Tim Burton's hits his prime with Beetlejuice, but now he directs drivel...

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2001)

I love Tim Burton's early works, such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Ed Wood. His more recent films (Mars Attacks, the horribly awful Battle of the Apes remake) just don't have the darkly comic zing of these earlier works. Beetlejuice is a hilarious film, and to quote the title character himself, "...It just keeps getting funnier every time I see it!"
The cast of the film is superb. The fact that the film gleefully mocks death & afterlife and that it comes off so well shows what a tremendous imagination Tim Burton has (or had). Michael Keaton (where is he these days?) is magnificent as Beetlejuice, a disgusting dead guy mooching off the dearly departed - in this case, the goofy but lovable Maitlands. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis (two more we don't see much now) are perfect as tbe clueless, recently-deceased Adam and Barbara Maitland. Winona Ryder is cynical yet sweet in her role as Lydia. Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones masterfully play Lydia's parents as clueless, selfish, and wacky urbanites.

Watch this movie and you will pine for the days that Burton was so innovative - before Hollywood corrupted him.