Loony surrealist classic!

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2015)

Tim Burton's Beetlejuice was not marketed as a surrealist film when it came out, and as such no one remembers it for the batshit crazy journey into the absurd that it treats you to. It's touted as a slightly subversive, yet also vaguely family friendly ghost romp, and yes, that's the jist of it, yet hidden beneath the lines that people can read between if they are keen enough, is a completely organic stream of nonsensical, almost dreamlike events, threaded together by a shaky theme of life after death. Michael Keaton portrays rambunctious zombie bio exorcist Betelgeuse in a face smacking, loony toon of a performance that's the best of his interesting and varied career. He's a whackjob wonder, a perverted pile of silliness with a mean streak a mile long and a penchant for all kinds of bizarre paranormal mischief. He's called to action when a quaint, naive New England couple (gorgeous Geena Davis and an oh so young Alec Baldwin) perish in an auto accident and are looking to rid their home of its insufferable new inhabitants. They arrive in the form of gag inducing trendy NYC interior designer Otho (Glenn Shadix RIP) who acts like he walked right out of a satirical episode of South Park), Charles (Jeffrey Jones the lovable bugger) and Delia Deetz (a spastic Catherine O Hara) and their cutie daughter Lydia (an emo Winona Ryder, one of my first movie crushes ♡♡). They walk right in like they own the place (well.. they kinda do) with dastardly plans to remodel it to their eyebrow raising yuppie fashion fanaticism. Baldwin and Davis see no other option but to summon Keaton, by saying his odd name three times. After that, all bets are off as Betelgeuse leers right out of the astral plane to cause no end of trouble for literally everyone, including himself. Keaton soars like he hasn't since then, giving a performance that makes the Joker, the Mask and Bugs Bunny seem like introverts. There's a constant cascade of phenomenal practical effects and gooey makeup on display, as well. When Davis and Baldwin venture into the afterlife beyond their home into the cluttered bureaucracy of the spirit world, we're treated to all sorts of sights, sounds and an out of this world creative aesthetic that honestly seems like Burton entered someone's dreams on the night before Halloween and pulled out all kinds of wonder for the viewer to behold. From a DMV like waiting room for deceased souls, to a football team that doesn't realize they're dead yet, to a massive snake with Keaton's ugly mug on the end of it, there's just no stop to the jaw dropping spectacle on display. Sylvia Sydney is dryly hilarious as an otherworld-weary afterlife caseworker, and there's fun bits from Robert Goulet, Dick Cavett and more as well. For something truly unexpected, endlessly creative and undefinable, check it out. Although I assume that anyone reading this has at least seen this five times, if not more. I've lost count.