from a battlefield? Then he needs to find a way to bring the corpses together in a harmonious way.”

    What does that all mean? We aren’t quite sure, but it sounds absolutely fascinating. Equally fascinating is del Toro talking about his choice to actually show Dr. Frankenstein make the creature. “Almost nobody shows the creation of the monster,” he said. “Everybody shows thunder, and the monster is already put together. And I thought, if you are following a rock star, you want to shoot the concert. So instead of making it horrible that he is putting all these things together from bodies, I made it into a waltz. I made it into a joyous fun, sort of crazy concert. He’s running around the lab, putting this body together, grabbing this part and placing it together here or there.”

    Look, if the image of Oscar Isaac in posh Victorian-era clothes dancing around a lab creating an alabaster monster out of dead bodies doesn’t do it for you, why are you reading this website?

    Frankenstein will have “the biggest theatrical release that Netflix gives its films,” according to del Toro, starting on October 17. It’ll be in theaters for at least three weeks and, eventually, will even get a physical media release. But, for most people, they’ll see it on Netflix starting November 7. Read more from the filmmaker about his love of the source material, his alternate plans for the movie, and more over at Variety.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Germain Lussier

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  • Stores Have Decided That This Summer, Halloween Is Already Here

    Stores Have Decided That This Summer, Halloween Is Already Here

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    Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Bluey fever join horror classics and spooky lore-inspired collections at major home decor retailers and seasonal pop-up giants Spirit Halloween and Party City.

    Halloween’s niche in horror fandom has expanded way beyond October 31, so it makes sense that home decor and goods inspired by scary movies, classic monsters, and supernatural legends are becoming more and more a staple of everyday life. Hey—if the comic book and sci-fi nerds do it all year, so can the spooky season folks. What’s so shocking, however, is that Halloween teases are now dropping so soon after July 4. In previous years, anticipation for stores to fill their shelves with orange-and-black delights got more of a chance to build, at least until back-to-school aisles were cleared. And while some retailers are apparently still checking the calendar—including Target, which has thus far kept its Halloween collection under wraps—if you visit the sites or even locations for the Disney Store, Lowe’s, Spirit Halloween, Home Depot, Party City, Michaels, At Home, and Joann, you can start shopping pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, and more.

    © Spirit Halloween

    You’ll have to be quick though! Early-bird horror fiends are already raiding the aisles—as are re-sellers intent on snatching up any items with the potential to go viral and become the Halloween must-haves for 2024. That’s why so many are sold out in the middle of summer—though most will be re-stocked, so if you see something you can’t live without, get on those alerts so you’ll be first in line when it returns. And keep in mind what’s been dropped so far isn’t everything; there’ll be more as we get closer to fall. The Disney Store just started its release schedule with  The Haunted Mansion collection but has more planned in the coming weeks. And Beetlejuice stuff has begun to trickle out to retailers like Spirit Halloween—witness this giant inflatable at Party City of the circus carousel ghost with the most—but it’s worth noting that so far it’s only been product from the iconic first film. We have yet to see anything from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but it’s definitely coming. Tim Burton fans will be happy to learn that The Corpse Bride will be a huge feature at Spirit Halloween as will slashers like Scream and John Carpenter’s Halloween franchise. Home Depot will feature the Universal Monsters, the not-so-scary (but clear-cut kid favorite) Bluey, and more Nightmare Before Christmas with that 13-foot Jack Skellington animated statue (which we hope comes with a Sandy Claws outfit for Christmas).

    Michaels halloween
    © Michaels

    But what if you don’t need pop culture splattered all over your seasonal decor? Fans of supernatural folklore, witchy classic literature, kooky familiars, sentient pumpkins, and paranormal specters aren’t getting left behind either. Michaels, At Home, and Joann Fabrics have some deeply aesthetic collections of their own out to shop that aren’t IP at all but will make your abode feel supremely haunted. We particularly love the Midnight Moon and Haunted Forest collections at Michaels that harken to some classic monster and A24 atmospheric vibes. Then for those into astrology, traditional Halloween, and graveyard goth, definitely look into the drops at Joann and At Home (but shout out to these awesome Jack Skellington pieces). And lets not forget Lowe’s truly epic aquatic horror line. There’s a huge front yard Kraken that’s already hard to get your hands on, because who doesn’t want to release the Kraken for Halloween?

     

    There’s already something for everyone and picking a theme is going to be so hard this year! Let us know if you’ve managed to secure anything already or if you’re going to wait and show up only to find Christmas aisles in September. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    Sabina Graves

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  • Lisa Frankenstein: Mary Shelley With a (Tanning Bed) Shock of Heathers

    Lisa Frankenstein: Mary Shelley With a (Tanning Bed) Shock of Heathers

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    For those seeking to dig up their long-buried romantic side, Lisa Frankenstein arrives at the perfect time: Valentine’s Day. And, although it was released during what was called the worst box office weekend for movies since Covid, one can only hope that the receipts will pick up (or at least stay the same) for screenwriter Diablo Cody’s latest signature offering in the coming weeks. Not to mention picking up for the sake of director Zelda Williams’ (yes, Robin Williams’ daughter) debut feature (having previously directed the short films, Shrimp and Kappa Kappa Die), who has just as much riding on the success of the film as Cody. Except that “success,” when applied to a movie like Lisa Frankenstein, can definitely not be measured in box office returns, so much as “finding its audience.” 

    When Cody hoped that would happen with 2009’s now-respected horror-comedy, Jennifer’s Body, it didn’t. And that was, in large part, due to some very poorly-executed marketing plans, ones that relied heavily on playing up Megan Fox’s “sexiness” rather than the actual story. While JB might have been maligned at the time (just as Lisa Frankenstein is now), Cody stated, “If people hadn’t rediscovered Jennifer’s Body, I would not have written Lisa Frankenstein. With that whole area, that genre, I kind of felt unwelcome in it, because I had flopped so hard on my last attempt.” Thank “God” those feelings went away, and Cody was able to bring us another campy “coming-of-rage” (as Lisa Frankenstein is called) tale that reworks Mary Shelley’s classic to the advantage of a teen girl in the “mad scientist” role. 

    Except, in true underlying discriminatory fashion, Lisa doesn’t create her monster through science (so much for a chem lab scene), but rather, by simple wishing…while tripped out on PCP-laced alcohol. From there, a Victorian-inspired dream sequence ensues (giving the likes of Yorgos Lanthimos and Michel Gondry a run for their money), featuring Lisa (Kathryn Newton) in a dress that reflects the 1800s period she’s flashing back to…minus the giant Pabst Blue Ribbon logo painted on the front of it. In fact, the hand-painted logo on that dress is what got costume designer Meagan McLaughlin the job. And it seemed to be the job of a lifetime in terms of getting to rework some of her favorite looks from the decade, which are overtly inspired by both Madonna and Winona Ryder (80s queens on opposite aesthetic spectrums, yet somehow two sides of the same coin, kind of like horror and comedy). 

    Considering that Cody was recently working on a script with Madonna for her since-shelved biopic, perhaps it’s fair to say that the pop star has remained on Cody’s brain—which undoubtedly shines through in this movie. McLaughlin (whose meticulous attention to detail on the wardrobe front cannot be underestimated) also admitted she was “obsessed with Madonna in 1984, and you don’t grow out of that obsession. [That’s why] there’s a hint of Madonna-esque Like a Virgin fashion in [the movie].” More than just a hint, mind you. Except Lisa appears mostly in black lace rather than white. As for the obvious Tim Burton flair of the film (including the house and neighborhood exteriors), it’s in large part because of how much Lisa reminds one of Ryder’s characters in Beetlejuice and Heathers, with McLaughlin adding, “Winona Ryder is a huge influence for me in that period, and we were absolutely inspired by her costumes in Beetlejuice and Heathers. I had taken a screenshot from Heathers of Winona in a gray top with a black skirt with suspenders, and that inspired one of Lisa’s looks…” 

    And if Lisa is Winona Ryder-inspired, then there’s no denying the Creature (Cole Sprouse) is heavily Johnny Depp-inspired. Particularly his Edward Scissorhands era (which also included Ryder). A mood board for the costumes looked not only to Buster Keaton, but, surely, also Depp in his early 90s movies. After all, 1989 was on the cusp of that decade, and it took until at least 1995 to fully shake an all-out 80s tinge that still lingered heavily in most people’s sartorial choices. And, talking of 1989, that was also the year Heathers was released in theaters and changed the landscape of teen movies forever. Particularly when it came to actually speaking candidly (and comically) on what it meant to be a teen girl. For the satirical purposes of Daniel Waters’ script, the murderous rage so many women at that age feel became literal as Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) becomes involved with a rebellious “James Dean type,” named, appropriately, J.D. (Christian Slater), who is willing to carry out the murders she otherwise wouldn’t. Hence, the indelible voiceover of Veronica saying, “Dear Diary, my teen angst bullshit has a body count.” Other absurdist lines delivered glibly include, “Great pâté, Mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that funeral” and “Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?” (that one delivered by Heather Chandler, not Veronica). Lisa begins to deliver such outlandish lines in a similarly blasé manner. That’s all part of the genre. And so is the hormonally-driven lust of crushing hard over a boy. 

    For Lisa, the J.D. in her life turns out to be the Creature, who immediately becomes emotionally attached to his “maker,” defending her at all costs from anyone he sees affecting her negatively. At the top of that list is her new stepmother, the Nurse Ratched-esque Janet (Carla Gugino, relishing a villainous role as usual). Convinced she’s the source for all that is good and holy in Lisa and her father Dale’s (Joe Chrest) life, Janet has little patience for what she perceives as Lisa’s “acting out” ways. And it isn’t long before she makes it her mission to paint Lisa as “crazy” enough to be locked up, which would leave her with Dale and her own perfect cheerleader daughter, Taffy (Liza Soberano). 

    Surprisingly, though, Taffy is actually nice to Lisa, making it a point to treat her like a real sister, defending her from naysayers and taking her out to parties. Including the first “rager” of the year, where she encounters the “cerebral” (“He’s in a wheelchair?” Taffy asks in regard to that word) boy she’s been crushing on, Michael Trent (Henry Eikenberry). And also, unfortunately, his girlfriend, Tamara (Joey Harris). The latter being the Goth Lite that Lisa will soon outdo with her own theatrical aesthetics (ones clearly inspired by the bands she loves: Bauhaus, The Cure, Joy Division, etc.—the only nod to “goth” [before it got rebranded as “emo”] missing from that era is The Smiths). It’s Tamara that fucks her over with the old reverse psychology trap of handing her a cup, quickly retracting it and saying something to the effect of, “Silly me, I should’ve known better to than to think you knew how to party.” Lisa then takes the cup from her, not wanting to come across like a prude in front of Michael. She might have been better off upholding her “virginal” image, though, because the PCP is about to take her on a wild ride. 

    To that end, without her hallucinogenic journey, she not only wouldn’t have seen what an asshole her lab partner, Doug (Bryce Romero), is as he puts his hand on her chest after pretending he just wants to “help” her, but she also wouldn’t have been able to “astral project,” so to speak, to the Creature’s gravesite and work the “magic” that will set him free, liberate him from the ground. 

    “I wish I was with you,” Lisa tells the bust atop his gravestone while imagining herself in the bachelors’ graveyard. When that wish actually comes true (because apparently it’s as simple as “ask and you shall receive,” paired with a lightning bolt jolt), she explains to the Creature that what she really meant by that was she wanted to be dead, too (how very Lana Del Rey declaring, “I wish I was dead already”). Down there in the ground with him because the living are such assholes. Her bluntness prompts him to start crying, leading Lisa to the realization that she must do everything in her power so that he doesn’t cry again because his tears smell fouler than the corpse itself. And even when he starts to look more and more like a viable character from Less Than Zero, his stench still doesn’t go away. Such is the drawback of “building a boyfriend” out of a dead body. Or, as the various taglines go, “If you can’t meet your perfect boyfriend…make him,” “Dig up someone special” and “She’s slaying. He’s decaying” (side note: Cody was gunning for a tagline that went, “You always dismember your first”). Harsher critics of Lisa Frankenstein will accuse the movie itself of decaying from the very first scene. Indeed, less open-minded reviews have touted such scathing assessments in their titles as, “Lisa Frankenstein Will Make You Miss Tim Burton. A Lot.” or “Lisa Frankenstein: There’s nothing animated about this corpse comedy.”

     “Corpse comedy” being, in truth, a genre that really only Weekend at Bernie’s can lay claim to. “Zom-com” is, instead, the term that’s been bandied around to describe a film like this. And it also applies to 2013’s Warm Bodies, which riffs on Romeo and Juliet. In a sense, the Frankenstein story is a kind of Romeo and Juliet narrative…when the gender of the “Dr. Frankenstein” in the equation is swapped and the “monster” she’s created starts to fall in love with her. As for the “mechanism” used to keep bringing the Creature more and more to life (therefore, more and more “on her wavelength”—no crimped hair pun intended), Cody might have gotten some inspo from another 80s-loving movie: Hot Tub Time Machine. Sure, the tanning bed might not be a portal through the decades (like Back to the Future’s Delorean as well), but it’s an equally 80s-centric “luxury” that ends up being wielded for paranormal purposes. 

    With the boon of the tanning bed to bring a jolt of  life to his new limbs, the only obstacle for the Creature in securing Lisa’s love is the aforementioned Michael Trent, who reels the anti-heroine in with his compliments of her poetry (macabre, of course). He’s the editor-in-chief of the high school lit mag, after all, so he must have taste (in fact, his self-aggrandizement over that taste will come into play in a big way later on, when Lisa has the revelation that only he can have taste in “cool” things, not his girlfriend of the moment). Second to that, the Creature is dealing with just one more noticeable, er, deficit: he’s missing a few key parts. Namely, a hand, an ear and what some women would arguably call the most important appendage of all. Though Lisa assures him that’s actually the thing that least makes a man, well, a man. Nonetheless, that doesn’t stop her from admitting she no longer wants to be like a virgin. She wants to fuck, and soon. Especially with her and the Creature’s body count piling higher by the day (they’re sort of like Dexter Morgan in that they justify their killings by deeming their victims as “bad people”).

    Lisa knows it’s only a matter of time until the police come after her. Which feels like a full-circle moment considering her own mother was brutally killed by an ax murderer (a detail and flashback that seems like Cody’s nod to 80s slasher movies in general). Now she’s the one toting an ax around town, at one point trying to convince herself that she might be able to kill her own creation. But she could never—not just because he’s become both an extension of her and her best friend, but because they’ve obviously fallen in love somewhere along the distorted line between the land of the living and the land of the dead. 

    Starting with Lisa’s visits to Bachelor’s Grove cemetery, as a matter of fact. And while Victorians don’t actually seem to have a tradition of burying single men in their own special cemetery, there does happen to be a supposedly haunted graveyard called that in Illinois (that has nothing to do with a “bachelors only clientele,” mind you). Cody herself is from said state, specifically the Chicago suburb of Lemont. And, being that so many 80s movies are centered on suburban teen angst (thanks, in large part to Cody’s unwitting mentor, John Hughes, a fellow former suburban teen who spent his adolescence in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook), it’s evident Cody knows how to convey that in Lisa Frankenstein. And also, of course, Jennifer’s Body. In point of fact, Cody has said that she would like to think Lisa and Jennifer exist in the same cinematic universe (additionally mentioning her hope of rebooting the film as a TV series). 

    Sort of the way it seems, unspokenly, that all of John Hughes’ teen movies do. One of which, Weird Science, Cody cites as a particular influence on Lisa Frankenstein (though not Lisa Frank, who founded her company of the same name in 1979 and subsequently served as a school supplies-oriented mascot for a generation of girls). Indeed, the “revived” woman (actually created from a computer and a doll) in Weird Science was named Lisa. This being one of those quintessential 80s names for girls. And what’s even more quintessential about the 80s, as Cody reminds us, is that romantic devotion was revitalized to an almost Victorian extent (as manifested in the music of some of the aforementioned bands). 

    Accordingly, Lisa writes the Creature a “farewell” note that reads, “Death is temporary. I’ll love you forever.” To be sure, Lisa Frankenstein mirrors that level of wistfulness and romanticness (something Mary Shelley knew all about) for its entirety. The kind of romance we’ve, by now, been taught to mock or write off as being of the “Billy Bob and Angelina variety.” Intense to the point of vials of blood being involved. Or, in this case, limbs. Thus, the intensity of Lisa and the Creature’s bond is only further cemented when the latter cuts off a certain boy’s dick and has her sew it on his own Ken doll-esque area. Needless to say, it definitely helps that Lisa happens to be a skilled seamstress. 

    In the final moments of Lisa Frankenstein, the viewer is treated to the sight of a now-capable-of-speaking Creature reading aloud from a book of Percy Shelley’s poems (namely, “To Mary”) on a bench (in a manner that sort of mimics the bench-reading scene from Notting Hill). As he reads, a bandaged-up, undead Lisa rests “comfortably” on his lap. The Frankenstein roles have now reversed, in a fashion similar to what happens at the end of Frankenhooker (which, although released in 1990, very much smacks of the year it was actually filmed: 1989). Except that Lisa is no longer the one truly in control. Perhaps this is a subtle statement, on Cody’s part, about what happens when a woman falls in love: she ends up surrendering some (if not all) of her power. Unless the guy, like J.D. in Heathers, proves himself to be a complete twat and a girl has to take that power back, Veronica Sawyer-style.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Perfect Weekend For Weed And A Scary Movie

    Perfect Weekend For Weed And A Scary Movie

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    Halloween is here and during the week – so you have a whole pre weekend to enjoy the boo-tiful season.  Why not spend an evening (or afternoon) chilling with your favorite snack and maybe some cannabis. Marijuana tends to a movie more immersive, the sensory bombardment brings out the thrill and makes you see and feel it much more.

    So this is the prefect weekend for weed and a scary movie!  Here are some suggestions.

    RELATED: People Who Use Weed Also Do More Of Another Fun Thing

    Frankenstein/ Bride of Frankenstein

    Frankenstein is a 1931 American pre-Code horror film directed by creative master James Whale.   Bride of Frankenstein was the sequel release 1935 and as with the first film directed by James Whale. A cinema lover’s black and white delight with the addition of a couple of campy great scenes.  Perfect bing watch.

    Beetlejuice

    Beetlejuice is a 1988 American is a fantasy, horror, comedy film directed byTim Burton. The visuals alone are worth the watch and you immerse yourself into the entire movie. One great singalong coupled with the rhythm of the movie will make for an enjoyable high.

    Psycho

    Psycho is a 1960 classic  horror film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The pace is a slow build and allows you to feel each moment.  With a tight cast, Hitchcock knows how to keep you focused in the move.

    Hocus Pocus/ Hocus Pocus 2

    Hocus Pocus is a 1993 American fantasy comedy Halloween movie film directed by Kenny Ortega. The sequel came out in2022 was directed by Anne Fletcher. Lighthearted fun movie with music and lots of visuals to delight all the senses. When the edibles hit, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy will be your besties and keep you humming, laughing and enjoying the colors and rhythm of the film.

    The Shining

    The Shining is a 1980 classic horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. Again, the visual and the script will draw you end and you will feel you are in the hotel. More of a true horror flick, be prepared for excitement and surprise.

    RELATED: Rainy Weather Cocktails

    The Conjuring

    The Conjuring is a 2013 supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and based on the true life of the Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors.  This was the first of the movies in the Conjuring Universe and also the best.  Definitely a nail biter and a movie to get the heart pumping.

     

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    Sarah Johns

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