Beetlejuice
(1988)
A Warner
Bros Picture
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Geena Davis (Barbara),
Alec Baldwin (Adam), Michael Keaton (Betelgeuse),
Jeffrey Jones (Charles), Catherine O'Hara (Delia),
Winona Ryder (Lydia)
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
IMDB
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They're dead. It's a little late to
be neurotic.
Ah, Delia Dietz. No truer words have
ever been spoken. But neurotic these two dead people are,
because they just really don't want to spend 125 years in
that house with you. But I jump ahead of myself. What is Beetlejuice,
you ask? I shall tell you!
This is the story of Barbara and Adam
Maitland and their untimely departure from this world. So
untimely, in fact, that they don't even realize they're dead
until they find out they can't leave the house except that
they end up on Saturn. They also find the book for the Recently
Diseased.... Time doesn't move the same way for them, and
before they know it, their beautiful house on the hill has
been sold to some New Yorkers who need some peace and quiet,
the Dietzes. Charles, Delia, and Lydia Dietz are not your
normal family, much to the Maitland's dismay. Delia is spastic,
Charles is stressed out, and Lydia is suicidal and depressed.
Once Adam and Barbara realize that they aren't good as spooky
ghosts, they find out about a 'professional' named Betelgeuse
(pronounced Beetlejuice). Needless to say, things don't go
down the way they should.
So this movie is like one of the first
movies I really remember loving. I saw it with my dad when
it first came out, and even after seeing it the first time,
I was quoting lines from it and falling in love with the song,
'Day-O!'. My dad still says to me, "ah, ah, ah, don't
say the B-word!". It really is a fantastic movie though.
Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin play the perfect foils to the
eccentric Dietzes and to Beetlejuice, as they realize death
sure is odd. Catherine O'Hara is PERFECT in the role of Delia
Dietz. She has so many moments in this movie that make you
laugh out loud. It is her quote above that is one of the funniest,
but she steals every scene she's in. This is also Winona Ryder's
very first big movie role - she was in Heathers after Beetlejuice.
Last but not least, Michael Keaton rules as Beetlejuice. Crude,
crass and overall disgusting, you can not tell it's Michael
Keaton at all. Great sets and awesome special effects and
direction really top it all off.
Worth mentioning in its own paragraph
is the phenomenal soundtrack by Danny Elfman (still of Oingo
Boingo at that time). Pieces of this soundtrack are STILL
used in other movies today because the music is that classic.
It's over-the-top, exciting, and completely immersive to the
scenes you're watching, and makes the movie something it wouldn't
be without it. It's no surprise that there is a soundtrack-only
audio track for this DVD because it really is that good.
So if you haven't had the pleasure
of seeing the 'ghost with the most', please do yourself a
favor and rent this, buy this, whatever, borrow it from me.
You'll laugh out loud and have a great time, and who knows,
maybe it'll give you a new perspective on death!?
Scenes to Remember:
The Day-O dinner scene; The Incantation; Meeting Betelgeuse.
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Soundtrack-Only Track