Ghost stories told from the perspective of the ghosts are something of a mixed bag. More often than not they are overrun with depressing sentimentality or buckle under the weight of their own self-important profundity (Heaven Can Wait and the positively mawkish Ghost spring to mind).

But as with most rules there is an exception and this weird and wonderful little gem from 1988 is definitely it.
After all, with sandworms on Saturn, Harry Belafonte-possessed dinner parties and a spectral brothel all on the menu how can you possibly go wrong?

Easily Director Tim Burton’s mostly purely enjoyable picture, Beetlejuice is a wickedly funny ghost story that boasts stunning visuals, a wealth of joyous imagination and a positively movie stealing performance from an unrecognisable Michael Keaton.

Whilst not particularly scary, this is a film that oozes a fascinating seasonal atmosphere and should definitely be on your list this Halloween.

For a movie this strange, it all begins with appropriate conventionality; Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are a loving couple who have decided to spend their vacation time decorating their picturesque New England house.
Cutting to the quick (and this film moves at a terrific pace), tragedy strikes when they are involved in a bizarre car accident on the way back from town

Returning to their hilltop house, they realise things have gotten very strange; their reflections are disturbingly absent from the mirror in the living room, they are unable to go outside for fear of gigantic Sandworms and on their coffee table lays the Handbook For The Recently Deceased. The penny drops……loudly.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for the newlywed newlydeads, the family from hell are moving in.
The Deetz family are yuppies from the city and are looking for peace and quiet after Dad (Jeffrey Jones) suffered a nervous breakdown. His unbearable wife (Catherine O’Hara) is an opulent art freak bent on renovating the quaint house and neither seem to notice their death obsessed daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder).
The Maitlands are horrified at the plans for their beloved home but (being relatively new to this ghost business), are completely incapable of scaring the Deetz family away.

After several unsuccessful attempts (and against the advice of their grouchy Case Worker from the Afterlife), they enlist the help of freelance Bio-Exorcist Betelgeuse (pronounced ‘Beetlejuice’ and played with frenetic, obnoxious energy by Michael Keaton)

Unfortunately, Betelgeuse (who “does not work well with others”) proves to be an utter menace and he causes nothing but trouble for the Maitlands and the Deetz’s, who are themselves beginning to amicably tolerate each other.
Cue a majestic, effects-laden finale where both families attempt to rid the house of the eponymous anti-hero (who himself has an amorous eye on the alluring Lydia).

Whilst the story may be slight, Beetlejuice is alive with superb ideas and arresting images.
Thanks to the work of Bo Welch (who would re-unite with Burton on the equally weird and wonderful Batman Returns), the Afterlife comes across as a neon drenched Orwellian nightmare gone bad.
In the waiting room (where Adam and Barbara await their Case Worker), we are presented with a number of darkly amusing characters, all of whom look to have suffered a rather novel death.
There’s a guy who looks to have smoked himself to death (“I’m trying to cut down” he moans), a Beauty Queen with slit wrists and a blue visage (she apparently came second in the pageant), a shark attack victim (complete with the shark still attached to his leg) and (best of all), a man who has had his head shrunk to the size of a baseball by angry natives whilst on Safari. They are like Quentin Falk illustrations made real.

But every bit as magical as Tim Burton’s visionary genius is the cast, which is perfect down the smallest character.
Centre screen throughout, Baldwin and Davis are appropriately anodyne as the Maitlands, and their believable acceptance of the situation makes for interesting viewing. We’re as enthralled as they are.

Jones is hilariously affable as Mr Deetz (“look at that kitchen honey” he says to his wife with aw shucks innocence, “you’ll finally be able to cook a decent meal”).
During the Harry Belafonte-possessed Dinner Party scene (which has to be seen to be believed) he greets his wife’s outburst of “DEE-OO!” with a dismissive laugh and follows it immediately with an inquisitive glance under the table.
O’Hara is appropriately horrid (but not completely unlikable) as Mrs Deetz, a character whose shrieking neurosis is suppressed intermittently by her eyesore art work and sculptures.

In smaller roles Winona Ryder is excellent as the doom-laden but sympathetic Lydia (“I myself am strange and unusual”), Sylvia Sydney is amusingly miserable as the Maitlands chain-smoking Case Worker (who has a nifty method for exhaling) and Glenn Shadix stands out as O’Hara’s pompous, sarcastic and deeply affected agent (who gets to utter my favourite line; “pay no attention to her, she’s just upset because someone dropped a house on her sister”)

But bowling them all over is Keaton as the mischievous title character; in one of his most effective comic roles, he is a whirling dervish who quite simply blows the film sky high whenever he’s onscreen. Looking as though he has just crawled from under a rock, the versatile performer (he is still the ONLY Batman) delivers a wonderfully physical performance that draws upon the cartoons of Tex Avery and his own fast-talking schtick (he improvised nearly all of his dialogue – “Now THAT is why I won’t do more than two shows a night babe…..I won’t, I won’t do it”) for maximum effect.
It is a quite memorable characterisation (noisy but never wearying) and one that deservedly helped him secure the National Critics award for Best Actor that year (also for Clean And Sober – which couldn’t be more different thematically)

The stop motion special effects that pepper the film are dated but still infuse the movie with a quirky charm (the Sandworms are impressive) and Danny Elfman has composed a marvellously rousing funhouse score.


If you’ve seen Beetlejuice I implore you to revisit it. Even if Burton’s superb visuals leave you cold, you can at least savour the terrific performances and truly ace dialogue.

And if you haven’t seen it……go ahead, make your Millenium.










Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older