~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you to Gill J. of Realweegiemidget Reviews https://weegiemidget.wordpress.com/ & Barry P. of Cinematic Catharsis http://cinematiccatharsis.blogspot.com/ for including my blog in The Vincent Price Blogathon!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 cups of teenage awkwardness
5 cups of teen angst
4 cups of fairy tale snowflakes
4 tablespoons of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
3 tablespoons of Vincent Price
Fold ingredients together and shape dough into a heart
Bake until golden brown
Serve through Tim Burton's offbeat perspective
There you have the 1990 film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.
(story by Tim Burton & Caroline Thompson /screenplay by Caroline Thompson / directed by Tim Burton)
I could blog about how this is my 2nd favorite Johnny Depp role in a Tim Burton film, ED WOOD being my favorite. I could blog about how Winona Ryder shines as suburban teen Kim, but really only when she's alone with Edward. I could blog about how perfect Dianne Wiest is as the Avon Lady (Kim's mom) who finds Edward alone in a mansion and brings him to her suburban home. I could blog about how shocking it is to see typically geeky Anthony Michael Hall as a jerk jockhead. I could blog about how sweet, innocent Edward deals with the strangeness of suburbia and how suburbia deals with him, but today is all about Vincent Price!
The classic actor, and master of the macabre, elevates EDWARD SCISSORHANDS from a good, but sometimes flawed film to something truly special. He portrays an eccentric inventor in three poignant flashbacks. Vincent Price is fully in his element within these scenes and it shows in his performance.
In the first flashback, we see The Inventor enjoying the wonder of his elaborate, and totally Tim Burton, cookie-making machine. The Inventor picks up a cookie heart and holds it up to the chest of a nondescript mechanical creation.
In the second flashback, The Inventor has begun transforming the mechanical creation into a person. He reads from a book of social etiquette to Edward and can see the boredom in his burgeoning young man. He then reads an amusing poem and, to The Inventor's delight, Edward smiles.
In the final flashback, Edward stands waiting as The Inventor retrieves an early Christmas gift. He holds up a set of hands for his incomplete young man. Edward is fascinated, gingerly touching the hands with his large scissorhands. Suddenly, a look of painful realization flashes across the eyes and face of The Inventor. Edward's scissors slice through the gift of hands as The Inventor collapses, presumably from a heart attack, leaving his creation unfinished and alone.
Vincent Price, in one of his last roles, is more than enough reason to see EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. In my opinion, he is the heart of this tragic story because we see Edward's soul through The Inventor's eyes. It's regrettable Vincent Price was only in a few scenes, but the film and the viewers are rewarded by his unique presence.
Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind review.
Freak Out,
JLH
P.S. A different post from a different Blogathon...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Twitter thread of blogs & music...
