Absolutely beautiful.

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2001)

When watching Burton films, you have to be really careful. Style over substance could be the best description of what to look out for; so much eye candy, so little plot.
"Nightmare" does not fall into this cliché. This film is absolutely wonderful; the best ever to come out of Tim Burton's creative brain. It's a knockout.
The story is truly an original one: what would happen if the Pumpkin King wanted to take over Christmas, too? Starting from there, all sorts of individual implications come out. Why did Jack want to do that? Why was he sad, lonely and depressed? How come the characters are so real that they are not good or bad, merely human, when they are made out of clay? What would the love of Sally be able to accomplish at the end? And how would the nightmare be finally solved?
This film solves all this questions beautifully, in a stunning land, where human feelings abound. There is obsession, passion, love, loyalty, courage and humility to be found everywhere, all within the bodies of these wonderful puppets. That a film so artificial can be so profoundly human and moving is no small feat.
This is one of my "10" movies. Simply perfect.