why wasn't this scary?

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2000)

Tim Burton should have watched Halloween and Jaws 50 times each before attempting to make this "horror" movie. He has made more mediocre movies with strong visual style, than great films. "Ed Wood" was his simplest visually and best overall film. He's been on a slump since then, with the awful "Mars Attacks" and the mediocre-but-could-have-been-great "Sleepy Hollow". Too bad really.
He fell into the CGI trap. "Look what we can do! IT really looks someone's head is being lopped off! And the setting is so-o-o misty and moody! And look at the costumes and set design - it's a visual feast!" great. But it's not scary. Not at all.
This movie really fell apart for me near the end, when it launched into the horribly cliched dastardly-villain-explains-the-plot bit (and I would have gotten away with it to if it weren't for you meddling kids). Good films don't resort to this hackneyed device.