Beetlejuice (1988)

My Review

“Beetlejuice” is an unusual comedy film about a deceased couple who become ghosts haunting their own home. This early film by director Tim Burton (“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” 1985) has so many stupid situations from from the screenplay by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren that it is nothing more than a silly romp through ridiculousness. The movie seems to drag on forever even though it is only 92 minutes long. And that includes the credits.

The cast seems to over-act throughout the entire motion picture. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play the dead pair; Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder are the new inhabitants of the house; and Michael Keaton has the title role of Beetlejuice. Lucky him. Quite a career highlight! Co-stars include Annie McEnroe, Glenn Shadix, Robert Goulet, Dick Cavett, Susan Kellerman, Jack Angel, Tony Cox, Marie Cheatham, Adele Lutz, Patrice Martinez, and Sylvia Sidney as Juno, one of her last movie roles in a career that began in 1927.

The unwatchable “Beetlejuice” did have some success at the box office for The Geffen Company and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was filmed in East Corinth, Vermont.