The solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family. (from IMDB)

To celebrate 35 years of Edward Scissorhands, the movie has been beautifully restored in 4K UHD. The film revolves around an unfinished artificial man named Edward who is discovered to be living alone one day by an Avon saleswoman, named Peg, who comes to his door. Taking pity on him, Peg brings him back to town and tries to integrate him into society, but the biggest problem Edward has with being unfinished... is that he has scissors for fingers.

Edward Scissorhands is classic Tim Burton. It's quirky, weird, dark, twisted, humorous; it really runs the gamut of cinematic tones and textures. If anything, Edward Scissorhands is a "modern" retelling of the Frankenstein story... without Dr. Frankenstein. We only see Edward's creator in flashbacks, and he's appropriately played by none other than horror film legend Vincent Price. I had completely forgotten he was in this movie, then again, the only two things I remembered about this movie going into it was Edward's knack for sculpting hedges, and a creepy moment when his scissors impale a pair of prosthetic hands as a man has a heart attack and dies in front of him. Basically, they're the kinds of details that stick with a 10-year-old.

As a kid, I don't think I really appreciated Edward Scissorhands, but I would definitely say it's not a kids movie. While Edward is probably roughly in his late teens, it's really more about him trying to fit into society than it is about his age. Dianne Wiest is wonderful as Peg, taking great, selfless care for Edward. Her husband is played by Alan Arkin who uses his signature dry wit to great effect here. And a teenage Winona Ryder is good as their daughter, Kim, who quickly becomes the object of Edward's affection. Anthony Michael Hall plays Jim, Kim's jerky boyfriend, who only ever sees and treats Edward as the oddball he is - to disastrous results. In fact, another thing I didn't remember about the film was Kathy Baker's lonely housewife character, Joyce, who looks at Edward merely as a piece of meat, throwing herself at him a few times, especially in a scene where she partially disrobes and straddles him on a salon styling chair (which totally freaks him out).

Johnny Depp is no stranger to playing bizarre and unusual characters, and he turns in a solid and sympathetic performance as Edward. It's not hard to feel for the character and root for him. His near-constant misfortune keeps the film feeling rather sad and heavy, though. I think many of us can attest to feeling like outsiders and freaks, so it's not hard to relate to poor Edward. When things do start to look up for him, it unfortunately doesn't stay that way, and the movie spins out into a pretty dismal finish. It's understandable, but it's also unfortunate.

I must say, there's a weird subplot about a religious woman, who clearly is a Christian of some kind, who views Edward as evil and of the devil. It seems like it might be a little tongue-in-cheek in the way it's presented, but because Edward isn't inherently evil, it makes her character seem extreme and hateful (and maybe looney). It's certainly not a good look for Christians. After Edward is rejected by the townspeople, he spitefully cuts a hedge outside this woman's house to look a kind of like a demon in order to freak her out (which is played for laughs mostly).

For content, Edward Scissorhands definitely earns its PG-13 rating for 1990. Thematically alone, the movie feels darker and more mature. Again, some of Depp's performance, and the nature of the story, can feel lighter at times, even humorous, but overall, this is a melancholy affair. At the risk of spoiling some of the movie, a flashback shows the inventor presenting Edward with a pair of lifelike prosthetic hands, but the man suffers a heart attack, with his face turning ghastly as his eyes widen in horror. Edward's scissors then impale the rubber hands as the inventor falls over dead. It's a disturbing moment (especially to a kid). During the finale, a man is stabbed and then falls to his death, with some visible blood. The frequent bullying and harassment of Edward is hard to watch, and then you have characters like Joyce who have a steady sensual nature about them. And, in Joyce's case, she doesn't hide her lust for Edward and even throws herself at him. Language is infrequent, but there's a couple uses of the "S" word and several uses of "d*mn" and a "G-d" in vain.

Overall, Edward Scissorhands is a decent dramatic fresh take on Frankenstein that has heart, but is also a pretty bleak story. I'd say it's most definitely not for everyone. Seeing it for the first time as an adult, I think it's a lot better than I remember it being, but I don't see myself revisiting this movie much again, as it's certainly not a chipper tale. The new 4K UHD transfer of the film looks fantastic, though; it hardly looks 35 years old. They did a fantastic job with the restoration. If you're a fan of the film, you'll really need to see this new transfer!