FRANKENWEENIE - A Review By Philip Josse

Firstly I recently did an interview with Louisa from Eurofash blog, which can be found here!

Well, this was a good weekend, after much grappling over whether to watch this or the Tree of Life, me and my brother found ourselves watching Frankenweenie, a 3D stop motion horror film from Tim Burton, a little gem which unfortunately slipped under the radar a little. The film is adapted from Tim Burtons 1984 short film, about a boy who attempts to bring his dog back to life after it is hit by a car, which later runs amok creating havoc for the people of New Holland. The film is entirely in black and white, and was converted to 3D in post production, and entirely unnecessary move, which was necessitated by Burton's contractual obligation with Disney.

The film is Tim Burtons love letter to classic monster movies, (in fact various posters for the film were even created with false titles to be parodies of old monster B movies), and contains numerous references to old movies, some of which only die hard movie fans will recognize. The whole of the plot is a light parody of Frankenstein, with the main character having the same name as the titular character, and with the whole plot having a similar idea, and similar themes, albeit with a more comedic, lighter tone. Sparky, victors dog which he brings back to life, has a similar look to Frankenstein's monster, with bolts coming out of his neck, and stitching which is similar to those of the creature. One of Victor's enemies has a similar flat headed look and vacant gaze as the monster, and the final act of the film takes place in and around a windmill, ironically mirroring the end of Burton's Sleepy Hollow, whose final act also took place around a windmill, which was in turn inspired by the end of the original, classic Frankenstein movie. A character also comically falls into an oversize Russian doll wrapped up in fabric, in a visual homage to The Mummy.

Christopher Lee also features in a small cameo as Dracula, in a clip from the classic movie, and one of the creatures which is transformed into a large bat/cat creature, which is finally killed by being impaled, impaling also being the only way in which Dracula can be killed. Elsa Van Helsing's name is an homage to the famed character, and her pet poodle gains a

white stripe in her hair similar to that of the bride of Frankenstein. Edgar Gore's name and appearance is a reference of the stock character of Igor, and the final act of the film references movies such as Godzilla, Jurassic Park and Gremlins. And the school science teacher, voiced by legend Martin Landau, is a visual homage to icon Vincent Price.

The fact that this movie is stop motion is of huge benefit to the success of this film, stop motion, a genre for which i have a huge respect, gives the characters a quirkiness and a gravity which would be absent with generic computer animation. The stop motion here is the best i have ever seen, with production lasting 2 years, and with there being no jerkiness on lag, due to the high number of frames per second. Only the realness of the whole film, the brushstrokes on the faces of characters are a giveaway to the film being stop motion. Visually the film is a treat, and computer animation was used somewhat in creating lightning, electricity and clouds. The town in which Victor lives is also visually somewhat similar to the town in Edward Scissorhands, with the houses being almost identical.

Thematically the film deals with the ideals of good and evil, and the thought that creatures must be created out of love in order to turn out good. Sparky who is brought back to life out of love, is cute and adorable, whereas the other creatures in the movie, who are resuscitated out of greed and mistrust, become evil and ugly, and bear no resemblance to the creatures they were when they were alive. The film also explores the idea of use and misuse of power, and the idea that the power to bring back the dead must be controlled. That when one tries to play god, bad things happen and things go wrong.

In conclusion Frankenweenie is a lot more complex than it may at first seem, and can thus be enjoyed on two levels. My only qualm with this film is that it is not really appropriate or suitable for children, and many may be frightened by some of the creatures and imagery in the film. However for us adults Frankenweenie is stylish and fun, and as a playful parody of classic monster movies, as actually a lot deeper and more intelligent than it may at first seem. Rating: A

Edgar 'E' Gore: Your dog is alive!