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To paraphrase Linus from ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', of all the [[Tim Burton]] movies in the world, this is the Tim Burtoniest. Not that there's anything wrong with that...
 
This 1990 film was Burton's first after the mega-success that was ''[[Batman (Filmfilm)|Batman]]'', and with the rather free hand he was given, he decided to shoot for the moon with a serio-comic [[Fairy Tale]]. He came up with the concept and Caroline Thompson handled the screenplay.
 
The youthful hero ([[Johnny Depp]]) is [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]], a sort of android. His creator, a lonely inventor (Vincent Price, in what was his final film appearance), built him from scratch with the assembly-line machinery in his castle, until he finally ''almost'' completely resembles a human being - however, he dies just before completing his project by giving him hands. Edward is left alone with the scissor-and-shear limbs he already has. He shyly, quietly keeps to himself, passing the time by tending the garden (in particular, sculpting the bushes into whimsical images) until one day, an Avon lady comes calling. You see, while the castle and its residents are straight out of Gothic fantasy, the town at the foot of the hill it stands upon is a 1950s-60s pastel suburbia. Realizing he is friendly and mostly harmless (as he understands the dangers his blades pose) the Avon lady, Peg Boggs, compassionately decides to take him to live with her family.
 
At first, Edward is welcomed by the community and he is quite happy to be of help to others; in particular, his talent for yard decoration progresses to dog grooming and eventually hairstyling. He's so fascinatingly alien that a local tart, Joyce, even tries to seduce him. Ironically, he falls in love with Peg's teenaged daughter Kim ([[Winona Ryder]]), one of the few who isn't immediately enamored with him. Of course, that's partially because she already has a boyfriend, the [[Jerk Jock]] Jim (Anthony Michael Hall). He decides to take advantage of her love for him to convince ''her'' to take advantage of Edward's innocent kindness, so he will help them commit a burglary. The consequences of this start a chain of events that will lead to a most [[Bittersweet Ending]].
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* [[Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress|Blood Splattered White Dress]]: Kim's lovely white dress ends up spattered with {{spoiler|Jim's}} blood.
* [[Cannot Spit It Out]]: Many people seem to know a doctor who could help him get real hands, but they never seem to actually give the information of who or where.
* [[Blessed Withwith Suck]] / [[Cursed Withwith Awesome]]: Guess who.
* [[Cassandra Truth]]: Subverted. Esmeralda, a fanatical fundamentalist Christian, believes Edward is evil and tries to convince her neighbors of this, but no one takes her seriously. Once Edward has been arrested for the burglary, thus changing their opinion of him, she's able to say she told them so. The subversion is that the audience knows all along Edward isn't evil.
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Edward's ability to pick locks with his blades.
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* [[DVD Commentary]]: Two - One with Burton, and one with Danny Elfman that combines this with an isolated music track.
* [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]]: Edward
* [[Elephant in Thethe Living Room]]: Almost completely averted for everyone who is introduced to Edward. People are either fascinated with Edward's hands or perceive it as just a very minor quirk. Bad first impression notwithstanding, Kim is the only one who feels awkward after being formally introduced to him.
* [[Enforced Method Acting]]: Being rather frail of health at this point, [[Vincent Price]] fainted under the hot studio lights in the scene where he dies. Tim Burton reportedly kept the shot of him on the floor in the final movie.
* [[Everytown, America]]: Save for the castle on the hill, the town is a throwback to 1950s suburbia.
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