Director Tim Burton fleshes out his 1984 short film about a boy who resurrects his dead pooch, doing so with subtle deadpan humour and joyful, life-affirming spirit. As with Corpse Bride (2005), Burton uses stop-motion animation, but this time opts for a polished monochrome palette to evoke old B-movie horror flicks, which are heavily referenced throughout. Victor (voiced by Charlie Tahan) is a sensitive hero, a science geek whose formula for reviving dead pets unleashes all kinds of monster mayhem on his sleepy home town (check out the nods to Godzilla movies). The story wavers slightly in the middle as Victor's classmates plot to uncover his secret, but the characters nevertheless keep you transfixed; a wickedly funny gallery of grotesques that are vividly designed and dryly voiced by the likes of Martin Landau, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder. It's poignant, too, with an epic sweep that fills the screen and amplifies small moments of pathos. A genuine spine-tingling delight.