'What's my Name?'

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2007)

Whatever the story he's telling, Tim Burton - along with his collaborators - has the precise ability to create incredibly detailed universes and transport us to them at once, so that they feel like home for the duration of his tale. "Beetlejuice" is no different. Within what feels like no time at all, we're taken inside a scale-model, before being whisked from there and placed right in the heart of quaint rural America, complete with white-picket fences and all. Our last stop on this magical mystery tour finally takes us to the afterlife, where we encounter various forms of the undead. It almost seems like an overload of imagination for one movie, but we're soon to discover that 'restraint' is far from what Beetlejuice is about...
Both the production design and makeup are excellent tools with regard to making us believe totally in this assortment of landscapes. It's a sign of how much fun the movie has experimenting that when the titular character gets so little screen-time, we aren't complaining much, and it forces you to think just how many other movies would have been irreparably damaged by a similar decision. Michael Keaton is riotous, but there are laughs to be had from plenty of other sources too. All of the supporting cast are Burton favourites, and it's a telling indicator that here is where they do some of their best work.
If you want spooky laughs, then get your mitts on "Beetlejuice" and settle down to watch the exploits, because 'it's show time'... He truly is The Name In Laughter From The Hereafter!