THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
No matter how much you think about it, death is never pleasant.
PLOT
Beetlejuice follows the happily married Barbara & Adam Maitland die from a fatal car accident that originally resulted from avoiding to hit a dog on the street. Their ghostly souls barely realize what they’ve become by the time one accidentally falls into Planet Saturn containing giant sand worms and find a handbook for the recently deceased. Time passes quickly in the afterlife because while they try to digest their new predicament, a new family has already moved in. Former real estate developer Charles Deetz has moved in with his teenage daughter Lydia and second wife Delia, who is a sculptor & conceptual artist. With the assist of interior designer Otho, the family remodels the house to a work of postmodern art. As they consult the handbook, the Maitlands go to an otherworldly waiting room for the afterlife where they meet their own caseworker Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who instructs them to scare away the Deetzes themselves if they don’t want them to live in their house. Most importantly, she insists on them to seek the help of her former assistant Beetlegeuse, who she knows him to be a troublemaker and freelanced bio-exorcisms, and the only way he can be summoned is when saying his name three straight times. They try on their own when simply hiding under bedsheets one night, but the only one who sees them is Lydia which confirms her to be psychic. She’s not afraid of them when she knows who they are because she identifies herself to be unusual and strange the way other living people choose to ignore. Even after a previous scare attempt of depicting graphic murder don’t work, they choose to meet Beetlegeuse anyway, whose been residing in their neighborhood model in the attic. They do tell him of their ordeal, but they go back on it since he acts completely crude towards them. They do try scaring the live family again during dinner where they possess them and their guests (Otho, his date Beryl [Adelle Lutz], Delia’s agent Bernard [Dick Cavett] and his date Grace [Susan Kellerman]) to perform ‘The Banana Boat Song’ and their shrimp cocktails turn into grasping hands. Surprisingly, that doesn’t work because everyone find themselves euphoric of the experience and it inspires Charles to make a tourist attraction out of it to impress his boss Maxie Dean (Robert Goulet). With the guests somehow having doubts as they leave, Lydia’s parents and Otho barge into the attic hoping to get proof of their existence. They don’t find him, but Otho takes the handbook for himself. Knowing their efforts aren’t enough, the Maitlands go to Beetlegeuse for help. It ends up being effective when he turns into a giant snake of himself, but the deceased couple summon him back to the model when he frightens Lydia who had no idea about him. The Maitlands get called in by Juno as she is disappointed for not only contacting Beetlegeuse, but also getting their pictures taken and failing to stop Otho from taking the handbook since the living are not supposed to have proof of the afterlife. Knowing that they need to work harder to scare the Deetzes out, the Maitlands contort to grotesque versions of themselves. The deceased couple have second thoughts about due to growing a liking towards Lydia. They officially decide to stop their efforts when Beetlegeuse tries to trick the girl into freeing him. She falls for his efforts due to feeling so distraught that she considers wanting to die. Just when they consider the Deetzes to stay, Charles has already invited Maxie and his wife Sarah (Marlee Chatman) to pitch his new business venture. The boss is not fully invested yet as he wants more proof that ghosts exist. Otho plans to give him what he wants by trying to perform a seance, but that backfires when he inadvertently calls for an exorcism that’ll turn the Maitlands to lost souls. With no other option, Lydia chooses to free Beetlegeuse as she begs him to save the deceased couple, with his request to marry him in order to enable him freely cause chaos in the mortal world. He does free the Maitlands while also disposing of the Deans and scaring off Otho. He tries to restrain the Maitlands as well by trapping Adam in model form while also sending Barbara to Saturn. That backfires because Barbara summons a sandworm to devour him, which prevents the wedding from happening. The film ends in a time jump showing both families coexist in the same household, with Charles reading a handbook of coexistence between the living and the dead, whereas Beetlegeuse waits for his next appointment in the afterlife.
THOUGHTS
Goth was a lifestyle that kicked into normalcy in the 1980s, but I don't think the general public would've accepted it the way we do now had it not been for this horror comedy by Tim Burton. In only his second time in the director's chair theatrically, the said blend is able to be a right balance where you know some things are creepy yet you want to keep looking because it ain't as bad as one would suspect. It's almost like you're seeing a live cartoon and it's just as effective, which makes genuine smiles. The practical effects and Oscar winning makeup is surreal on not just the titular character but also the various undead figures in the afterlife. Not only the set pieces done on both sides of the land of the living and the deceased were extremely creative, but the same can be said with the stop motion effects, such as the sandworms, whenever the Maitlands changed their appearance and the lifelike sculptures in the end. You should be scared from such things, yet their presentation is done in a perspective where you want to say this is cool. Danny Elfman's score is so satisfying to hear because it informs you something different is gonna blow you away, which it does. With the horror aspects being said, the comedy side is so effective because we're seeing a reverse uno narrative in which the ghosts feel haunted by the living and are unsure how to accept the new normal. The biggest laugh I had was the 'Banana Boat Song' dance due to how the characters are so confused yet simultaneously euphoric of the experience. The majority of the laughs though go the titular character himself. Michael Keaton is only onscreen for an estimated 17 minutes total, yet he owns every second as Beetlegeuse who is downright demented. You can't even tell he's ad libbing because he's so fluent with the role, which only proves he was meant for this. We're not rooting for him at all due to how he has bad intentions throughout, yet we can't enough of him because you respect he's not ashamed of being himself which is both a good and bad thing. Noticing this helps you understand he is the embodiment of corruption and makes clear from the start he's basically impossible to trust. With the first encounter of him being a big surprise of chaos, there is no way we could've predicted the second batch of mayhem in the legacy sequel. I think the whole presence of this character alone makes the entire movie an amazing experience upon each and every viewing because it oddly teaches us the value of life itself: Whether things are just getting started or it's reaching an end, you should express yourself but also respect others around you because everybody is different in their own way and enforcing change won't bring joy, nor will keeping things as is. This theme feels so loud had we not followed such intriguing characters that are well played by Burton's best ensemble to date. Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis are the most compatible couple I've ever seen onscreen because the Maitlands are polite people who are equally motivated in wanting to leave things as is, which is impossible in their case because they couldn't have prepared for death and never thought what they would have to do in the afterlife. Since they never wanted to leave their home, it was a reminder they had their own unfinished business which was getting to build a family and have children. Surprisingly, they get this opportunity in surrogate fashion when meeting Lydia. Winona Ryder brought fresh air to her role because instead of being a happy go lucky kid audiences were so used to at that point, she's shown to be worn out in reality due to her father not having time to understand her as well as choosing to remarry so soon. Jeffrey Jones & Catherine O'Hara make a dynamic couple out of Charles & Delia respectively. Jones makes the former too lazy of a businessman for his own good because he takes his attempts of relaxation too serious, whereas O'Hara makes the latter overdramatic due to how passionate she is with her art and her desire to be perfect. The only redemption points they get is during the climax where they simultaneously share concern for her before the Deans show up. They don't change their mind because Otho convinces them to go forward with the pitch. Glenn Shadix made the character the biggest definition of a poser because he always talked the talk and failed to back it up when it mattered most during his seance attempt. So when Beetlegeuse scared him away, I did not give a rat's ass because he didn't make things better. With such loud personalities, Lydia was more comfortable with the Maitlands in comparison because they're far from self centered and off of that, being psychic became more of a blessing than a curse compared to other fictional physics that came before and after her. It's impossible to not be happy for her when she got her own possessed dance to 'Jump in the Line' because it represented her regained confidence. And as far as the sequel is concerned, it was nice to see her be content with her life until then. I will always love this movie every time I watch during the fall, but there are so many things that have confused me after all this time. what was the whole point of Adam carefully picking up the spider from the spider pleasantly in the opening before throwing it out the window? I have arachnophobia, so I wouldn't take that long to get rid of it. Personally speaking, I think Jane should've taken no for an answer when the Maitlands told her they didn't want to sell the house. I know business doesn't sleep no matter the generation, but you're not making friends when you're basically forcing them to change your hands. Also I had a good laugh when Barbara was floating while sleeping, but that bed looked small as hell. If Adam owned a hardware store in his lifetimeI, he totally could've afforded a bigger bed. I then gotta ask what is the point for ghosts to go to Saturn? If they're already dead, there is no reason to find a new home there. And why is the handbook physical? If the afterlife is supposed to not have proof of existence, that shouldn't be possible and it would've prevented Otho from getting his hands on it. And let's be honest, Lydia was wasting film on her polaroid when using multiple pictures just to try humiliating her parents before discovering it was the Maitlands trying to scare her. I mean I don't need 8 pictures to seal the deal. If I gotta get into the continuity errors, it has to be how Lydia exits the attic first when her parents want to meet the ghosts on one shot, only for her to be behind them and Otho by the next shot. That was more weird than the Maitlands choosing to hang outside the window when they could float. Juno was smart to make a brothel in Adam's brothel to distract Beetlegeuse, but what makes Barbara think her husband made that? If she never paid attention his modeled town, that is totally on her not knowing her husband. On top of that, why doesn't Lydia warn the Maitlands about what Otho's seance attempt? Even if she doubted Otho could be successful, this could’ve been a useful precaution. If she did, they likely would've figure out a way to avoid it before going to Beetlegeuse as a last resort. This also has me thinking why doesn't Beetlegeuse write his name if he's somehow unable to say it aloud. If he can make an advertisement for his services to the undead, it doesn't sound impossible to show that to the girl. And why the fuck didn't Barbara say his name faster during the climax when she didn't hesitate spamming it while he was a snake. Lastly, why didn't Beetlegeuse have the ring ready before the priest asked for it? He knew he needed it, so that was a weird ass way for false tension if you ask me. In short, Beetlejuice is a classic horror comedy for getting audiences comfortable with something they never thought they'd enjoy. Whichever genre you prefer, this is meant for your annual fall viewing and it'll be worth it.
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