THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
A film review by Brandi Weed
Copyright 1993 Brandi Weed
Since I live not too far from Los Angeles (and the El Capitan), I've had the good fortune to see THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS this weekend.
Okay, let's get the bad news out of the way first. The film is only 75 minutes long, so some things which are set up are never very well explained; similarly, the plot is rather thin (but I've seen thinner films do well--HOME ALONE 2, anyone?). Ideally, this film should have been 90-100 minutes long.
Now the good news: It's a genuinely likable film, grotesque and heart-warming at the same time (don't ask me to explain how they pull it off). It's also very funny, with great ghoulish sendups of Christmas sentiment and a surprise reference to The Fly (I'll let you experience that yourself!). The animation is terrific, and you may end up seeing it twice (as I did) just to look at some of the wackier character designs.
The score by Danny Elfman is decent (people who've complained about his "la-la-la" tendency can complain again), and so are the songs, which are definitely influenced by/stolen from Kurt Weill. Three songs in particular stand out: the opening song about Halloweentown (which could be easily used as a new score for Disneyland's Haunted House), a song sung by three nasty little urchins about kidnapping Santa (sample lyric: "Kidnap Santa Claus/Stuff him in a box/Lock him up for 90 years/and see if he'll talk!"), and a Cab Calloway-esque number by the film's nominal villain Oogie Boogie (who also has a few really eye-popping scenes of animation).
On the whole, I'd say it's definitely one of the better Tim Burton films (he did not direct, but he seems to have come up with the story and the main character designs), and probably ties with EDWARD SCISSORHANDS for being his best film. It'll be in wide release this Friday (the 22nd): go see it!
-- Brandi Weed bweed@muddcs.claremont.edu
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