Ahh, Remember ‘Beetlejuice’

Melissa:

Beetlegeuse! Beetlegeuse! Beetlegeuse!

So, I took a trip down memory lane tonight, like I often do during the week when the new Netflix mail hasn’t arrived, and decided to relive Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. What’s better than spending the night with a bunch of freakish ghouls, a pre-kleptomaniac Winona Ryder, and Jeffrey Jones playing a normal father well before his child pornography arrest! Let’s start off October with a fun one!!!

Barbara and Adam have just gotten married (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin). While decorating their perfect little country home, in their perfect little quite town, they run their car off the road to avoid a dog. Once they return home and notice the Handbook for the Recently Deceased on their table, as well as their lack of reflection, they come to the obvious conclusion that they are dead.

And what could be worse than being dead in your own home? Having New Yorkers invade, that’s what! The Deetze family decide to completely remodel the home after purchasing it and turn Barbara and Adams’ (non)lives upside down! The house is soon turned into some crazy version of a modern piece of art, full of wacky statues and bold colors. The only one who feels the need to respect the dead couple is Lydia, an ultra Goth teen who is fixated with depression and death. Lydia is the only person who can see Barbara and Adam, and befriends them.

When Barbara and Adam cannot scare the Deetzes out of the home that they must remain in for the next 125 years, they call on a “bio-exorcist” by the name of Beetlegeuse (Michael Keaton), a rebel ghost who plays by his own rules, and is pretty darn creepy! I guess their bed sheets and moaning just didn’t do the trick! (Wow… that doesn’t sound right!) After calling his name three times, they pull him out of his new home inside a model of the town that Adam had built and into the Deetzes’ nightmares! Especially Lydias!

I would argue that this is Michael Keatons’ best role! He is funny, diverse, outlandish, and simply amazing! It’s one of the few roles where he really stretches in a different direction! (Especially if you note that one of his last major releases was Herbie: Fully Loaded, where he played Lindsay Lohan’s dad.)

Catherine O’Hara plays Lydia’s stepmother, Delia Deetze. It took me watching this movie again now that I am older to appreciate her comedic value in the film. She plays an artist with some of the worst sculptures the art world has ever seen! As for Winona Ryder… her monotone, inexpressive, boring acting really fit the part here! I mean… it’s like she wasn’t even acting!

The effects in this movie make me giddy with happiness! Every person in the office for the undead is completely different! My personal favorite is the charred skeleton of a man that continues to smoke! The whole essence screams Tim Burton. He has a style all his own, and you can point it out whether watching this film, Edward Scissorhand’s, or even Batman. When watching, the storyline is so intriguing, and the effects are so well done that it gives a sense of timelessness.

The crude, yet fun-loving characters and witty script writing make this movie a classic to add to your collection! Plus, it’s nice to be reminded that the cast members were actually in at least one good film! (Catherine O’Hara and early Michael Keaton excluded!)