Frankenweenie (1984)

How sad is this?

Fantastic!

Absolutely Brilliant!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Tim Burton's loving tribute to Universal's Frankenstein movies. The story's about a boy who brings his beloved dog Sparky back to life using the same method as in Frankenstein. It's a beautiful-looking film, shot in black & white, with lots of the clever touches we've come to associate with Burton over the years. The cast, from Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern to Paul Bartel and Joseph Maher, all do an intentionally exaggerated job that's fun to watch. Lead Barret Oliver is great (whatever happened to him?) and there's even a young Sofia Coppola in a small role. It's an enjoyable movie, suitable for the whole family, despite Disney's concerns at the time that it wasn't kid-friendly. It's got heart and humor and a healthy dose of nostalgia going for it. If you love the old Universal horror movies then it has even more appeal. Burton expanded on the idea in 2012 with an animated film that's not bad on its own, but has a different feel to it than this.

I first heard of this film when the 2012 stop-motion remake (also very good) was publicised. What surprised me the most was that I thought this film would be stop-motion when I first heard of it but it in fact live-action. Intrigued, I saw this on YouTube and it was better than I thought it would be, despite the part between Sparky's resurrection and the climax dragging on.First off, the black and white cinematography was a great nod to other black and white film versions of Mary Shelley's novel such as 1974's 'Young Frankenstein' for instance. The most entertaining thing about this film was spotting the scenes that were included in the stop-motion remake such as the beginning and the ending. The acting was generally well done and the dialogue was engaging if slightly clichéd in places. While the lightning effects may look cheap, I liked the musical score on the whole despite its repetition in parts and the piece accompanying Sparky's burial could have done with more poignancy. Other than that, the score was altogether chilling and emotive.Overall the live-action was the most surprising aspect for me and the pacing was somewhat uneven but this short was very entertaining all the same what with spotting the scenes that were remade in stop-motion form. 8/10.

I like Tim Burton in general, he has been hit and miss recently, but as I've said many times when he's good he is good. Frankenweenie is an example of when Tim Burton was good. It is a delightful homage to Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, yet in a child's perspective. It benefits hugely from crisp black and white photography, a beautiful score from David Newman, fine direction and a witty script. The story is also well structured and well paced, and the dog is wonderfully trained. While funny and atmospheric, Frankenweenie also has a somewhat poignant ending. The acting is great, Barrett Oliver is very engaging(as he always was), Shelley Duvall is very good and Daniel Stern is both entertaining and warm-hearted. I even liked Sophia Coppola in this. All in all, brilliant and one of the best in Burton's career. 10/10 Bethany Cox

...Yet sweet at the same time! This film is based (obviously) on the original story on Frankenstein and yet it is about a dog who comes back to life. The dog is the sweet part of this film, the rest of it is at times funny, at times a little mediocre and at times spooky.At the beginning of Frankenweenie, we meet a young boy called Victor and his dog Sparky. He is playing ball with Sparky one day, when Sparky runs out to catch the ball on the road and he is run over by a car. We then see a spooky and surreal pet graveyard, where Sparky is buried. Victor misses Sparky with every molecule of his heart and when his science teacher shows a way of using electricity to make animals come back to life, Victor is off and bringing his beloved dog back from the dead...Unfortunately, I spent the whole of this film wondering how scary it would get, which is why I did not enjoy it so much at the time. When I look back on "Frankenweenie", I can see its good points properly and ignore the freaky parts and look more on the sweet parts. I originally liked this film for the plot and for the dog, the human characters just came in the way a little bit for me, but now I see them as the enhancers of the story. After all, Victor is the person responsible here for giving life to Sparky, just as Professor Frankenstein creates life in his monster in the original book (which I have not read, but know the basics about).This very good Tim Burton creation can be seen on the same DVD as "The Nightmare Before Christmas", which is very convenient. I recommend this to people who are not faint-hearted and who like dogs. Enjoy "Frankenweenie"! :-)