frankenstein Archives

The ’80s. A teenage crush. High school drama. And, of course, a corpse. Maybe not what you’d expect for a traditional coming-of-age tale, but all elements that make the new movie Lisa Frankenstein come alive in a fun, twisted way. The film, written by Diablo Cody and directed by Zelda Williams, follows the story of Lisa (Kathryn Newton) as she falls in love with The Creature (Cole Sprouse), a dead body brought back to life in a freak accident.

Much went into the movie’s development and creation, and music was a big source of inspiration. It enhanced Diablo’s creative writing process, and Zelda said that listening to her ’80s favorites put her in the right mindset. To help listeners cultivate the perfect mood, the two created a Spotify playlist that highlights some of their favorite tracks during this period.

For the Record sat down with Diablo and Zelda to dig deeper into their vision and how music created the perfect vibe for bringing the characters to life, or, back from the dead.

Diablo, what made you interested in reimagining Frankenstein?

There’s just something about that Frankenstein mythos that is so irresistible—and it’s not just me. So many filmmakers have gone back to that well, and I think just the idea of doing a Frankenstein story from a female perspective and as this madcap rom-com, it was just something that I hadn’t really seen before, so I thought, “Why not?”

Zelda, what attracted you to the script?

Even as an actor, I very rarely was given comedy scripts, let alone things for young women, that reminded me of the movies that I grew up loving. And so getting to read something that reminded me of a female version of Weird Science or Encino Man or Beetlejuice was just genuinely a joyful thing.

What three words would you use to describe the vibe of Lisa Frankenstein?

Zelda Williams and Diablo Cody on the set of Lisa Frankenstein. Photo Credit: Mason Novick

Diablo: Nostalgic, romantic, and goth.

Zelda: A little violent, wacky, and very fun.

How did you approach picking music for the soundtrack?

Diablo: Well, the movie takes place in 1989, so a lot of it was directly pulled from that late-’80s pop goth vibe of the era. And there were certain songs that I think are just so perfect, like the Pixies’ “Wave Of Mutilation” and Galaxie 500’s “Strange,” which appears in the movie a couple of times. They both have a mystique to them that really suits the narrative. Music and filmmaking are both so emotional, so you just try to kind of capture a vibe [with the two].

Zelda: I was lucky because in the script, there were already songs in there. So even when there were songs we couldn’t end up using, it became its own playlist that was a great jumping-off point for me to deep dive into various artists and find like-minded songs that we did use. “Up the Down Escalator” by The Chameleons was a song I’d always really liked, but to have been able to place it in the movie was really fun. And I didn’t originally intend to use REO Speedwagon in the soundtrack either. That ended up being a place that we found our way to. So it was really great. That exploration was an adventure in and of itself after we finished filming.

If you could pick anthems for the main characters, Lisa and The Creature, what would they be?

Diablo: I think The Creature is a romantic, so I’m going to give him REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” which memorably plays in the movie in a scene beautifully directed by Zelda. And Lisa is a person who is very quiet but has the stirrings of rage inside of her. So I’m going to give her “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus. Just that ominous rumble.

Zelda: I’m torn between two songs that are more representative of them as a couple. I’m one of the biggest Prince fans ever, so “I Would Die 4 U” feels like a very fitting song for the two of them. I put it on my playlist. And then I really love the Fine Young Cannibals and I think “She Drives Me Crazy” is a really funny one for the two of them too.

You both selected songs for a new Spotify playlist. What was your approach?

Diablo: Well, for me, the songs that I chose were music that I listened to while I was writing. So I got really specific with it in terms of it being a direct reflection of my creative process. There’s industrial stuff on there, there’s Ministry, there’s B.F.G., there’s The Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored.” I love that song. And to me, that really captures the feeling of the time. So yeah, it was that kind of stuff that put me in the mood to write this movie.

Zelda: I wanted to stay pretty era-specific at the same time. And for me, the biggest test of any playlist is if I could play it without skips while cooking a long meal. So I tested this one out while cooking curry the other day. And I was a ska kid, believe it or not, so I leaned more into kind of goofy, upbeat. I love a lot of wacky instrumentation, so that’s why stuff like the Fun Boy Three is on mine. I added When In Rome, who we managed to get on our soundtrack, too, which I love. And then it has a little bit of my favorites from Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan because I could listen to them all day, every day. But era-specific cooking night is where I went with the vibe.

What are some of your favorite soundtracks of all time?

Diablo: Sofia Coppola crushes it every time. Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. Those soundtracks are immaculate. And then of course I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up Pulp Fiction because I know I beat that soundtrack to death in the ’90s. So that one’s a classic.

Zelda: Pretty in Pink is one of my favorites. And The Lost Boys album is wonderful, like so much of a mood. And then this one might come out of left field, but Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly is genuinely a no-skip album.

What did you enjoy about making this playlist?

Zelda: Obviously, a playlist and music is incredibly important to cinema, but I love that music actually has a life of its own, as well, separate from a movie. That’s one of the lovely things about it: They’re not necessarily always attached to one another. So if nothing else, if people find their way to this music before or even without finding their way to the movie, I think that’s a really beautiful testament to the fact that these things can exist with their own blood flow and their own organs—to be back in the zombie world. They have their own life and I think that’s really beautiful. To be getting to make a Spotify playlist when we made a movie is really wild.

Channel the vision of Diablo and Zelda by tuning into their playlist.

Watch the trailer for Lisa Frankenstein and catch the movie in local theaters.

A self-described “girl who reads books and does makeup,” content creator Serena Kelly has taken her interests and put them front and center on social media. Millions of fans around the world now seek out her rapid-fire comedic videos.

As an avid reader, Serena also loves listening to audiobooks as a way to immerse herself in a story, whether she’s at home or on the go. “I think audiobooks are the most spellbinding form of media out there,” Serena tells For the Record. “When I listen to someone either tell their own story or narrate this incredibly rich story written by someone else, I think of how humans have been telling stories for thousands of years and I feel so connected to all the generations before me.”

We sat down with Serena to learn more about her love of reading, her emergence as a content creator, and the audiobooks that should be on everyone’s list.

What prompted you to start documenting your life online?

I grew up in what I consider the golden age of YouTube. I was watching Zoella, Tyler Oakley, DanandPhilGAMES, and all of the classic BuzzFeed videos. So from a young age, I always wanted to be a content creator and start my own YouTube channel, or something like that. But I was also always terrified of what other people would think. Then the pandemic came along and I was so isolated that, ironically, I felt the most free I had ever felt. I wanted to express myself and didn’t care if I failed or people disliked my content.

So I started making videos, and of course they were terrible at first. But once I got my footing and genuinely began to have fun, I got on a roll and never looked back.

What do you love most about audiobooks?

As much as I love watching short-form social content, the more hours that I spend consuming it, I can feel my attention span dwindling away. So when I turn to something longer-form like an audiobook, it feels like just a multivitamin for my brain, which is really nice.

And then I love that feeling of getting invested in a really good book. There are always moments where I have to hit pause on an audiobook and go back to my own life, but I spend the entire day wondering what’s gonna happen next in the book and slowly count down the hours until I can start listening again.

Have you always been a voracious reader?

Growing up, I was very, very into books and I loved classic YA novels like The Fault In Our Stars and The Hunger Games. I was making fan edits of those from a very early age. But from high school through college, I never really had time to read for fun and I missed it so much.

Once I graduated college, I didn’t even know where to start again, and audiobooks really helped me get back into reading. I was working a warehouse job where I was doing mindless tasks with my hands and I had a lot of free time. So I’d put on a pair of headphones, find an audiobook that looked good, and get wrapped up in them. Specifically, Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller really got me into audiobooks.

What books have had a big impact on you?

I would say The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green, and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I’ve always been a diehard fiction girlie, and nonfiction has never been my cup of tea, but I listened to both audiobooks and got so drawn in to each story. Even though they’re “informative texts” there’s still this underlying personal story in each. They made me look at the world in a different way because they go into such educational detail about plants or things we encounter in everyday life. Like, there must be so many beautiful backstories to things that I haven’t discovered yet.

How do you go about choosing your next listen?

I’m a huge mood reader. I only read a book if I’m in the mood to read a certain book, which is hard because my mood changes like every 30 minutes. For me, a good rule of thumb is to pick a book that fits with the seasons. So right now I’m listening to Bunny by Mona Awad. And it starts off at the beginning of the academic year, and then as it goes on, it moves into the chillier holiday months. It’s funny because I was listening to it while walking my dog, and it’s describing these wintery city conditions as I’m in the bitter cold. I was like, “Oh my God, it’s like I’m in the book.”

Do you have any advice for people who are just getting into—or getting back into—reading?

First and foremost: Audiobooks totally count as reading.

And then I would say to start as small as you need to. There’s so much pressure for adults to read “smart books.” Like nonfiction books about things going on in the world or classics or really intense contemporary fiction. But you’re not going to have a ton of fun if you just jump into those. It’s kind of like deciding you want to start running, and you immediately try to run a marathon.

So find an audiobook that’s fast-paced, character driven, and not super long, because then you can build up momentum by getting really into a book, finishing it, and experiencing that dopamine hit. It will make you super excited to find your next read.

Share a few of your favorite audiobook recommendations.

One of my favorite audiobooks of all time is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. I realistically would never have read it in print form. But there was a time where I needed something to listen to and noticed it was narrated by Tom Hanks as I was browsing through audiobooks. I didn’t even read the description. I just hit play and he gave such a good performance, and now it’s one of my favorite books.

I also love If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. They’re especially great for if you’re just starting your reading journey or getting back into it.

Everybody’s also talking about Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, so I definitely want to check that out. And I have to throw one classic in there, which is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Make your next read an engaging listen by pressing play on one of the many great audiobooks available on Spotify.

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