Beetlejuice (1988)

Simply A Masterpiece

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), lead the perfect life, in their house atop a quiet hill in the country.They have decided to spend their vacation at home rather than take a trip while strenuously avoiding their real estate agent/friend (Annie McEnroe) who thinks the house is to big for them, and should be sold to a family.Then, on their return trip from the Hardware Store in town, disaster strikes when (while trying not to hit a dog), their car goes over a bridge, and plummets into the water bellow.Soon after, they find themselves home again, and it's not long before they realize they haven't survived the crash.At first they panic, then they find The Handbook For The Recently Deceased (which reads like an lnstructions Manual), and they dive into it, looking for an answer to their problems.Unable to leave the house because the exterior is a Martian-like environment filled with dangerous creatures from outer space, they languish in their dust covered house (which they can't clean properly because the vacuum cleaner is in the garage).But things are about to take a turn for the worse, as an excentric New York family has bought the house, and is determined to make it all their own.There's the father, Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones), who just wants to be left alone:"Now remember Delia, we're here to relax and enjoy the country. NOT TO TRASH THE PLACE!"The pampered, atrociously misguided, and blythely disregarding mother Delia (Catherine O'Hara) who has no intention of respecting her husband wishes:"A little gasoline...blow torch...No problem."The suicidally depressed daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) who states simply:"My whole life is a dark room. One BIG...DARK...ROOM!"And the pompously arrogant, and inept interior decorator, Otho (Glenn Shandix) who's appalled by the house he can't wait to destroy:It has absolutely no organic flow-through." He scoffs, defacing the walls with spray paint "Ugh!" he breathes, looking in the closet "Deliver me from LL Bean!"Meanwhile, Adam and Barbara have entered the Seventh Circle of Hell, as their beautiful home is being gutted by a group of crazy yuppies."What are we going to do?" Barbara wails "Is this some sort of punishment?""We're not completely helpless Barbara." Adam says with a wicked grin "I've been looking through that book, and there's a word for people in our situation: Ghosts!"They then put all their energy into haunting their own house. Moaning their hearts out as they parade around in sheets, and cutting each other's heads off, in order to look more terrifying.But the impostors, far from being frightened, seem bored, and a little annoyed by their theatrics.It is then that a mysterious bio-exorcist named Beetlegeuse (Michael Keaton) appears on T.V. offering a "free demonic possession for every exorcism."This gives Adam and Barbara hope that they might still drive these people out.But there are rumors going around about this bizarre new character, so much so that calling on his name three times may not be a good idea.Tim Burton has a knack for directing these types of movies, and does a good job with this one (although it's not as spectacular as Batman or Edward Scissorhands, and this is probably due to the script which could've been better written).Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are really excellent, and the scenes their in are really funny.There's one really great scene in which the family is eating dinner, and Day-O starts playing, and they all sing as if possessed.The last scene is also very noteworthy.Winona Ryder is terrific as the dark, and dreary Lydia.All the other characters are perfectly cast.And Michael Keaton is great as Beetlegeuse.Originally, Review #65Posted On: April 30, 2010

BeetlejuiceThe effort that went behind the production design, costume design and the creativity on details is definitely plausible but it also makes it more painful for the viewers as it fails to seek attention on any page of the script and that's what holds this feature from joining the bigger league. Tim Burton; being infamous for its explicit vision on creating eerie world fails to execute it on screen as anticipated. On performance level, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis holds on to their parts but the real game changers are Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton. Having said that, Beetlejuice has a crystal clear reasoning and a genuine upbeating soul in the characters that helps audience surviving the feature along with some humor sprinkled around here and there.

RELEASED IN 1988 and directed by Tim Burton, "Beetlejuice" chronicles the story of a couple (Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis) who accidently perish after moving to a quaint Connecticut town. They find themselves sentenced to "haunting" their former house where they try to scare the new wannabe swank couple out (Jeffrey Jones & Catherine O'Hara), but they find that their Goth daughter is more curious than scared (Winona Ryder). Michael Keaton plays the eponymous madcap "bio-exorcist" while Glenn Shadix is on hand as the new couple's interior designer.This was Burton's debut on the silver screen and the first half is hilarious entertainment mixed with some interesting insights on the afterlife. The movie puts its best foot forward, but the second half isn't as compelling and I think the title character is more annoying than amusing. THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 32 minutes and was shot in beautiful East Corinth, Vermont, and (studio) Culver City, California. WRITERS: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren.GRADE: B+

This is a movie that's talked about so much that you practically know it, even if you haven't seen it; it's a pop culture phenomenon. Well, I never saw this movie when it came out in the theaters, don't really know why, just hadn't made the time to see it. I finally saw it (1/25/17) and... man, was it boring. Yes, boring.The pacing is slow, the acting is mediocre (the mother and father) and some of the jokes don't land. I love the actors in this movie, but it just seems to drag along. The special effects are dated, but rather enjoyable, so I didn't mind that at all. My biggest gripe about this movie was with Beetlejuice himself. For a movie that carries his name in the title and is acted with great gusto by Michael Keaton, you'd think Beetlejuice would be in the movie a lot more. The movie is 1 1/2 hours long and Beetlejuice is on screen for about 15 minutes! His character is not fleshed out all that well, as oftentimes we are left to wonder about his motivation. Is he a good guy, a bad guy, who's he trying to help or hurt? Beetlejuice just acts quirky and rambles on, probably in the hopes that we as the audience won't notice that he's not really doing anything. But again, it's the story itself that fails; it has bad pacing, not enough of the main title character, and ultimately it becomes a boring mess This is a movie that had great actors, a decent outline for a story and terrific potential, unfortunately it doesn't deliver on any of them. I think I would have liked this movie if I had seen it when it came out and I would remember it fondly and with a nostalgic sense of wonder. But no, I just recently saw it and nope, can't recommend it. As an 80's kid, I hate saying this, but this movie is just badly executed. Sad, it could have really been something, if they had only made Beetlejuice the main character in the movie and fleshed out the story.