Beetlejuice

Plot synopsis:
In a sleepy little town in New England, we meet Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam (Alec Baldwin) Maitland, a couple who have chosen to take a vacation by staying at home. However, the realtor who sold them the house, Jane (Annie McEnroe), tries to entice them to sell the house, since it seems too big for just a couple. The Maitlands reject her pleas and head to town. On the way home they swerve to avoid a dog, which sends them into a river where they drown.Unaware that they are dead, the Maitlands return to the house, unsure how they got back so quickly. Adam decides to go back outside to 'retrace their steps,' but finds himself on a strange desert planet inhabited by striped sandworms. When he returns to the house, Barbara says he was gone for two hours and shows him a book that she found on a table, Handbook for the Recently Deceased.Time passes relatively quickly, and soon, the Maitlands' house is sold again (under Jane's watchful eye) to the Deetzes, a New York family composed of Charles (Jeffrey Jones), Delia (Catherine O'Hara), and their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). While Charles wishes for a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of New York, Delia can't stand the simple life, and hires a decorator named Otho (Glenn Shadix) to make the house more 'livable' and more to her tastes.Adam and Barbara try to scare the Deetzes, but all their efforts are for naught, as it seems that the living can't see the dead. They take refuge in the attic, where Adam locks the door. However, Lydia finds a skeleton key and tries to open the door. As Adam and Barbara foil her attempts, a TV in the attic comes to life, advertising the services of someone named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), who claims to be able to scare the living.Consulting the handbook, Adam creates a door that takes him and Barbara to a waiting room in the afterlife, filled with others who have met rather gruesome fates. They are shown to a special room, which reveals their home after it has been redecorated by Delia and Otho. It is here that they are introduced to their case worker Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who chastises them for their haunting methods and cautions them not to take the advice of the person they saw on the television.Returning to the house, Adam and Barbara dress up in sheets to try and scare Charles and Delia, but their attempt fails again. Annoyed with the spooky noises, Lydia finds them, and the two are amazed when they remove the bedsheets and realize she can see them! Lydia reveals that she found their handbook, and found a passage that explains how 'live people ignore the strange and unusual,' something she considered herself to be.The Maitlands enlist Lydia to help get the Deetzes out of their house, but no one believes her. Not sure what to do, Barbara notices something in the model of the town in the attic: a glowing light around a small grave that appears to belong to Beetlejuice. She says his name three times, and she and Adam are whisked into the model, where they unearth Beetlejuice's body. Once they've done so they regret it, as Beetlejuice is a rather crazy, uncouth and insane ghoul. Turned off by his personality, they resolve to scare the Deetzes themselves.At a dinner party Delia throws to show her sculptures and other art pieces, the entire group ends up singing 'The Banana Boat Song,' and the shrimp dish in front of them turns into grasping hands. The Maitlands think they've finally succeeded, only to find that their antics have actually amused the Deetzes. The Deetzes send Lydia to bring them down, and when they refuse, everyone clambers to the attic, demanding that the Maitlands show themselves. They find no one there, but Charles is entranced by the miniature of the town, and Otho finds and takes the handbook.Leaving the attic, Charles feels that there is a lucrative business venture just waiting to happen. However, his cheerfulness turns to horror as Beetlejuice transforms into a large snake, freaking out the family by knocking Otho down the stairs and dropping Charles to the floor below. Barbara manages to call the snake off by uttering Beetlejuice's name three times. Lydia is distraught, thinking that the snake was the Maitlands intending to do more than just scare them.The Maitlands are brought before Juno again, who takes them to task for breaking a number of rules: having photos taken of themselves, letting Beetlejuice out, and letting Otho get hold of the handbook. Juno encourages the Maitlands to work harder to scare the Deetzes, and Barbara and Adam contort their features into grotesque forms. However, Barbara has some apprehensions, as she likes Lydia.Meanwhile, Lydia grows so upset that she writes a suicide letter. Going to the attic to say goodbye to the Maitlands, she encounters Beetlejuice in the model. Beetlejuice tries to convince her that he can help her find the Maitlands if she says his name three times. Lydia is almost tricked into saying this, until she realizes that Beetlejuice was the snake, and doubts if he really can help her find the Maitlands. Just then, Adam and Barbara appear, and Lydia explains what was about to happen. Lydia, feeling distraught to be living, tells them of her wish to be dead. Barbara talks her out of these thoughts, and tells her that they've decided to not scare the family, and allow them to stay.Just then, Otho and Charles appear in the attic; Lydia and the Maitlands hide. Otho and Charles carry Adam's model of the town downstairs, where they give Charles' business associate Maxie Deen (Robert Goulet) an overview of Charles' plan to turn the town into a paranormal-themed attraction. Charles also requests that Lydia produce the Maitlands for their guests, but when she refuses, Otho explains that he has a way.Using the handbook and the Maitlands' wedding clothes, Otho performs a seance that forces the couple to appear before them. However, this causes the Maitlands to deteriorate, their forms reverting to their decaying corpses.Frantic, Lydia rushes to the model and sees Beetlejuice in the graveyard. She begs him to help her. Beetlejuice agrees on the condition that Lydia marries him. She agrees to this, and the Maitlands are saved. However, Beetlejuice then holds Lydia to her word, and holds Charles and Delia hostage as 'witnesses,' as Otho escapes.Both Adam and Barbara struggle to stop Beetlejuice, who sends Adam into the model and Barbara to the sandworm planet. Through a joint effort, they do away with Beetlejuice and save Lydia.In the aftermath, the Maitlands and the Deetzes co-occupy the house, and Lydia is much more cheerful in her new environment.

Tags: comedy, fantasy, gothic, paranormal, whimsical, cult, alternate reality, horror, haunting, psychedelic, entertaining

Review:
Director Tim Burton is very careful not to overload the movie with raunch; he is surprisingly careful in setting up this story, and he works magic within a dubious scenario: a comic fantasy about dead folks which ultimately celebrates life.
Once again I'm not sure exactly how to start this comment other than to praise Tim Burton, Beetlejuice is a movie that was based on his idea and is still remembered to this very day.
An ultra-zany story of rural couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis), who accidentally get killed and witness a tasteless couple moving into their house, forcing them to hire "bio-exorcist" Beetle Juice (Michael Keaton), is truly something else.
His sophomore effort shows the story of a married couple (the Maitlands played with good degree by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who die accidentally off a bridge and wind up the target for a upper-class family (including a young yet well played Winona Ryder) and a weird yet scary ghost (with the most) named Beetleguise (or Beetlejuice in a scene of laughs) played to immense complexity by Michael Keaton.
A great cast lead by the very appealing and likable Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the newly dead Maitlands, a star turn by Michael Keaton as the gonzo "bio-exorcist" title character, and strong support from Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, and especially Winona Ryder (a performance that really put her on the map), as the new occupants of the Maitlands house.
But in Beetlejuice, we see a new dimension humour being experimented with.Taking into the account that the movie was made in 1988 with limited special effects, Beetlejuice could be simply labelled as "creativity at its best".Tim Burton is a pure visionary and with this movie you cannot help but appreciate the amount of creativity he has and his ability to translate it to screen.Acting is top-rate from all fronts.
This movie always was: 1 - very popular; 2 - very different; 3 - very entertaining; 4 - a very fast-moving hour-and-a-half of a film.Several characters in here - mainly Michael Keaton's unique and sometimes- revolting title character "Beetlejuice"- are always fascinating to watch.
Now, she's my favorite and someone I find absolutely hilarious as the messed-up wife/mother of a family who moves into a "haunted house" inhabited by Baldwin and Davis.Keaton made himself a name as an actor with this whacked-out Robin Williams-type role, although he never really followed up with anything that was as popular as this film.
All of them are good.Tim Burton directed the film and so I wasn't surprised there were the typical occult themes with ghosts and the like, and no heaven or hell but some other strange existence being touted where dead people go....a ridiculous picture of the afterlife.
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 .
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) .
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.
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 .
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 ♡♡).
Burton has always been at his pitch-black, satirical best ripping apart ideologies of 'normal life', and he has a ball equally taking jabs at our goodhearted ghostly protagonists (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, both charmingly flustered), who are tickled pink by the prospect of a 'staycation' cooped up refurbishing their home, or the house's posthumous inhabitants (the deliciously demented Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara), who tastelessly claw at postmodern décor or oafishly Machiavellian capitalism, goaded on by their preening design consultant Otho (the note-perfect Glen Shadix).
Somehow, in its mad tornado of satire, gorgeously oddball visuals, and adventurously eccentric performances, seasoned with Danny Elfman at his infectiously bouncy best, and sprinkled with a couple of Harry Belafonte Calypso dance numbers for good measure (naturally), Burton's Gothic ode to the afterlife couldn't surge with more life and vibrancy.
'Beetlejuice', a black comedy about the afterlife, is hardly mainstream Hollywood fare, but I also found it far from entertaining.The central characters, Adam and Barbara Maitland, are a nice-but-wet young couple, who live just outside an idyllic small New England town in one of those huge, rambling weather boarded mansions that looks as though it has been taken straight from an Edward Hopper painting.
OK, we're talking about one of the greatest films guys..Ever since I was little it was my first favorite movie, i've seen it like a hundred times(I do have a life) and I never get tired of it!!Tim Burton is a complete talented freak who I love!Beetljuice is extremely funny and creepy(especially the part with the exorcist movie)Not to mention the closing song '' Jump in the line'' I used to get up and dance and wished that I could float like Winona Ryder!Excellent, what can I say?
The use of Burton's regular actors(Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Glenn Shadix) as well as the others create a perfect cast for this cult classic film.
But Beetle Juice wants to get married to Lydia to definitely return to the world of the living.The first feature of Tim Burton is a delightful comedy, where he introduces a calling card of his dark style with nice characters in a very funny story, great makeup and special effects and a stunning and hilarious performance of Michael Keaton.
When their attempts to scare away the obnoxious new owners of their home prove less than successful, recently deceased couple Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) turn to outrageous 'bio-exorcist' Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) for help.They played Harry Belafonte's 'Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)' at my work's Xmas 'do' this year, which made me realise that it's been a whopping 25 years since I last saw Beetlejuice (as well as making me painfully aware that dancing the conga when sober isn't anywhere near as much fun as it is while plastered—next year, I drink!).
Sadly, a quarter of a century later, the film isn't anywhere near as much fun as I remembered it to be There are plenty of creative ideas and director Tim Burton's morbid style is much in evidence, but the film as a whole proves to be far less than the sum of its parts—a series of quirky, macabre, but not very funny gags with little in the way of a decent story to tie it all together.
Keaton is also rather irritating as the 'ghost with the most'; thankfully he gets precious little screen-time (despite the film being named after his character), but Winona Ryder, an actress that I simply cannot abide, is sadly present throughout..
The careers of Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin would ignite big a couple of years later."Beetle Juice" is vivid, colorful, funny and represents something different in the comedy scene..
There are pretty awesome special effects at work (sand worms, Beetle Snake, and a scene where Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin compete to see who can make a scarier face), tons of make-up, some legitimately eerie moments, and a hilarious performance by Keaton as the troublesome everyman ghost, Beetle Juice.Classic Tim Burton combining humor and scares, the morbid and the silly, and the bizarre visual flair we've all come to know and love.
Twice.There's some blood and some creepy stuff going around: plenty of dead bodies(mostly doing and saying funny stuff) with all sorts of ailments, constant talk of the afterlife, some risqué jokes that will most likely go over the brow of your ten year old, and one of the best usages of the "F" word in cinema history.Everything about the film is exceptional, and if you like your horror with some humor, look no further..
To do this, they have the help of experienced ghosts and two unusual allies: the daughter of the new house owners and another ghost, deeply unorthodox and expert in the art of scaring the living.The film is a classic comedy of black humor, which plays with death and life in the beyond, just as it makes a great mockery to the pseudo-intellectuals of American society.
Directed by Tim Burton, there are a lot of elements that we associate, almost instinctively, with this director: an unusual plot with offbeat themes, a comedy difficult to please everyone, out of the box sets and costumes and a refined, fun and contagious soundtrack.The cast did a great job.
Winona Ryder, once a regular in Burton's films (remember "Scissorhands"), is quite good at playing the rebellious daughter of the new owners of the house, which, for a reason the film never explains, has the ability to see and speak with them, as if she were a medium.Overall, this movie was a pleasant surprise.
Beetlejuice is one of those characters in film you are either going to love or hate.I've long been a fan of Tim Burton.
When I watched for the very first time Beetlejuice, I was still a young child whose only reference to the After Life World was the TV show cartoon Casper, that young ghost whose only wish is to become a little boy once again.So when my parents showed me that movie for the first time and tried to comfort me, assuring that it's not as scary as it looks, I was spooked anyway (the pun is intended).But I loved it even if I was scared a couple of times.
I will be honest, it's a strange humor as it's a dark comedy, but it's all good.I'm not sure exactly how to start this comment other than to praise Tim Burton, Beetlejuice is a movie that was based on his idea and is still remembered to this very day.
BEETLEJUICE is an important film for at least one reason: It established Tim Burton's style and featured a lot of the people, behind and in front of the camera, who he would collaborate with over the next 20 years or so.
So, for not quite delivering the riotous comedy I expected, BEETLEJUICE is still a highly entertaining showcase for special effects and Michael Keaton's manic energy, as well as being Tim Burton's first true film (or at least emblematic of his style)..
Tim Burton built his name on his macabre style but "Beetlejuice" is one odd movie (in a good way).
Finally they get a specialist Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) to excise the living from their house.Tim Burton is a complete original, and this is the first tastes of his quirky visual sense.
The film focuses on The Maitlands, a married couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who die in a car accident and find themselves living as ghosts in their large former home even after the pretentious and dysfunctional Deetz family has moved in.
They soon learn Lydia, the daughter (Winona Ryder), can actually see them.Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) comes into the picture as a ghost who claims to be able to scare the living better than anyone.
Geena David and Alec Baldwin are great as the couple who die, Winona Ryder rules as Lydia the daughter who can see the couple and Michael Keaton almost steals the show as Beetleguese a.k.a. Beetle Juice.
There's actually a sort of "Health and Haunted Services" system in the Great Beyond that provides assistance in the form of caseworkers (who are about as helpful in death as they are in life), and Adam and Barbara's "help" comes in the form of the cynical and cancerous Juno, (the great Sylvia Sidney), who goes completely by the book...but does tip the deceased darlings off to one dangerously unpredictable possibility for a resolution of their problem.His name, as you know by now, is Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) - or as more commonly known - "Beetlejuice." He's a caseworker turned "independent contractor", which means he's bad news for the Maitlands, worse news for the Dietzes, and the best thing to happen to horror-comedies since three guys named Venkman, Spengler and Stanz.
After they die, Adam (Baldwin) and Barbara (Davis) come back to their house as ghosts and find a family is moving in and the couple try to scare them away with help from bio-exorcist Beetlejuice.Tim Burton's reputation as the darkest and most Gothic director started here with a bizarre but wonderfully different tale of the dead and is both funny, and yet psychological scary, and brings a niche to the market in a strange and sophisticated way.The film has a terrific opening with Danny Elfman's score exquisite to the bird's eye view of the town going past and the upbeat music plays right into our hands and will gear you up ready for the horror and excitement to begin.Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October) impresses as ambitious Adam and has good on screen chemistry with Geena Davis (Thelma and Louise) and the pair create many laughs and are a joy to watch, especially when playing around with the sheets.Winona Ryder (Girl, interrupted) gives a great performance as Lydia, the weird and wonderful teenager, who gives the film a more serious and realistic feel against Keaton's comic Beetlejuice.The star of the show is Keaton (Batman) who plays bio-exorcist Beetlejuice, a crazed man who is evil, eccentric and enjoyable to watch, because he is weird and different, one of Tim Burton's finest creations, right up there with Edward Scissorhands.
Enjoyed this film and the great acting by Alec Baldwin, (Adam) and Geena Davis, (Barbara) who are a married young couple who move into a home they are very happy with and they are both deeply in love with each other and are kissing each other all the time.
This combined with solid performances from the entire cast and of Course Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, you know your on to a winner.Keaton Brings Beetlejuice to life in this hilarious comedy, as he is called upon to help some ghosts excorisise the living from their home, with unpredicted results.This movie quite simply gets funnier every time you see it, and there is literally nothing else like it, that i have seen.Terrific 8/10.
Michael Keaton is perfect in the title role, while Burton has him surrounded by top-notch leading and supporting talent, including a typically hilarious Catherine O'Hara and a star-making turn by Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz.
Beetlejuice is a quirky offbeat dark comedy from the late 1980s starring Michael Keaton and directed by Tim Burton.
Beetlejuice is a quirky offbeat dark comedy from the late 1980s starring Michael Keaton and directed by Tim Burton.
Incredible premise and funny idea of Tim Burton's morbidity which delivery each single scene in high class dark comedy,the highlights of movie probable are Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice and the trial center which all ghost are sending to make a propper registration always obeying a long waiting queue with astronomic number,more the old Sylvia Sidney in small role!!Resume:First watch: 1995 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25.
RELEASED IN 1988 and directed by Tim Burton, "Beetlejuice" chronicles the story of a couple (Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis) who accidently perish after moving to a quaint Connecticut town.
Beetlejuice is mostly a product of the 1980's, but there's something about Tim Burton's flare for the absolute absurd supernatural that gives this film an incomparable likability.Burton teamed up with his early career favorite Michael Keaton for the title character, and in turn created what is perhaps one of the most iconic performances of all time.
Deals with a family haunted by a recently deceased young couple (Baldwin and Davis)—yes, it certainly sounds like a cliché horror movie, but the talented cast and the memorable scenes make it anything but, especially with Keaton in the titular role as an obnoxious ghost trying to permanently scare away the new inhabitants.
His character seems fairly likable, and combined with Geena Davis as his wife, the two create a couple that everyone can adore.All in all, if you are looking for some fun time with a movie that won't bore you for a second, give Beetlejuice a try.
Michael Keaton stars as the thoroughly obnoxious, trouble making ghost Beetle Juice, who is summoned by a recently deceased couple(Geena Davis & Alec Baldwin) to help them scare away the new tenants of their old home, since they have failed to do so.