31 Days of Draughts and Darkness: Volume III
Frankenweenie (2012)
Tim Burton's love letter to classic horror, in addition to beloved pets, "Frankenweenie" feels like a
deeply personal film. Yes, it features all the crazy set design and warped
characters we expect from Burton, along with a solid dose of the macabre. But
underneath it all is a film about scientific curiosity, inventiveness, and
love. And how those ideals must often be fought for in a world that attacks what it doesn't understand.
"Frankenweenie" lets loose a horde of rampaging
monsters, but not all of them are necessarily creatures.
The Plot:
The quaint little town of New
Holland is, by all appearances, the same cookie-cutter suburb Burton clearly loathes to the core. White picket fences and keeping up with the Jones hold sway, leaving those who break from this norm as social outcasts. Our hero is
Victor Frankenstein, who could be taken as a proxy for Burton himself. Victor
loves monster movies, often filming his own, and has a deep appreciation for
science. His best friend is not one of the neighborhood kids, who see him
largely as a weirdo, but rather his trusty canine Sparky. The two are
inseparable.
Once Victor's parents convince him to join the
neighborhood baseball team in an attempt to have their son 'fit in', tragedy
strikes. Sparky chases after a ball and is struck by a car. Victor is
devastated at the loss of his friend, falling into a funk until a his science
teacher gives a very intriguing lesson on using electricity to animate deceased
muscle tissue.
Firing up the lab, Victor devises
a very Mary Shelly-esque technique with which to resurrect his canine
companion, and though some stitches and a lightning bolt are required, his
experiment is a huge success. Sparky may be a bit worse-for-wear, but he is
legitimately back from the dead, with all memories and personality intact.
Victor is thrilled to have his friend back, but now tasked with keeping him a
secret from the rest of the community.
As you can imagine, this doesn't
go well, and it isn't long before the rest of the neighborhood kids are all trying
to reanimate their deceased pets. But unlike Victor's experiment, their
attempts go horribly wrong, and a whole horde of angry zombie-monster-pets are
unleashed on the town. Victor and Sparky must step up and save the day.
The Flavor:
Though my above plot description sounds grim,
"Frankenweenie" is actually a very heartfelt film. Despite the
zombies, it's really a movie about a boy and his dog, a friendship that
transcends death. We learn that the key to Victor's experiment, whereas all the
others failed, is in his intent. The other neighborhood kids try to resurrect
their pets for glory, to show they can and impress at the local science fair.
But Victor just wants his dog back. This is why Sparky returns as himself while
the other pets mutate into beasts. Love makes the difference.
Apart from this message, "Frankenweenie" is also
about letting a creative mind flourish in a world that seems dead-set on suppressing it. New Holland is
purposefully designed as a suffocating suburb, where success is hinged on
sports accolades, financial gain, and a properly trimmed lawn. Victor is only
an outcast because his interests fall outside the societal norm. The 'monster' isn't equipped with claws or fangs, but commercialized, civil expectations. But when the
townsfolk are able to see Victor's talents for what they really are, they realize
the good that can come from them.
"Frankenweenie" also succeeds as a homage to a
myriad of classic monster movies. It's no coincidence that many of the human
characters resemble horror icons. The black and white color palette, coupled
with shadowy tones and Burton's signature warped anatomy, make for characters
and settings that border on creepy even before the monsters show up. And once
they do? Oh boy, do we get references from "Gremlins" to
"Gamera", and of course, the classic Universal
"Frankenstein" film. It's a buffet table for monster fans, with
Easter eggs all around.
Best Paired With:
Because of the aforementioned Easter eggs, horror fans with
have a veritable scavenger hunt-style game to play while watching
"Frankenweenie", picking out all the subtle details.
But these
references aside, the film is the perfect blend of sweet family adventure and
spooky drama. "Frankenweenie" makes for a great Halloween
family-film, but can equally be enjoyed by anyone who's felt like an outsider,
or had a special bond with their pet.
Brew:
For all the classic-style spooky elements on display, I'm thinking today's brew should encapsulate Fall. Something evocative of the changing leaves and chill starting to creep into the air.
Name:
Tumbler
Brewery:
Sierra Nevada
Where
Brewed: Chico, CA and Mills River, NC
ABV:
5.5%
Style:
Brown Ale
Color: Like an avatar
of auburn, Tumbler exudes just the slightest twinge of red amidst a field of
dark brown.
Aroma: Malty goodness is most prominent on the nose here,
but neither in the sweet or caramel-like way. Rather, Tumbler's malt profile is
that of roasted malt, toasty and dry. The scent profile is like taking in a
breath of freshly-raked leaves on the autumn air.
Taste: Why brown ales aren't more popular, I have no idea.
Tumbler, like its brown-ale brethren, opens up with a flush of roasted malts,
just slightly sweet, over the tongue. The flavor is not so dark as you'd expect
from a porter, but rather just toasty enough to deliver a nutty tone. Like with
the scent profile, the sweetness of these malts isn't in the caramel-realm.
It's more a subtle, background note like you'd get when eating roasted
chestnuts.
At the back of each sip, a mellow hop presence kicks in. The
hops are not assertive. They don't dominate the palate and take away from the
malt flavors. They only settle them a bit, making the overall taste a bit more
dry on the tongue.
Aftertaste: Malt and hop alike join forces and carry their
flavors over into the aftertaste. You'll be able to pick up elements of each on
the back of the tongue. What slight sweetness existed in the
earlier portions of the taste fades quickly here, instead leaving only the
roastier qualities of the malt behind, which go quite nicely with the mild hop
bitterness.
Body: Tumbler falls into the medium category of ales, coming
in with a maltier presence, and thus more robust weight, than you'd find in the
golden variety. That said, the brew is still plenty refreshing for its darker
flavors.
Pair: I can envision sipping this brew in a fireplace-lit
pub. With it, a warm loaf of brown bread and some sort of vegetable stew.
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