An imaginative, eccentric macabre extravaganza

Rating: Null/10 (24 April 2014)

There are very few directors currently working in Hollywood today that you will describe as unequivocal auteur of their own films. The few examples you could point to would be Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson, whose every film almost seems to have been single handily sculpted by their own very bare hands, adorning each with their signature and flare. But as good as those two are, for me the grandmaster of auteur directors in our modern day world of film is indisputably Tim Burton; known for such classics as Edward Scissor Hands and Alice in Wonderland, is the very godfather of black comedies, quirky characters and zany plot lines, three characteristics that I could also use to describe Beetle Juice. An imaginative, eccentric macabre extravaganza that paradoxically inspires both fear and humour in its audience as they sit down entranced by every outlandish, skittle coloured nightmarish frame that Tim Burton wonders us with.
Beetle Juice tells of unfortunate tale of a newlywed couple Barbara and Adam Maitland, (Alex Bald and Geena Davis) find themselves trapped amongst the dead after a fateful accident involving a dog, a river and a bridge. But the mere fact that they are dead, which is quiet hard for them to come to terms with it at first. But that just the good news, the actual worst bit of their predicament is that they find themselves trapped in their house with the excruciatingly irritating Delia Deetz wonderfully played by Catherine O'Hara, who is so annoying she makes all younger brothers and sister the world over look like delightful saints. Delia comes accompanied by her husband Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and their eccentric daughter Lydia, who looks like she could be queen of the Goths as well as a long lost relative of the Adams family all at once, but she turns out to be an actually nice person - I guess you should never judge a book by its cover. But after a lot of failed attempts to scare the Deetz family out of the house, involving such pathetic fêtes as using a bed sheet with eye holes cut out, something that even Casper the friendly ghost would be embarrassed by. The couple admit defeat and turn to the foul mouthed, belching, farting and idiotic self proclaimed "bio-exorcist" known as "Beetle Juice" played expertly, hilariously and with ferocious abandon by Michael Keaton (Batman). But unlucky for everyone, the deceitful and rotten Beetle Juice is not a person to be trusted...
Warren Skaaren and Michael McDowell screenplay is full of laugh out loud moments brought upon by dastardly, demonic one liners that always promise to pack a punch, couple that with Tim Burtons ingeniously choreographed special effects, set designs and make up and styling which they rightly earned Beetle Juice a Oscar for and topped of with perfectly crafted offbeat, wacky performances from the entire cast, all of which help make Beetle Juice a electrifying, exhilaratingly fantastic watch best served with the lights switched off and the volume turned up.