Beetle Juice (1988)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Michael McDowell (screenplay)
Michael McDowell (story)

Release Date:

30 March 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Say it once... Say it twice... But we dare you to say it THREE TIMES

Plot:

A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Yuppie | Car Crash | Attic | Spiritual Show

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 8	8:00 PM	BET
Wed. July 8	11:00 PM	BET

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Adam Maitland
Geena Davis	...	Barbara Maitland
Annie McEnroe	...	Jane Butterfield
Maurice Page	...	Ernie
Hugo Stanger	...	Old Bill
Michael Keaton	...	Beetlejuice
Rachel Mittelman	...	Little Jane Butterfield
Catherine O'Hara	...	Delia Deetz
J. Jay Saunders	...	Moving Man #1
Mark Ettlinger	...	Moving Man #2
Jeffrey Jones	...	Charles Deetz
Winona Ryder	...	Lydia Deetz
Glenn Shadix	...	Otho
Patrice Martinez	...	Receptionist
Cindy Daly	...	3-Fingered Typist (as Cynthia Daly)

Also Known As:

Beetlejuice (USA) (alternative spelling)
The Maitlands (USA) (working title)
Beetlejuice el super fantasma (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Beetlegeuse (Norway) [no]
Beetlejuice (West Germany) [de]
Beetlejuice (France) [fr]
Beetlejuice (Sweden) [sv]
Beetlejuice (Finland) [fi]
Beetlejuice - spiritello porcello (Italy) [it]
Bitelchus (Spain) [es]
Bubimir (Croatia) [hr]
Lottergeist Beetlejuice (West Germany) [de]
O skatharozoumis (Greece) [el]
Os Fantasmas se Divertem (Brazil) [pt]
Os fantasmas Divertem-se (Portugal) [pt]
Sok z zuka (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Spain:T | Ireland:15 | South Korea:All | France:Unrated | Germany:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | Israel:PG | New Zealand:PG | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Canada:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Geffen Company, The

Trivia:

In the wedding scene, Lydia's dress is a bright red. According to the old rhyme about wedding dress colors, it's "Married in red, better off dead."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Beetlejuice has his first actual conversation with Lydia, a cockroach scampers by and he eats it. The cockroach is roughly the size of a hamburger in comparison to Beetlejuice, yet he is already miniaturized.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Adam: [about a spider on his hand] Now that's a big fella! Whoa!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Runaway Jury (2003)

Soundtrack:

Marcha funebre, Sonata Piano No. 2

Burton's true masterpiece, and one of the ten best 80s movies.

Watching this one more time on TV yesterday reminded me of the first time I saw it all those years ago at the movies when Tim Burton was just the guy who had directed that funny Pee-wee Herman movie. Walking into 'Beetlejuice' then, without knowing anything about it, was an amazing experience. Along with 'Blade Runner', 'Blue Velvet', 'Videodrome', 'Brazil', 'Paris, Texas', 'The Terminator' and 'Repo Man' it was one of the most astonishing and memorable movies of the 1980s, an era dominated by Hollywood dreck like 'Flashdance', 'Top Gun', and 'Footloose'. The whole Bruckheimer/Simpson/Spielberg/Hughes zeitgeist that dumbed down popular movies as never before. Movies like 'Beetlejuice' were a glimmer of hope in a truly awful period.

The big question is - how does it stand up today? The answer is better than ever! In fact I would argue that 'Beetlejuice' is Tim Burton's most successful and least compromised film. Everything about it is perfect. 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. 'Beetlejuice' juggles gruesome, trippy and genuinely witty sequences, and ends up becoming one of the freshest and surreal movies to find a mainstream audience since the heyday of 60s/70s "head" movies. Forget Burton's more recent hit and miss big budget efforts, and try this for the real deal, Luis Bunuel meets Tex Avery meets George Romero, and then some! 'Beetlejuice' is a blast!