Halloween Horrors: BEETLEJUICE

BEETLEJUICE  (1988)
Directed by Tim Burton
Starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Jeffery Jones, Glen Shadix, Sylvia Sidney
PG for unspecified reasons (contains PG-13-level comic/fantasy gore, brief strong language and some thematic elements).
SCAREmeter: 2.5/10
GOREmeter: 5/10
OVERALL: 3 out of 4 stars 

Following the great success of PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE in 1985, former Disney Animation misfit Tim Burton was suddenly a director of interest, and while many scripts were now being sent his way, none of them sparked his unusual imagination.  Then came along a very dark and violent horror-comedy script titled Beetlejuice, about a young couple who die in a horrific car crash and accidentally unleash a malevolent poltergeist called Betelgeuse who attempts to kill the new inhabitants of their home and rape their daughter.  Burton agreed to direct the film, but brought in another writer, Warren Skaaren, to rewrite much of the script as more of a supernatural comedy than a horror-comedy, removing most of the more malevolent elements and creating an overall sillier and lighter sort of film, though no less strange, to be sure.
The resulting BEETLEJUICE is arguably the definitive example of "Burtonesque," packed chock-full of the distinctive characteristics of Tim Burton's trademark style, such as zany and whimsical treatment of morbidity, campy kitschiness, postcard-perfect suburbia, German Expressionism-inspired designs and B-movie special effects.
Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are a quaint suburban yuppie couple spending their "vacation" decorating their large New England country home, and finding time to try again for a much-desired child.  What's meant to be a simple errand into town changes everything though, when they swerve to miss a dog in the road and drive off a bride and into the Winter River.  After realizing they died in the crash, the Maitlands also learn that they're unable to leave their house, with only The Handbook for the Recently Deceased as a technical guide and limited assistance from the bureaucratic offices of the netherworld.  Then the Deetzes move in; Charles (Jeffery Jones), a real estate developer looking for some peace and quiet, Delia (Catherine O'Hara), a wannabe avant-garde modern artist, and Lydia (Winona Ryder), Charles' dramatically morose Goth daughter, the only living person able to see the Maitlands' ghosts and becomes their ally.  Delia, with the coordination of like-minded interior designer Otho (Glenn Shadix), redecorates the country home as a gaudy monument to ghastly modern art, to the dismay of the Maitlands, who begin the trial-and-error process of learning to haunt the house, but once they get good at it, Charles and Delia are only to thrilled at the prospect of opening a museum of the supernatural.    In desperation, the Maitlands unleash Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a mischievous and perverted imp who freelances as a "bio-exorcist," who turns out to be more unmanageable than they intended, but who may become necessary when Otho discovers the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, with intentions of revealing the Maitlands at the Deetz's museum pitch.

"I've seen THE EXORCIST about 167 times, and it keeps getting funnier every time I see it!"

BEETLEJUICE is not a very solid movie, with weak characterizations and little substance, relying primarily on morbid sight gags.  On the other hand, it has strong likability, and the performances are enthusiastic, even if written on a superficial level.  Keaton, as the titular character, has relatively little screen time, and is a classic example of the "trickster" character-type, the havoc-causing supporting character defined by his outsider status from society, creating chaos whether by amusement or to achieve his own selfish means, part anti-hero and part villain.  Naturally, the trickster is the most fun character to play, and as per usual, the most fun to watch.  Keaton introduces the now annoyingly-typical Burton look of white face makeup and dark, sunken eyes, and speaks in a growling guttural.  He's a shameless pervert and an impudent troublemaker, coming close to causing real damage, but generally just making people uncomfortable, he's a far cry from the sinister demon of the original script.

"We've come for your daughter, Chuck."

The look of BEETLEJUICE is not really an appealing one, filled with garish tones and extreme designs, more pastel and less polished than Burton's later films like ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but it doesn't interfere with the rest of the film either, so it's not a significant issue.  The special effects are deliberately cheap-looking, but also creative, like the stop-motion animated sandworms and the giant snake with a Betelgeuse head.  The low-budget, B-movie look of the special effects-heavy film works well for it, given the film's relatively low $15 million budget, but even for that, a relatively low percentage went to creating the visual effects.
The humor is primarily based in sight gags, an abundance of which revolve around the gory personages in the netherworld, such as the Maitlands' case worker, Juno (Sylvia Sidney), who smokes cigarettes as smoke leaks out the laceration in her throat, or the grisly beheading that the Maitlands stage in an attempt to frighten Delia and Otho.  Curiously, for all the deceased who make appearances, the Maitlands are the only ghosts without severely disfiguring mutilations.  Another curiosity, which I'm tempted to think must have some form of unrealized significance, is that the town store that Adam goes into has a storefront sign that reads "Maitland Store," and this is never taken note of otherwise.

"The only one I think I can deal with is Edgar Allan Poe's daughter."

Unfortunately, much of Burton's work is associated with the adoration he receives from the angsty drama queens of the mall-goth and moody individualist teen cultural factions, but ironically, BEETLEJUICE seems to be lampooning these types.  Lydia, a sympathetic and self-proclaimed "strange and unusual" character, is obsessed with death and her whole life is "one big, dark room," but when she writes her would-be suicide letter, she comically takes time to make revisions to ensure the most melodramatic letter possible (such as replacing "jumped" with "plummeted").  When she meets Betelgeuse and mentions that she wants to be dead too, she just looks up at her with puzzled disgust; "Why?!"  Whether or not it's true, the major point of the movie is that being dead does not make anything easier, so stop being such a weirdo.  Be a little weird, sure, but make some friends, dress with some color and enjoy your damn life.