Funny and amusing horror comedy in which a pair of ghosts hire a peculiar exorcist

Rating: 7/10 (6 June 2012)

A surreal , grotesque farce with continual surprises about an ultra-nice couple (Alec Baldwin , Geena Davis) of recently deceased ghosts who contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" called Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton, the title character is named for a bright red star in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeusein) in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house , and they contract him to rid of all trespassers for a price . The fantastique exorcist only be contacted when his name is correctly pronounced three consecutive times . Among those who feel the need to hire are a couple of newly-dead who are confined to a living hell in their own home which is being invaded by obnoxious new inhabitants , a family of post-modern art-lovers , formed by a marriage (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara who was a replacement for an ill Anjelica Huston as Delia, on the set she met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch who created the inventive set design) and their rare daughter named Lydia (Winona Ryder ; though also auditioned for the role Juliette Lewis , Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Molly Ringwald and Jennifer Connelly all turned down the same role) . But the things go wrong when the maniacal BeetleJuice works his own magic .
Bemusing film plenty of humor , easy fun , cheesy scenes , special effects galore and strange situations . Michael Keaton steals the show as the repulsive and raucous Bio-exorcist , he spent only two weeks filming his part in the film , which lasts 17.5 minutes out of the 92-minute running time . The highlights of the film are the unforgettable Calypso scenes that result to be priceless images . The original script was a horror film , and featured Beetlejuice as a winged, reptilian demon who transformed into a small Middle Eastern man , subsequent script rewrites turned the film into a comedy and toned down Beetlejuice's character into the ghost of an wise cracking con-artist rather than a demon. Winona Ryder is astounding as the Gothic adolescent with a death complex and majoring in weirdness , while Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones are amusing as the yuppie marriage . The picture packs eye-popping and colorful cinematography by Thomas Ackerman . Lively and amusing musical score by Danny Elffman , Tim Burton's usual .
Not surprisingly, the movie's impressive box-office success created plans for a sequel: Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. A script was commissioned and Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder both signed on to reprise their respective roles, but Tim Burton lost interest in the project and went on to direct Batman and Batman Returns instead. As late as 1996, Warner Bros. was still trying to get the original sequel concept into production but a finished film has yet to materialize.
The motion picture was well realized by Tim Burton , giving a quirky vision of the afterlife and showing his usual weird touches . This unstructured but habitually delightful live action cartoon will appeal to Tim Burton fans . The supernatural comedy was a huge and surprising box-office hit, which in turn led to Burton being entrusted with the reins on the hugely expensive Batman (1989). Although his least personal film, it was one of the most successful movies of all time, and gave him unprecedented power in Hollywood considering the originality and adventurousness of his work thus far. ¨Edward Scissorhands¨ (1990), another hit, saw him at the peak of his creative powers and established a fruitful working relationship with actor Johnny Depp. ¨Batman returns¨ (1992) was a far darker and quirkier film than the original, a reflection of how much creative freedom Burton had won . And although Ed Wood (1994), his loving tribute to the life and work of the legendary Worst Director of All Time, Edward D. Wood Jr., was a box-office disaster, it garnered some of the best reviews of Burton's career .