GOOD, CLEAN SCARE: MATINEE, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon, sung by Danny Elfman) is the king of Halloweentown. He's in charge of making things scary for Halloween for everybody. But he's bored by it all, and want a change. When he happens onto Christmastown, he's entranced by what he sees. So he arranges for his mates Lock (Paul Reubens), Shock (Catherine O'Hara), and Barrel (Elfman) to kidnap Santa (Ed Ivory), and he'll take over (when Santa asks if they've heard of "peace on earth, good will toward men," they reply, "NO!"). But, of course, since he and his friends only really know Halloween, they don't quite do things right. Jack's girlfriend Sally (O'Hara) worries he may have taken things too far. And the evil Oogy Boogy (Ken Page) has plans for Santa.

The last part is a little over-the-top, but most of the movie is well done. Selick convincingly creates both Halloweentown and Christmastown, and by avoiding traditional animation, makes them come to life all the more. And Jack's skeleton-like features make him agile and mobile, and easy to play around with. The dark humor also keeps things from getting too sappy (as for example the, um, presents Jack gives the kids as Santa). And Elfman also wrote several songs for the film that fit well (my favorite being "What's This?", when Jack first discovers the joys of Christmastown). Parents may quibble at the genuine scares, but as with MATINEE, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is really for the kid in all of us who just wants a good, clean scare.

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