After Pee Wee’s Big Adventure became a surprise hit, Tim Burton got many offers, but none caught his attention. Around this time, writers Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson presented Burton with an oddball horror-comedy script, which he liked. McDowell and Wilson tried selling the screenplay to Universal, but they rejected it, and The Geffen Company picked it up. Warren Skaaren came on board to rewrite the script, adding more humor while toning down the more graphic material. Geffen greenlit the project for $15 million and suggested Michael Keaton for the title role of a paranormal bio-exorcist. The movie was shot between March and June 1987, with exteriors in East Corinth and interiors at Culver City. Warner Bros. had doubts about the film, but positive test screenings reassured them that everything would be fine. Tim Burton’s sophomore directorial outing Beetlejuice opened in theaters in March 1988.
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Synopsis
While vacationing at home, newlyweds Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) tragically die in a car accident. They return home, only to realize they’re dead, and Barbara’s sister Jane (Annie McEnroe) sold their house. The new owners are the Deetzes – Charles (Jeffrey Jones), his wife Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and his daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). The Maitlands are horrified to see what Charles and Delia are doing to their house and want them out. Through the help of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, the Maitlands meet their undead caseworker, Juno (Sylvia Sidney). She advises they scare the Deetzes out, but no one except for the strange and unusual Lydia can see them. Against Juno’s advice, the Maitlands recruit a self-proclaimed “bio-exorcist” named Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), but he turns out to be troublesome. Can the living and dead coexist, and will Betelgeuse be stopped from wreaking havoc?
Review
Given the movie’s weird, bizarre, and off-beat nature, Beetlejuice shouldn’t work, but it does in a spectacular way. The tone is all over the place, the visuals are intentionally gaudy, and any sense of logic is nonexistent. What makes it work is the fantastic script, Tim Burton’s solid direction, and the memorable performances. Despite the wild visuals, the story is straightforward: people want to eliminate an invasive family, and a trickster manipulates them. It’s simple enough that anyone can relate but open-ended enough that it can lead to several opportunities. Additionally, portraying the afterlife as a bureaucracy is genius, essentially making something fantastical as mundane as the DMV. This choice also helps ground the film in an easily approachable reality without abandoning its bizarre foundation. These simple choices help make this movie beloved by both mainstream audiences and fans of niche genre cinema.
Despite any reservations they might have had when reading the script, everyone in the cast does an excellent job. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis make for a great suburban couple who find themselves in supernatural situations. Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Jones bounce off each other perfectly, with Jones’ more straight-laced businessman contrasting O’Hara’s wildly manic personality. Winona Ryder also balances her dark, brooding personality with a dry, sarcastic sense of humor that makes her likable. Similarly, as the disillusioned case worker Juno, Sylvia Sydney offers charm and wit as she tries fixing the Maitland’s mistakes. Glenn Shadix also stands out as a self-proclaimed genius who’s taken to task as things spiral out of control. But the one who steals the show is Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, making the most of his limited screen time. His gross demeanor, manic energy, and wild personality make him a treat to watch.
Burton collaborator Bo Welch’s production design is excellent, whether depicting the mundane living world or the wild afterlife. You can tell Welch and Burton took inspiration from the German Expressionist Movement of the 1920s and Salvador Dali’s works. Danny Elfman’s sinister yet playful score perfectly complements the wild visuals, as is the use of calypso music. Admittedly, some effects haven’t aged well, particularly the blue screen work, but that was by design. Burton wanted the effects to emulate the B-movies of his childhood, and they did an excellent job recreating that look. The visuals might put off modern audiences watching this for the first time, but I’d take these over modern CGI. By design, this is one of the least mainstream-looking movies ever, yet it somehow became mainstream, which is an achievement. Overall, Beetlejuice is a wild and crazy joyride brimming with creativity and originality that deserves its classic status.
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