Beetle Juice (1988)

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 | Attic | Car Crash | Yuppie | Carnival

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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) (USA) (DVD title)
The Maitlands (USA) (working title)
Beetlejuice el super fantasma (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Bételgeuse (Canada: French title) [fr]
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:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Spain:T | Ireland:15 | South Korea:All | France:Unrated | West Germany:12 (f) | Germany:12 | 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:

Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [TV commercials]Betelgeuse's TV commercial.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: In the first dinner scene, Lydia can be seen to push her chair back to leave; she doesn't just disappear when everyone starts singing.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Return to Oz (1985)

Soundtrack:

Jump in the Line (Shake Señora)

AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER, EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT! (that's not just a quote)

This is one of Tim Burton's best films. His sophmore effort shows the story of a married couple (the Maitlands played with good degree by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who die accidentaly 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. Sure this plot may sound a little anti-climactic being mainly gags and not really a focused story, but so what? In a film where you see sandworms from saturn, shrimps that attach after calypso and a nut who has seen the exorcist 167 time (insert quote here), why bother with a plot. Great fun everytime I watch. Reccomendable to anyone. A