This time it's the Frankenstein story that gets the Tim Burton treatment delivering us an hybrid of "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and Karloff's "Frankenstein" (1935) with a little pooch throw in for good measure. It's the eponymous mutt that gets hit by car whilst fetching a baseball hit, surprisingly, out of the park by his young master "Victor". Distraught, the scientifically minded youngster concocts a cunning plan to use the attic windows, some toy seahorses and loads and loads of lightning to bring "Sparky" back from the dead. What now ensues is quite a fun series of escapades as the young man resurrects his friend and tries to keep it a secret from his schoolmates ahead of a looming science fair that causes his friends to try to mimic his skills and create monstrous mayhem en route. The monochrome stop-motion animation (especially their eyes!) and typically fun Danny Elfman score make for an effective comedy-horror and it is hard not to engage with the reincarnated patchwork puppy. Their rather menacing science teacher "Rzykruski" reminded me of Christopher Lee, too. It's a quickly paced and engaging tale with a gentle morality to it - love, loyalty, friendship all feature strongly in a narrative that goes some way to illustrate how, illogically sometimes, people can become attached to their pets. Good fun, this film.
