When Burton is deeply attuned to the emotional undercurrent of his stories – as he is here – his movies become much more than ghoulish gags. Even as we laugh at the references in Frankenweenie (at one point a neighbor poodle gets a Bride of Frankenstein-style white streak in her fur), we’re also emotionally attached to these characters. Young Victor is a wonderful creation – soft-spoken, lost in his own attic inventions, a source of pride yet also worry for his parents, who would much rather he played baseball. When he loses his dog, Victor is cut off from all companionship…
Read the rest of the review at Larsen on Film.
