Beetlejuice (1988)
“I’ve seen the Exorcist ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY TIME I SEE IT!”
“Beetlejuice” (Michael Keaton) Not seen until well into the second act of the film and then for a minimal amount of screen time, but what a performance from Keaton. Balancing the persona of the deranged and obnoxious ghost exorcist perfectly, the only criticism is he doesn’t figure more prominently in his own film! What screen time there is is pure gold.
His brief introduction is thus:
Approaching a “Betelgeuse” sign, “Barbara” (Geena Davis) and “Adam” (Alec Baldwin) begin digging at the foot of the grave, accompanied by Danny Elfman’s hurried and hectic cinematic musical score which is a joy throughout. After much digging, rising from his grave, arms outstretched in wonder, delight and triumph is Beetlejuice. Kissing Barbara, then grabbing Adam, before finally settling in between them and enquiring as to the romantic availability of Barbara, it is a wonderfully bizarre and surreal introduction. Always seemingly in the middle of the three, arm in arm, Beetlejuice enquires “who do I have to kill?” as he hands Barbara a live rat and throwing his voice to her!
Demonstrating both his qualifications “I graduated Harvard Business School!” and his ability to be scary, this is the eponymous Beetlejuice scene where, back to camera, he scares Barbara and Adam with snakes protruding from his head. Unsure, and with Beetlejuice pleading for the opportunity to help them “Come on. We’re like peas in a pod the three of us, let’s face it”, Barbara and Adam return home. Unaware, and still offering to cook a meal for his new found friends, the four minute scene ends in brilliant cameo fashion from Michael Keaton, topped with a little flourish from the Director. With the only two swear words of the entire film and the Director’s final flourish, an angry Beetlejuice exclaims “Where are you? Oh you fucking losers. You’re working with a professional here!” before kicking down a fake tree behind him and ending with “Nice fucking model!” before grabbing his crotch and the scene ends with two cartoon/clown like “honks!”.
Without wishing to give away huge chunks of spoiler I won’t go into much further detail of the film itself, suffice to say that at times it is brilliantly funny, sometimes darkly so and even with a second or third viewing you will still see little nuances or pieces you missed on first viewing. It is very definitely a triumph for Director Tim Burton, as the surreal flashes and inserts throughout are a marvel and very definitely early Tim Burton at his very best. Yes the film has dated a little since it’s release in 1988, but Keaton’s albeit brief performance, allied to the marvellous musical score from Danny Elfman and the Director’s genius, make this a must watch in his canon of work. The supporting cast are excellent too, with Jeffrey Jones as “Charles Deetz”, Annie McEnroe as “Jane Butterfield”, a young Winona Ryder as “Lydia Deetz” and Catherine O’Hara as “Delia Deetz” particular stand outs. Just one tiny spoiler for you, because it makes me laugh every time and I’m sure it will you too. Just await the family gathering and their table dance to “Day-O”. It’s utterly brilliant, funny and encapsulates this film perfectly!
With a running time of just 92 minutes and writing credits for Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren many others deserve credit in producing a wonderful film. Director of Photography Thomas Ackerman especially so for bringing an intensely surreal film to life with Director Burton and Danny Elfman’s iconic score as previously noted. The soundtrack is a fun mix with “Day-O” an amusing stand out, alongside “Jump in the Line (Shake Senora)” and classical pieces from Chopin and Wagner. Nominated for one Oscar, Ve Neill, Steve LaPorte and Robert Short unsurprisingly won for Best Make Up.
“Beetlejuice” can also be found within my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with each and every volume free to read should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All 9 of my self-published books can also be read for free on Kindle (but go on, treat yourself to a paperback or hardback version!) and should you watch my short Youtube video linked in the middle of this article you’ll also find links to my Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee and other ways of supporting my work as an independent writer.
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Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.