Where the Wild Things Are

A lonely but imaginative boy is fed up with being ignored at home and after an argument with his mother, runs away. He reaches a pond and gets into a small sailing boat. The pond soon becomes a sea and after days afloat he finds himself on an island inhabited with seven giant creatures. Spotting a similarity between himself and the destructive Carol (James Gandolfini) the boy Max (Max Records) soon finds himself in the middle of the group and convinces them he is a King in order to stop them eating him. Each monster is like a version of Max and themes of jealousy, fear, boredom and frustration are the same which trouble pre teen children as they grow up.

I never saw the film on its initial release back in 2009 but had heard some good things about it. A quick search confirms that it appeared on numerous Top 10 lists but for me it isn’t quite that good. I thought the effects and cinematography were excellent and the story had its moments but it was also a little dull in places and the sort of film which I’d rather have watched in my early teens.

Frankenweenie

The third in a triumvirate of late summer/early autumn horror animations and the most hotly anticipated in my eyes, Frankenweenie is a feature length remake of the short film that Director Tim Burton made while working for Disney that got him fired twenty-eight years ago. Over a quarter of a century later and with a back catalogue of hits under his belt, Disney invited Burton to remake his short for them. A homage to early talkie Hollywood horror and filmed in black and white stop motion, Frankenweenie is the story of a young boy called Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) who loses his only childhood friend, his dog Sparky. Whilst in science class and having seen a dead frog have his legs manipulated by electricity, Victor gets the idea to try the same thing with his deceased dog and is successful in reanimating Sparky. Although he tries to keep it a secret it isn’t long before other children from school find out and blackmail Victor into helping them to do the same thing. The results of their experiments though are much less successful and lead to a horde of rampaging monsters that threaten the town.

Beetlejuice

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice"

A young couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are driving back from town one day when they crash their car and die. It takes them a while to realise though as they end up back in their house but with a new family, father (Jeffrey Jones), Step-mum (Catherine O’Hara) and Goth Daughter (Winona Ryder) moving in. As they become aware of their death they try to haunt the family in order to get them to leave but despite turning to the ‘Handbook for the Recently Deceased’ for help, they are unable to be seen. Instead they turn to a bio-exorcist called Betelgeuse, a crazed, perverted and unstable dead man who agrees to help scare the family off.

Unbelievably I’d never seen this film before having confused it in my head with Candyman, a film I saw aged about seven which caused nightmares for months. I’m so glad I’ve finally watched this bizarre comedy/horror. The film contains everything that the best Tim Burton films do; odd characters and locations, unusual and distinctive sets and darkly comic plotlines.