“Beetlejuice” Review
Micheal Keaton stars as the titular troublemaking ghost in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice” which made the director a big star and cemented his weird style within modern pop culture.
There’s plenty of franchises that are synonymous with Halloween: “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Saw,” “The Conjuring” and, well, “Halloween.” But what about filmmakers? There are quite a few whose influence on horror hasn’t gone unnoticed. Filmmakers like James Wan, John Carpenter, Mike Flanagan, Sam Raimi, Jordan Peele and, of course, Tim Burton. While Burton’s filmography hardly has any scary films, he does have a gothic style of storytelling that perfectly aligns with Halloween. While elements of this style were apparent in his first film, the hilarious romp “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” it was his sophomore effort that showed the full Tim Burton that we know and love: “Beetlejuice.”
Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are your average nice couple who love each other and their big house. However, a tragic yet darkly funny accident results in them dying in a car accident and coming back as ghosts to haunt their own home. When Charles and Delia Deetz (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara), a new couple with conflicting tastes to the Maitlands, move into the house and completely change it, Adam and Barbara try to scare them away with minimal success.
Their frustration leads them to Betelgeuse, (Micheal Keaton) a bio-exorcist whose terror-filled antics cause the Maitlands to reconsider the idea of haunting the Deetzes. Along with the Deetzes gothic daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), Adam and Barbara try to get rid of Betleguese before his troublemaking gets out of control.
What is so fascinating about this film is how it is an amalgamation of so many opposite tones. On paper, it shouldn’t work but Tim Burton’s unique vision makes the whole thing come together. The film truly has something for everyone of all ages. One thing I’m shocked by is how I was allowed to watch this movie growing up. While “Beetlejuice” does have childish elements, great visuals and goofy moments, there’s also a twisted sense of humor and enough morbidity to question whether showing this to your kid is a good idea. On top of that, this was a 1980s PG-rated film which means they got to use the word “fuck” once and by God they used it well.
But I remember loving this film as a child because it was so unique and Tim Burton’s childlike energy just leaps off of the screen. The film is a quirky comedy and the film’s comedic talent isn’t just limited to Betleguese (yes that’s how his name is actually spelled but Beetlejuice was easier to read). In fact, he doesn’t really show up in the film as a major character until halfway through. That means that most of the people we see have to carry the film’s comedy and they do so in a spectacular fashion.
Winona Ryder’s performance as Lydia not only made her a big star who would star in films like “The Age of Innocence,” “Little Women” and the series “Stranger Things,” but would also lead to her working with Burton again on “Edward Scissorhands.”
Everyone has their gifts for comedy and uses them effectively. Barbara and Adam are the straight people, the average people that things happen to in comedies, and their reactions to the weird world of the dead are gold. Winona Ryder’s deadpan comedic tone is great and her gothic nature even results in some good drama from her.
Even the Deetzes, who would be boring sticks-in-the-mud in a lesser comedy, have such a life to them thanks to Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara. Delia is a quirky artist whose emotional outbursts are hilarious. Everytime I hear Delia tell her husband that she will go insane and take him with her if he doesn’t let her remake the house in her abstract style, I lose control laughing. As for Charles, he doesn’t have a lot of comedic dialogue but his reactions are funny as are his quirky antics like when he’s playing with a stuffed bird.
If there’s one thing that Tim Burton understands, it’s how to make great characters and the actors he’s worked with completely understand that to the point that many of the actors in “Beetlejuice” have gone on to work with Burton on other films. And on that list is Micheal Keaton. As I said, Keaton isn’t really in the first half of the film that much. This was probably to give much needed development to the protagonists because when Betelguese does appear as the Maitlands summon him, he is absolutely one of Tim Burton’s goofiest, craziest, messed up characters.
The energy Keaton delivers is infectious and his stunts range from crude and immature to downright psychotic and he does it all with a dark sense of humor. This was the performance that got Warner Brothers to think that this could be the actor to star in Tim Burton’s next film, “Batman,” as the Caped Crusader. I’ll admit I don’t see what using a giant candy bar to lure a fly so you can eat it screams the Dark Knight, but Keaton is my favorite Batman so they made the right call.
“Beetlejuice’s” atmosphere is so creative and has all the style we could come to expect from Burton’s films. So many of the film’s sets, designed by the amazing Bo Welch, give gothic energy with drab colors that are still gorgeous to look at. However, the use of color is also vibrant and is applied mainly to the world of the dead with bright neon colors. Thomas E. Ackerman’s cinematography also showcases bizarre angles and furthers Burton’s vision.
It’s clear that only Burton could have made this film because of how his style makes “Beetlejuice” work. What other film can have Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones and Dick Cavett (yes, the Dick Cavett) uncontrollably lip-sync and dance to Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” while shrimp cocktails come to life and attack them as a goth Winona Ryder watches? No other film can do that and have you take it seriously.
The film’s effects also deserve considerable praise by combining all sorts of techniques (green screen, stop motion and puppeteering) to make creatures and ghouls that feel like a classic B-movie but with a big Hollywood budget. When we’re in the land of the dead, the make-up and puppets that are used to make some creative looking ghosts are all stellar and you have the extra feeling of knowing that these are all practical special effects.
While the film’s effects, style and humor are amazing, at the heart of it are characters that you truly love whether they’re living or dead. You care about Barbara and Adam and you want to see them try to work something out with the Deetz family. But you also want to see Betleguese come in and spread complete chaos.
In many ways, “Beetlejuice” is the perfect comedy for Halloween with humor that ranges from blunt and dark to silly beyond belief. And if that doesn’t sum up Tim Burton, then I don’t know what does.
