While he may be a genre legend in the eyes of many, how do Tim Burton’s horror movies rank in comparison to each other? Tim Burton is famous for his unique style, with the helmer’s instantly recognizable combination of the cute and the macabre being the definitive attribute of almost every one of his movies. Burton’s oeuvre is filled with sweet moments that ought to be creepy and creepy scenes that should be cute, and his ability to twist and subvert the familiar imagery of cookie-cutter Americana into offbeat new places has made Tim Burton one of the most distinct filmmakers of the last three decades. However, despite almost every one of his movies featuring at least some morbid or even outright scary elements, there are only six Tim Burton horror movies in existence.
Where fellow horror legend John Carpenter has a whole slew of movies in the genre to his name, Burton has relied on family films or fantasy outings as much as horror over the years. Nonetheless, many of Tim Burton’s horror movies are still considered classics by genre fans. 1988 saw Burton really make a name for himself with the zany horror-comedy Beetlejuice after being exiled from Disney.
However, a few years spent shooting Batman movies meant that Burton would not return to horror movies until 1996 when he released the underrated sci-fi satire Mars Attacks!. An affectionate spoof of ‘50s sci-fi b-movie fare, this outing went to some surprisingly dark places, but the horror-comedy still could not have prepared viewers for Burton’s next movie. 1999’s Sleepy Hollow was his first foray into full-blown horror, starring a pre–Pirates of the Caribbean Johnny Depp as an investigator attempting the stop the murderous Headless Horseman. Since then, 2007’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street him up the brutality even further with what may be the bleakest musical ever made. So, with so many genre efforts to his name, which of Tim Burton’s horror movies is his best, and which is the weakest of his outings in the genre?
6. Dark Shadows (2012)
2012’s Dark Shadows has a superb cast, but that’s about all the ‘70s soap opera revival has going for it. The campy, family horror-comedy tone that Burton’s version of Dark Shadows revival attempts was captured much better by director Barry Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family movies, its scares are non-existent – though it’s not really aiming for them – and the horror moments fall flat thanks to the kid-friendly rating. The additional crime of wasting horror heroine Chloe Grace Moretz in a minor role makes Dark Shadows one of Burton’s weakest outings and comfortably his worst horror movie. However, Dark Shadows does still has a few bright spots, such as Johnny Depp and Eva Green’s typical stellar chemistry in the leading roles.
5. Mars Attacks! (1996)
1996 sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks! is darker than most of Tim Burton’s fare, but its cartoony violence and goofy humor make this hard to notice upon first viewing. The all-star cast of Mars Attacks! make it a Tim Burton horror movie outing worth watching, but a lack of a consistent tone hampers sci-fi adventure too. Mars Attacks! occasionally tries to be a Dr. Strangelove-style political satire but often settles for sillier, Ed Wood-inspired homages to ‘50s sci-fi alien movies. Caught somewhere between sincerity and glib irony, Mars Attacks! can’t quite measure up to Joe Dante’s similar but stronger Matinee, but remains an underrated Burton movie nonetheless thanks to Pierce Brosnan and Jack Nicholson’s inspired contributions.
4. Frankenweenie (2012)
2012’s feature-length expansion of Tim Burton’s early short Frankenweenie is a cute family comedy that featured moments of effectively gross and macabre horror. The sweet story is the main appeal of Frankenweenie, but the slick animation is also a step up from the homemade charms of the helmer’s original short. However, the story of a family dog revived Frankenstein’s Monster-style was not quite as strong as the same year’s twisty horror ParaNorman, which paired a more complex and resonant story with a similar conceit and tone. That said, judged on its own merits, Frankenweenie is a solid if toothless Tim Burton horror movie offering.
3. Beetlejuice (1988)
Burton’s breakthrough hit Beetlejuice remains one of his best movies but, despite all of its creepy moments and surreal imagery, Beetlejuice is really more of a comedy than a horror. The acting is terrific, the production design inspired and the story is inventive, but ranking Beetlejuice as Tim Burton’s best horror movie doesn’t do justice to Burton’s talent for terrifying viewers. While supporting star Catherine O’Hara steals every scene she appears in and Michael Keaton’s titular turn is a tour de force, viewers are more likely to be frightened by star Winona Ryder’s Netflix sci-fi horror Stranger Things than the mostly kid-friendly Beetlejuice.
2. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Easily Burton’s bleakest movie, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street seems tailor-made for those who accused Sleepy Hollow of being a touch too soft. Timothy Spall and Alan Rickman make for vile villains, Johnny Depp is superb as the titular madman and the Shakespearean tragedy of the plot is as grim and authentically scary as Burton’s work gets. It’s arguably a little overlong (the ‘By The Sea’ sequence does not add a lot to proceedings), but Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is nonetheless a triumph of darkly comedic horror and a fine showcase for the singing talents of its cast to boot.
1. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
The strongest Tim Burton horror movie so far, Sleepy Hollow combines a fantastic ensemble with a genuinely engaging mystery that features plenty of gore and scares but manages to remain fun nonetheless. Even the massively successful Ghostbusters struggled to balance horror and comedy, a tricky tonal pairing that can easily cancel each other out. However, Sleepy Hollow’s triumphant tone shifts between campy, over-the-top murder mystery and tense, bloody set-pieces make Burton’s 1999 hit a perfect marriage of the genres. Less grim than Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, more cohesive and tonally consistent than Beetlejuice and scarier than the rest of the director’s oeuvre, Sleepy Hollow is comfortably Tim Burton’s best horror movie.
