Dir: Tim Burton, 1988, USA, 92 Mins
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davies, Alec Baldwin, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara
Many of Burton’s greatest cinematic achievements are titled after their main character, Batman, Pee Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and of course Beetlejuice. In 1988 this was a masterpiece, a zany, wacky surreal tale of a freelance bio exorcist who comes to the aid of a recently deceased couple in their quest to scare off the new living residents of their home. With a great cast, over the top and off the wall special effects, and a great concept many of us have wonderfully fond memories of, this bizarre cinematic gem that established Burton as an oddball director who could deliver box office success.
Watching this film nearly two decades later it becomes quickly evident that it has dated. The opening scenes seem to take an eternity, primarily due to Adam and Barbara Maitland (Baldwin and Davies), the honey mooning couple whose deaths we quickly yearn for. Beetlejuice (Keaton) later sums them up nicely:-
“Cute couple, look nice and stupid too”
They are dull, dreary, and painfully vanilla and it would seem that Adam’s obsession with building an attic-based miniature replica of the town (which is just as twee and saccharine as the real thing) is symbolic of his desire and inability to communicate with the real world. Never before has there been such a mind-numbingly boring ghost in an equally tedious setting.
With the Dietz’s arrival to the now haunted house the décor becomes more appealing thanks to Delia’s (O’Hara) outlandish ideas of redecorating which allow the set designer to really have some fun and give the film some individuality that it was so far lacking. Both Charles (Jones) and Delia have great fun with their roles, playing up their eccentricities that breeze through the house giving a little life to the stale and lifeless narrative.
It is their daughter Lydia (Ryder) who sparks a modicum of interest as the archetypal death-obsessed Goth who at one point contemplates taking her own life, re-writing several versions of the suicide note to get the dramatic wording just right. She is acting out a rebellion against her socially orientated parents, particularly her stepmother Delia who is preoccupied with climbing the social ladder.
Somewhat two dimensional, Lydia relishes in her perceived weirdness, stating to the Maitlands that:-
“I myself am strange and unusual”
To which Barbara replies:-
“You look like a regular girl to me”
Lydia embraces the role of a self obsessed Goth in order to make herself seem more interesting. Her appearance is suggestive of death and thereby ghosts, but when it is established that the house is haunted she discards her sour mood and gothic paraphernalia. Has Burton, king of the outcasts, sold out those who identify with him? The film seems to be saying that whilst self expression, individuality and attention can be obtained by joining a subculture such as that of a Goth, if you are happy or live in a haunted house there is no need for this infantile behaviour. Lydia’s rebellion was a way to make her self appear more interesting, because at least “strange” gets attention, but when your surrogate parents are ghosts you are by default fascinating. Who is the outsider in this escapade? If it is Lydia should we all follow suit and join the mainstream?
The one saving grace of this film is Keaton’s inspired performance as Beetlejuice. He is a whirlwind of zaniness, loud, crude, rude, disgusting but always hilarious.
He is a delight to watch, setting the film alight with his foul mouth, sex obsessed antics and callous, fun loving attitude. He is the Puck of the afterlife and the most alive character in the film; without doubt the “ghost with the most” that dominates our memory of the film. He devours the scenery and is the key catalyst for many of the films inventive and hallucinatory effects, which now sadly look too cartoon like and are only mildly charming.
Regrettably Beetlejuice does not appear until the film is half over! Watching the movie becomes a chore as we await his appearance, fidgeting nervously in a similar manner to the recently deceased in the waiting room of the afterlife, trying to avoid the fast forward button.
Various cartoons and theme park shows sprung up to cash in on the popularity of Beetlejuice’s character, but a sequel never got off the ground; although the premise of Beetlejuice in Hawaii seems flawed from the outset. During production the studio put pressure on Burton to rename the film “House Ghosts” to which Burton jokingly replied they might as well call it Scared Sheetless. That should have been the name for the proposed sequel, which sadly will never happen.
Without doubt this film has its place in cinematic history. It helped launch or improve the career of many of those involved, Burton, Keaton, Ryder, composer Danny Elfman and production designer Bo Welch. On a budget of $13 million, of which only $1 million was spent on special effects, the filmmakers clearly have something to be proud of, and it is reassuring that so many went on to bigger and better things, because this sure hasn’t stood the test of time.
Darren Horne
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