Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Writer Diablo Cody and Filmmaker Zelda Williams Talk the Tunes That Help Score Lisa Frankenstein'

08/02/2024

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? Photo Credit: Michele K. Short / 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC

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 Mayfi
LINK: https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-02-08/writer-diablo-cody-and-filmmak...
See more stories from spotify

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

22/01/2026

Spectrum to Award $1 Million in 2026 Digital Education Grants

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

22/01/2026

StreamGuys Bolsters Its Audio Advertising Ranks

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

22/01/2026

NAB, Broadcasters Press FCC to End Ownership Caps

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

22/01/2026

Maxon Hires Steve Forde as Chief Product Officer

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

22/01/2026

Details Emerge About Adobe Film & TV Fund Commitment

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

Australia's Greatest Conman? premieres 24 February on SBS and SBS On Demand

Australia's Greatest Conman? premieres 24 February on SBS and SBS On Demand Media releases The $900 million dollar mystery that fooled our nation Austra...

21/01/2026

SBS ignites Lunar New Year with bold storytelling for The Year of the Fire Horse

SBS ignites Lunar New Year with bold storytelling for The Year of the Fire Horse 21 January, 2026 Media releases SBS is charging into Lunar New Year 2026 w...

21/01/2026

Nielsen's All Screens Video Landscape Report Reveals Shift in Polish Media Rankings and Deeper Audience Engagement

The Living Room Remains Central: Nielsen Highlights Growing TV Screen Dominance ...

21/01/2026

NAB Urges Swift Action by FCC on NextGen TV Transition

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

SmallHD Releases Major PageOS Software Update

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

WBGU-TV in Ohio to Drop PBS Affiliation

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

Telestream DIVA Now Certified with Quantum ActiveScale an...

Telestream , the industry's leading provider of content lifecycle management and media workflow orchestration, and Quantum Corporation (NASDAQ: QMCO) today ...

21/01/2026

Lightware introduces new Matrix Management Unit for their...

Lightware s TPN ecosystem brings a new level of predictability and structure to 10G AV-over-IP deployments, offering professional AV integrators a deterministic...

21/01/2026

Wisycom Introduces New Wideband Antenna Matrix MATF for C...

Wisycom, a global leader in advanced wireless RF solutions, launches its new wideband antenna matrix, MATF, which supports RF and fiber for demanding multi-zone...

21/01/2026

Grass Valley Showcases Scalable Future-Ready Live Product...

Grass Valley will demonstrate how it is powering scalable, future-ready live production at FOMEX 2026, taking place February 2 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Exhibi...

21/01/2026

OKAST Implements BCNEXXT Vipe to Accelerate Monetization...

BCNEXXT, the developers of the advanced playout platform Vipe, today announced that OKAST, the monetization-first OTT platform provider, is using BCNEXXT's ...

21/01/2026

Magewell Introduces New IP to HDMI Decoder at ISE 2026 an...

Revamped design enables advanced capabilities, leading with powerful IP to HDMI conversion Magewell, developer of innovative, high-performance video I/O and I...

21/01/2026

Kiloview Expands Its AV-over-IP Ecosystem with AVX24-4 Me...

Jan 20th 2026, Changsha Kiloview today announced the launch of two major additions to its AV-over-IP ecosystem: the AVX24-4 Media HUB and KiloLink Station, ma...

21/01/2026

Bitfocus delivers high availability high security and hig...

Latest version of enterprise-class Buttons brings simple, coherent control to more than 700 professional devices and applications Bitfocus, the specialist in ...

21/01/2026

Clear-Com Announces Kari Eythorsson as New Regional Sale...

Clear-Com is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Eythorsson as the new Regional Sales Manager (RSM) for Southeast Asia & Australia, based in Singapore,...

21/01/2026

Netflix Amends Warner Bros Discovery Bid to Offer All Cash

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

Advanced Systems Group Inks Exclusive Partnership With Nu-Studio

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

SWIT Ships New Powercell Camera Battery Series

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

Netflix Q4 Earnings Exceed Expectations as Subs Top 325 Million

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

21/01/2026

Largest Infrastructure Buildout In Human History': Jensen Huang on AI's Five-Layer Cake' at Davos

From skilled trades to startups, AI's rapid expansion is the beginning of th...

21/01/2026

Tribeca Films to Release Independent Documentary Film We Are Pat by Rowan Haber; Alan Cumming Joins as Executive Producer

January 21st, 2026 TRIBECA FILMS TO RELEASE INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY FILM WE...

21/01/2026

Backing Britain on the global stage: Sky becomes an official partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB

Wednesday 21 January 2026 Backing Britain on the global stage: Sky becomes an o...

21/01/2026

What's Next on Netflix Korea: Every Emotion, One Bold 2026 Slate

Back to All News What's Next on Netflix Korea: Every Emotion, One Bold 2026 Slate Entertainment 21 January 2026 GlobalSouth Korea Link copied to clipbo...

21/01/2026

Netflix Presents Its Italian 2026 Slate: The Year of the Stars

Back to All News Netflix Presents Its Italian 2026 Slate: The Year of the Stars (Photo credit: Virginia Bettoja / Netflix) Entertainment 21 January 2026 Gl...

21/01/2026

Fox Corporation Executives to Discuss Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results Via Webcast

Fox Corporation Executives to Discuss Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Resul...

21/01/2026

FilmLight releases Baselight v7

Baselight v7 brings colourists and post-houses smarter mattes, faster workflows and deeper control FilmLight, known for its detailed colour toolset and longsta...

21/01/2026

RT News announces new Washington Correspondent

RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Fox as its new Washington Correspondent. Jackie is a multimedia journalist with RT News and has repor...

21/01/2026

Largest Infrastructure Buildout In Human History: Jensen Huang on AI's Five-Layer Cake at Davos

From skilled trades to startups, AI's rapid expansion is the beginning of th...

20/01/2026

SVG Sit-Down: BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on the Future of Cloud, Remote, Software-Defined Live Production

SVG Sit-Down: BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on the Future of Cloud, Remote, Softwar...

20/01/2026

From Architecture to Reality: What CBC's Milano Cortina 2026 Workflows Tell Us About DMF and MXL in Live Sport

From architecture to reality: What CBC's Milano Cortina 2026 workflows tell ...

20/01/2026

Milano Cortina 2026: Making the Winter Olympics and Paralympics Workflow Work for France Tlvisions

Milano Cortina 2026: Making the Winter Olympics and Paralympics workflow work fo...

20/01/2026

Countdown to Milano Cortina 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to Winter Games

Countdown to Milano Cortina 2026: SVG Launches SportsTechLive Blog in Lead-up to...

20/01/2026

Grand Finale: Rally Saudi Arabia Pushes WRC to Make the Most of Cameras and Drones for Sandy Spectacle

Grand finale: Rally Saudi Arabia pushes WRC to make the most of cameras and dron...

20/01/2026

State of Change: What's Happening in the Remote-Production Business?

State of Change: What's Happening in the Remote-Production Business?NEP Group, Game Creek Video, Dome Productions, Mobile TV Group, Program Productions exec...

20/01/2026

CFP National Championship 2026: A Look Back at SVG's Complete Coverage

CFP National Championship 2026: A Look Back at SVG's Complete CoverageGo behind the scenes with ESPN, Game Creek Video, Van Wagner, and the champion Indiana...

20/01/2026

Centering the Artist: Why We're Launching the AI Literacy Initiative

The Gotham, Film Independent, and Creators Coalition on AI Join Alliance by Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute's Artist Programs...

20/01/2026

19th Annual South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) open the call for Discretionary Award Nominations

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

20/01/2026

The Gauge: Poland | December 2025

December, the first month of winter and the holiday season, has traditionally encouraged families to spend time together in front of the television. During this...

20/01/2026

The Gauge: Mexico December 2025

During December, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.3%, an increase of 0.1 share points from the previous month. Disclaimer: YUMI TV,...

20/01/2026

Streaming Shatters Multiple Records in December 2025 with 47.5% of TV Viewing, according to Nielsen's The Gauge

Christmas Day is Most-Streamed Day Ever with 55 Billion Viewing Minutes, led by...

20/01/2026

Nielsen: Streaming Shatters Multiple Records in December 2025

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Pinterest Flipboard...