BEETLEJUICE (1988) Starring: Michael Keaton, Alec
Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones, Glenn
Shadix, Sylvia Sidney Directed by Tim
Burton. Produced by Larry Wilson, Michael Bender, Richard Hashimoto. Screenplay:
Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, Warren Skaaren. Music by Danny Elfman Run Time:
92. Color. USA. Comedy, Horror
It may be hard
to believe, but there was once a time when Tim Burton made movies that weren’t
based on comic books, children’s stories, or weren’t remakes of other
movies or television shows. And there
was a time before he worked, exclusively it seems, with Johnny Depp and Helena
Bonham Carter.
Apparently,
1988 was that time. Fresh off the success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985),
Burton chose this off kilter comedy as his next project. While the film was a
success it really isn’t all that scary, it is usually, but not always funny.
A happily
married, calypso-loving, but childless couple, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara
Maitland (Geena Davis) are on a staycation in their home in rural New England.
Adam, whose hobby is making a model replica of the small town where they live,
needs a few supplies and the couple rush off to town for what should be a short
shopping trip. However, on the way back, Barbara swerves to avoid hitting a dog
in one of New England’s classic covered bridges and the couple fall to their
deaths.
Only, they
don’t know they’re actually dead. That is until Adam leaves the house and just
outside is a hellish desert with sand worms that scour the sands for food. Adam
narrowly avoids being food. A strange book has also shown up, a Handbook for
the Recently Deceased, which is a puzzling guide to the afterlife. But while
they intended on spending their next 125 years on earth in their idyllic home,
they are not allowed to rest in peace.
The village
real estate agent, who had tried unsuccessfully to get the Maitland’s to sell,
gets her chance and sells the home to Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia Deetze
(Catherine O’Hara), who have a daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). Charles is a
former real estate developer who wants nothing more than to relax in the
Maitland’s house. However, his wannabe artist wife, can’t wait to change
things. She brings Otho (Glenn Shadix), an interior designer hyphen ad nauseam
to help redecorate. He transforms the farm house into a gaudy structure.
The Maitland’s
turn to help from their afterlife caseworker Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who informs
them that they will have to scare the Deetze’s out of the house. However, that
attempt only makes the Deetze’s want to stay with thoughts of turning the house
and surrounding village into a paranormal exhibit.
While the
Deetze’s can’t see the Maitlands, Lydia can and they become friends. However,
the Maitlands are determined to get rid of Lydia’s parents. Even though Juno
had warned them against using him, the Maitlands call for Betelgeuse (Michael
Keaton) who advertises himself as a bio-exorcist, which means he gets rid of
humans. However, he turns the couple off with his crude behavior and they
decide not to use him after all. The Deetze’s continue with their plans to make
the house into a tourist attraction and Charles invites his boss Maxie Dean
(Robert Goulet) to their house for a presentation and a meet and greet with the
ghosts. Though Lydia asks, the Maitlands refuse to participate. However, Otho,
who claims to be a paranormal expert, armed with a stolen copy of the Handbook
for the Recently Deceased, knows just enough to summon the Maitlands against
their will in a séance. But he doesn’t know enough to stop things before he starts
destroying them.
Lydia, in an effort
to save her friends, makes a deal with Betelgeuse. She agrees to marry him in
exchange for his help. After successfully chasing Dean and Otho away, Betelgeuse
expects Lydia to keep her end of the bargain. While he manages to thwart the
Maitlands attempts to stop the ceremony, he goes too far, banishing Barbara to
the sands. This allows Barbara to commandeer one of the Sand worms which she
rides back into the house to devour Betelgeuse.
Betelgeuse
ends up in the afterlife waiting room where he angers a witchdoctor, who
shrinks his head.
In the end,
we’re shown that the Maitland’s and Deetze’s have found a happy way to coexist.
Despite its subject
matter of the afterlife, the movie manages to be funny. The funniest moments
belong to Michael Keaton, who was just coming into his own as a film actor. He
supposedly ad libs a lot of his dialogue and delivers it like a standup comic.
The film deals with some pretty gruesome ways to die: being burned to a crisp, bus
crashes, being cut in half, being run over with a steam roller, etc., with a
certain amount of humor. How this film deals with the macabre could be seen as
a precursor to future films like A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which
Burton would produce, but not direct; and Corpse Bride.
While Keaton
deserves a lot of the credit for the humor, the supporting cast is strong. The
Alec Baldwin we see here is the way you think he’d want to be remembered. Thin
and good-looking, Alec manages to show that he is more than just a pretty face.
Geena Davis, who had made her mark in the off-beat TV sitcom Buffalo Bill, was
also on her way to becoming a movie actress. She had appeared in Tootsie (1982)
and The Fly (1985), but was still evolving as an actress. Her Barbara was what
people liked about Geena Davis: quirky, pretty and funny, a combination that would
suit her well throughout most of her film career.
Burton at
this time was at the beginning of his career. Beetlejuice was only his second
feature film. This would lead to Batman (1989) also with Michael Keaton as the
lead. The next year, Burton would join forces for the first time with Johnny
Depp with Edward Scissorhands (1990) and the rest they say is history.
Also notable,
is the music of Danny Elfman, former leader of the rock band Oingo Boingo. The
music sometimes sounds derivative of Bernard Hermann’s work on Psycho (1960),
but Elfman was truly at the beginning of a career that has seen him become one
of the most sought after film composers in Hollywood.
I have to
admit that the first time I saw Beetlejuice I really liked it. A second viewing
and the story was starting to age almost as badly as the special effects, which
look downright primitive. The sandworm is almost laughable by today’s
standards.
Beetlejuice
is one of those films that you should see, like Caddyshack (1980) and Stripes (1981),
not because they’re great films, but because they are films that you’re going
to hear about over and over again. You have to see them to see what all the
fuss is about. While they might not make your list of all-time favorites, they
are at least worth a viewing.
