Angst? What Angst?: Dale Swallows spends the whole film being remarkably unaffected by the multiple tragedies that destroy his family, including the murder of both his wives, the suicide of one daughter and the other being severely traumatized.
Applicability: The Creature is revealed to have no penis and it's not explained why. Lisa assures him that it's not needed to be a man. This plot point was received very warmly by transgender audiences, for obvious reasons.
Critical Dissonance: Scored a 50% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers, however, were much more favorable at 83%, giving the movie a sizable following online for its campiness and 80s setting combined with gothic aesthetics.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Although it's most likely unintentional, the choice of background music — "On the Wings of Love" by Jeffrey Osborne — when the Creature chops off Michael's penis as Taffy (Soberano) watches in horror can be absolutely hilarious if you know Liza Soberano's history.note Soberano was one-half of LizQuen, a "love team" with her real-life partner Enrique Gil. The two were contractually obligated and socially pressured to star in endless films and shows together in the Philippines, as one of the most popular "love teams" in 2010s Philippines. JaDine, consisting of James Reid and Nadine Lustre, were one of their rival love teams. JaDine starred in 2015's On the Wings of Love◊, a bright, wholesome romantic series tailor-made for the Philippines' predominantly Christian audiences. The show was named after Osborne's song and used a cover of it as the theme song. Flash-forward to the 2020s, and Reid has broken free from the love team formula and has even made highly controversial statements denouncing the Philippines' love team culture. He begins managing none other than Soberano and helps her pursue her Hollywood dreams. Many Filipinos hate on her and express doubt that she will get anywhere in Hollywood. Come 2024, and Soberano makes a splashy Hollywood debut in Lisa Frankenstein — where the theme song for her very own manager's career-defining cutesy rom-com is used in a brutally blood-soaked, darkly comical scene that is anything but wholesome. It almost feels like Soberano and Reid's revenge after many years of being trapped in squeaky-clean Filipino rom-coms.
