Tim Burton's Career When It Was About Peaked

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 2007)

The Maitlands (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are a happy young couple in a big house, redecorating to their hearts' content while another relative insists that they sell. After a minor car accident, both of them drown and the house is sold... but unfortunately the couple still "lives" on inside the home alongside the annoying new family. How can they scare the newcomers away?
I watched this film on Halloween 2007 for two reasons -- first, because you need to watch scary movies on Halloween (although I think this is really more of a comedy). But second, because Robert Goulet had passed on a few days before, and I felt it would only be right and proper to honor the man who had made such an impression in my life after seeing him sing live in 2002.
As far as I know, this film marks the first Tim Burton and Michael Keaton collaboration, before they both went on to make the two best Batman films in history (at least until Chris Nolan came around). We also have Jeffrey Jones, another regular and the music by Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo. Winona Ryder (from Burton's "Edward Scissorhands") is here, and this is by far her greatest role. Maybe her only truly great role, in fact, as this is the way I like to remember her... not so much as Spock's mother.
Tim Burton was perfect to direct this film, giving him a range of weird and grotesque things to work with, weird clay stuff and wild architecture. It's like the peak of his career because it's as strange as "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and as dark as any of his films... all of which were perfect until he picked "Planet of the Apes" and his career died a brutal death (with the post-Apes exception of "Big Fish" and perhaps "Big Eyes").
That is what you get here, though: comedy and the macabre, mixed together... a world where suicide victims get to spend the afterlife as civil servants... and your death wound stays visible forever. (Drowning seems to have been a good choice to avoid looking awful.) Michael Keaton at his dirtiest (think "Night Shift" and not "Mr. Mom"). Oh, and Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song"... you need that.
So, should you see it? The real question is why haven't you already? Any horror fan will appreciate this, as will any Tim Burton fan. The feel of this film is fun and fresh even two decades later. There is a special edition 20th anniversary DVD, which also offers a few episodes of the cartoon for some reason. It isn't great... maybe next time?