In honor of Romero Lives!, the city's month-long George A. Romero tribute, Pittsburgh City Paper presents 31 Days of the Undead, a series of reviews and essays about zombie media. Look for new posts going up every day from now through Oct. 31.
CP THROWBACK REVIEW
Frankenweenie (2012)
Loner kid Victor loves his playful terrier, Sparky, and after the dog is killed in an accident, Victor re-animates its corpse a la Dr. Frankenstein. Victor's success inspires other town kids to dig up their dead pets and bring them back to life, but in most cases, these "re-births" go horribly wrong. (Cat-bat, anyone?)
Occasionally, the story feels padded, but the gorgeous black-and-white animation should keep eyes on the screen. And frankly, this thin-and-silly story has more heart than Burton's more recent work. Fans of Universal should be in bliss spotting all the allusions to that studio's horror classics. There are also nods to Godzilla, actor Vincent Prince, and other touchstones of retro-horror.
Anyone who's ever loved and lost a pet will feel Victor's joys and sorrows. (Some smaller kids may be upset by a couple of onscreen pet deaths, or rampaging zombie pets.) For my money, this is one of Burton's more enjoyable films, and I sure didn't miss Johnny Depp preening about. Little Sparky — with his tail that kept wagging off — stole the show.
Frankenweenie is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and iTunes.