Nonureva Really Surprised!

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

e-70733 Too many potential themes were stuffed into the story, but the disappointing play didn't turn it into any complete theme, so it was only possible to rely on too many random events to achieve the dramatic effect of individual clips. Therefore, despite the stunning opening and the perfect atmosphere, the film eventually dragged the narrative rhythm with loose story clips. Many of the private emotions of director Tim Burton were unmasked in the film, and it turns out that he is more suitable for showing witchcraft than discussing science.

mike48128 With a last name like "Frankenstien" (Intentionally misspelled) the story is obvious. Following a 1984 mini-version, this remake does not disappoint. Like "Young Frankenstein" filmed in black and white, of course. Inspired by his creepy science teacher, Victor puts together an elaborate collection of kitchen gadgets and electric wiring and manages to reanimate his beloved (dead) "Sparky" bull terrier complete with a sewed-on tail and stitches. Following that success, his creepy classmates do the same with their dead pets so that there is a monstrously-large rampage of a giant Godzilla-turtle, a were-rat, and annoying giant gremlin-like "Sea Monkeys" that look like the fanciful drawing on the packet's cover. Extremely well animated, in the grand style of Wallace and Grommit, George Pal's Puppetoons, and Ray Harryhausen. No movie is "purrfect" and I totally dislike the monstrous "Bat-Cat" monster created by lightning. The movie is set in 1950's America in the quaint little town of New Holland, which helps justify the typical burning windmill and villagers wielding lit torches at the climax. Sparky again manages to save-the-day and absorbs all the evil electric energy out of the giant creations, rendering them dead again. Several references to many other horror films throughout, including "Bambi vs. Godzilla" and "Pet Cemetery". Sparky dies again and is revived again with a "jump start" from the townspeople's car batteries. The cute French Poodle next door ends up with a gray lightning streak through her hair just like the "Bride of Frankenstein"! It may be a bit long for some critics, but I loved almost every minute of it. The animation, sets, and props are incredible! Humorous note: Many "reviewers" took this movie far too seriously. Most of the puppets are fanciful exaggerations bordering on stereotypes. I don't recall ever seeing anyone "real" with a hunchback or as creepy as Victor's classmates who resemble various movie characters. One reviewer said it showed animal abuse. Quite impossible, as these are all just puppets and nothing is really alive! Enjoy this great Halloween treat!

GusF Tim Burton's remake of his own absolutely sublime 1984 short film of the same name, this is an extremely entertaining film but it is not on the same level as its predecessor. The original perfectly conveyed how much a dog can mean to a person and it struck the perfect balance between its heartwarming and macabre elements. However, this version emphasised the latter over the former and I do not think that it was the best idea. That said, the horror elements are very good and there are still many touching moments. The script by John August is strong and the stop motion animation is beautiful. The designs are just wonderful, particularly Sparky himself and the Godzilla-inspired giant turtle Shelley. The film was released by Disney, which is quite funny since they fired Burton after he made the original version as they thought that it was too frightening for children.Like the short film, the film both parodies and pays tribute to "Frankenstein", the 1931 film version in particular. It tells the story of a ten-year-old boy named Victor Frankenstein, based on Burton himself as he makes short films in his backyard, who is distraught by the death of his beloved and very appropriately named dog Sparky. Shortly afterwards, he learns that electricity can be used to stimulate the muscles of dead frogs, a piece of information which inspired Mary Shelley to write "Frankenstein" in the first place. He harnesses the power of lightning to resurrect Sparky but things go awry when his competitors in the school science fair use the same process to revive other dead animals, which cause quite a bit of trouble in New Holland.The film's voice acting is of an extremely high calibre and the cast features several members of Burton's stock company: Martin Landau (who gives the best performance) as the eccentric Universal Monsters-esque science teacher Mr. Rzykruski, Martin Short as Mr. Frankenstein, Nasser and the town's mayor Mr. Bergermeister, Winona Ryder as Elsa Van Helsing (who is reminiscent of her "Beetlejuice" character Lydia Deetz), Catherine O'Hara as Mrs. Frankenstein and Weird Girl and Conchata Ferrell as Bob's mother. Of the younger cast members, Charlie Tahan is very good as Victor while Atticus Shaffer is simply excellent as his hunchbacked classmate Edgar "E." Gore. It was an interesting choice on Burton's part to cast actual young boys rather than the more standard use of older voice actors in such roles and it worked very well on this occasion. As you would expect, the extraordinary vocal talents of Frank Welker are put to work as Sparky.Overall, this is a very good film but it could have been as brilliant as the original if more emphasis had been placed on the emotion of the story as opposed to the admittedly very fun horror parodies. I would probably have enjoyed it more if I had not already seen the short film.

Leofwine_draca This is pretty good, if you like the subject matter and animation style. It's Tim Burton's film version of one of the early shorts he did in his career; a tribute to Universal's FRANKENSTEIN, in which an imaginative young boy brings his dead dog back to life in the time-honoured tradition.I'm sure that FRANKENWEENIE worked very well as a short but as a feature-length movie it shows some evidence of padding. There are many extraneous sub-plots involving other kids and their own creations so the subsequent journey can feel episodic at times and slightly unfocused. Still, the calibre of the animation is top notch - was this really stop motion? - and I liked the decision to film in black and white to give it that classic look.A lot of the fun arises from seeing all the tributes to classic horror films - Burton even manages to get Christopher Lee in this, via an old TV clip playing from Hammer's Dracula. I particularly loved the inclusion of a Japanese kid and the reference to various kaiju (particularly Gamera and Rodan). Sparky is a lovable character and the voice acting isn't quite as irritating as it could have been, so over all this is my favourite of the various dark stop motion films made over the years.