Review of Beetlejuice (1988) by Kai82 — 19 Mar 2022

My favorite Tim Burton movie and a true classic I rewatch from time to time. It is a fantasy comedy with horror elements and a truly great cast. The abstruse situation, humor and characters create a unique movie experience.

Be warned Tim Burton the director is famous for his unique style but not everyone likes it. For me this is not a problem as I am a fan of most of his movies. The story follows Barbara and Adam Maitland on their way to their country home near the town Winter River in Connecticut.

They have a car accident and when they return home they recognize a “Handbook for recently deceased” atop on other things. Obviously they died at the accident and have to deal with deceased bureaucracy so bad even German authorities cant compete with (I am German so I know about this).

Things get serious when the house is sold to the Deetz family which consist of Charles his wife Delia and goth daughter Lydia. I stop here to avoid spoilers. Like I already said it is a fun, enjoyable and unique story.

It works from start to finish and I cant remember a week moment. The great actors and humor make this an incredible experience. Lets continue with the actors aka characters. Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice (actually written as Betelgeuse) is absolutely awesome.

One of his best performances and truly remarkable. Then we have the Maitlands with Geena Davis as Barbara and Alec Baldwin as Adam. Both are great and fully deliver their roles. They work so well together.

The Deetz are also great as Jeffrey Jones as Charles and Catherine O’Hara as Delia are totally selling the love to hate characters. Wiona Ryder as Lydia is another favorite and rivals Beeteljuice for best character of the movie.

We have an awesome cast of actors that deliverer a truly good performance. Of cause I have to praise director Tim Burton too and extend this to the whole team behind the screen. The practical effects were amazing for its time and aged well.

The special effects while being good did age a bit but still work for me. I think the art style and effects in general improve the movie. Overall I consider it as a must see movie. The style, story, humor and actors are too good to be missed.

A sequel was announced for 2022 but I fear they cant recreate this success.