Fellman's Movie Reviews

Red = Spoilers 

Beetlejuice is a 1988 horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Cathrine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder. It was an extremely successful movie and is still popular to this day, considered by many to be a cult classic of comedy. There was a cartoon based on the movie for a brief time revolving around Beetlejuice and Lydia’s friendship. Lydia’s parents were side characters and the Maitlands weren’t even in the show. 

What’s it about? Barbara and Adam Maitland are spending their vacation at home, decorating their house in Winter River, Connecticut. A very small town. They drive into town to pick something up from the store that they own and come right back to the house. On the way home, Barbara swerves to avoid a dog and crashes the car through the wall of a bridge, flipping the car over and falling into the river below them. When they get home, they find “Handbook for the Recently Deceased” in their living room. They fall into a desert-like place when they leave the front door and other people can’t see them, and they start to suspect that they didn’t survive the crash. The house is sold to the Deetz’s. Charles, a former real-estate developer, Delia, his second wife, and Lydia, Charles’ teenage goth daughter from his first marriage. Delia runs rampant through the house, redecorating in her new-wave art style with her interior decorator, Otho, and the Maitlands quickly run up to the attic and lock it so they can’t get in there and ruin everything. After reading the handbook, Adam and Barbara find out you can draw a door in case of an emergency. They do and it takes them to an office where they meet their case worker Juno. She tells them to get the Deetz’s out themselves and not to call for Beetlejuice’s help. Adam and Barbara call for Beetlejuice anyway, against Juno’s advice, and are unhappy with the results of the meeting. Charles calls his former boss, Maxie Dean and pitches him proof of ghosts and tells Otho to summon them. Otho starts to summon them using their wedding clothes and accidentally performs an exorcism instead. In order to save them, Lydia goes to Beetlejuice and offers to marry him if he’ll save the Maitlands. She releases Beetlejuice. He gets rid of Maxie Dean and his wife as well as Otho and then saves the Maitlands, and then prepares a wedding for him and Lydia. Before they can finish the wedding ceremony, Adam and Barbara come and save Lydia by saying Beetlejuice’s name three times, and finally, a sand worm comes and eats Beetlejuice, taking him out of the picture for good.  

What’s good? One of the classics of comedy, this is a fantastic script. It is one of the most original stories as well as some of the best acting in a movie you’ll ever see. Beetlejuice is one of the most beloved characters in comedy.  

What’s bad? It’s a shame this movie came out in 1988. If the story came out today with technology what it is now and people didn’t know the story of Beetlejuice, it would be amazing what a story like this would be.  

The acting? Michael Keaton makes this character come alive like nobody else can. It’s just constant, one sentence to the next. The flow that he talks with and the tone of voice that he does it with, it all comes together in a certain way. I don’t think anybody else could’ve done it like that.  

The effects? They were alright. But it was 1988. It’s just a shame it came out so far back. If it had come out even 10 years later, the effects would have been so much better. But I’m glad it came out when it did.  

Beetlejuice is only on-screen for 17 minutes. Even though the movie is named after him, Beetlejuice is only on-screen for 17 minutes of the entire movie. The movie might be named after him, but he’s not really the star of the movie.  

Why are they sleeping? Why are the Maitland’s sleeping? Do ghosts get tired? That’s a good question. Do ghosts sleep? 

Why is Delia so pale? Why is Delia so white half the time? Is she intentionally making herself extra pale? What is the point of that? Is that some sort of art-deco thing? Some sort of new-wave personal makeup thing people did in the 80s? 

Are they decorating the attic? Were the Maitlands decorating the attic after they locked the door? Wouldn’t the Deetz’s eventually get up there and change it around again? 

Barbara is so amazed the door opens. Barbara can’t believe the door worked after Adam knocked three times. Even after it said in the handbook that’s what he should do.  

Juno is less than helpful. Juno is their case worker, and she’s not really all that helpful. She’s hardly giving them any information. All she’s really doing is yelling at them and telling them to figure it out themselves. That’s not helpful in the least.  

I myself am strange and unusual. The goth teenager. Is there any better way to add more complications to a situation than to throw a moody goth teenager into the mix? 

I liked the Beetlejuice cartoon. I remember the Beetlejuice cartoon from when I was a little kid. That was a good cartoon. It really had nothing to do with the movie when you think about it. Aside from involving Beetlejuice, I mean… 

What is that large construction equipment? What is that big thing doing with the arm that’s just digging up dirt and shooting it out the back? I don’t know what that is. It’s just a… just a dirt shooter…? 

Adam has a photo of Bigfoot. Lydia took a photo of the Maitlands with sheets on and their feet aren’t showing, and Barbara says, “You have a photo of Bigfoot, Adam…” Apparently, Adam’s photo of Bigfoot is a completely different story… 

Too mean to be afraid. Some people you just can’t scare away. Some people refuse to be frightened. Those are the people YOU should be afraid of… 

Why are they hiding out the window? If the living can’t see them, why are they hiding out the window? Or can they see them now, because they believe in them? Is that how it works? You have to believe in them to see them? 

Do the football players call everyone “coach”? Why are the football players calling Juno “coach”? Do they call everybody “coach”? Wouldn’t that get confusing? 

Juno says she doesn’t want parlor tricks. Juno says she doesn’t want parlor tricks to scare the Deetz’s, but what the Maitlands are doing are essentially parlor tricks anyway.  

Did Delia agree to let the Maitlands decorate the house again? You would think that Delia would be against letting the Maitlands decorate the house the way they wanted again. Why was she letting them do it like that? What kind of concessions did they come to? 

So, yeah. Go and see Beetlejuice if you already haven’t. And if you haven’t seen it already, what is wrong with you? You’re the one missing out on a classic of comedy. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…