When the neighborhood Avon lady, Mrs. Bogg, played by (Diane Weist) fails to make any profits in her neighborhood, she goes to the creepy house on the hill and meets Edward (Johnny Depp). Edward is a man whose inventor (Vincent Price) dies before being able to put hands on his creation. Instead Edward has scissors for hands. Mrs. Bogg brings Edward home to her family and thus Edward must adjust to life in the suburbs. He falls in love with Kim Boggs (Winona Ryder), whom hates Edward at first but grows to love him when everybody else in the neighborhood, even her own parents, grow to distrust him because of his dangerous handicap.
Johnny Depp would end up becoming a regular in Tim Burton movies, playing Ed Wood and signing on to do the remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.