Technicolor tinsel

With Christmas just around the corner, film critic Howard Elias picks a selection of favourite holiday movies that he never tires of watching

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

If your cable company offered the Fox network in 1987, you would have already been familiar with Johnny Depp from his TV show 21 Jump Street. But Edward Scissorhands is the film that made him a bona fide movie star. As the title suggests, Edward has a pair (a few pairs, really) of scissors for hands. He is left "unfinished" when his creator (played to perfection by the wonderful Vincent Price) dies before he can fit Edward with a pair of human hands. Many years later, Edward is found by a local townswoman (Dianne Wiest), who looks past his "disability" and only sees his abilities and good heart. The rest of the town takes Edward in, and his life starts to have purpose and meaning. His fortunes change, however, when he falls in love with Kim (Winona Ryder), who is already dating a very jealous guy. Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Edward becomes a pariah, running away, never to be seen again. But Kim, who is now an old woman, has never forgotten him. Edward Scissorhands is guaranteed to put a lump in your throat when you watch Kim become enraptured by the ice crystals floating down around her.