Remains one of my favorites

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2005)

Re-watching Beetlejuice more than a decade after it thrilled, frightened and enthralled me as a child makes me sad about Mr. Tim Burton's transformation into a Hollywood favorite semi-quirky remake-director (Planet Of The Apes, Sleepy Hollow) in recent years (Big Fish indeed signals a hopeful recovery - if only Charlie And The Chocolate Factory doesn't spoil it...!) At the young age of thirty, and in only his second full length feature, Burton created a cult favorite that is one for the ages. In this bizarre, off-beat script by Michael McDowell (who collaborated with him before on an episode of the 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' television series) he found the ideal vehicle for his unique and strange imagination - and indeed, Burton's unique vision is more apparent here than in any of his movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas being the happy exception. Though it's true that it's not as personal a creation as 'Nightmare' or Edward Scissorhands, this is the movie that would place Burton on the map as a major director, and would earn him his breakthrough job - directing the first Batman feature film. It is on Beetlejuice that he would also start several long-time collaborations with actors who would work with him again in the future - Michael Keaton (Batman & Batman Returns), Winona Ryder (Edward Scissorhands), Jeffrey Jones (Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow), Glenn Shadix and Catherine O'Hara (both of whom did voice-overs for Nightmare Before Christmas). So, again, while Beetlejuice isn't as deep and personal film as we would see in Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood or Big Fish, Beetlejuice is an incredibly imaginative and captivating film and is a perfect black comedy. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin are both more than adequate, but Michael Keaton in the title part is of course the real star of the show - although in reality his part is much smaller than those of Davis and Baldwin. Keaton is electric and mesmerizing as the bio-exorcist or 'the Ghost with the Most', Beetlejuice (spelled BETELGEUSE!), probably the greatest and most memorable performance of his career (with the possible exception of the part of Batman). Keaton really let loose in Beetlejuice, and he and Burton were seemingly having a blast - they created one of the most memorable horror and comedy characters on the big screen. Seventeen year old Winona is also terrific as Goth-girl Lydia, fascinated and repulsed by Betelgeuse's extreme personality. Similarities between her character here and the one in Edward Scissorhands are easy to find, but for my money her performance as Lydia is the better one.
And in conclusion, if there's any movie that I'd recommend to own on VCR or DVD, it's Beetlejuice; because Burton at his best made films that are well rewarding in repeated viewing, and Beetlejuice is Burton at his very, very best, even if it's not his best film. So even if it's not an essential masterpiece like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice is one of the classic cult films of all time, and I can't imagine going through life without it - that is, if you have the tiniest bit of a sense of fun and humor.