Did someone say his name?  Now we’re going to be drawn back to 1988 to some of the best use of a zebra striped suit.

Title: Beetlejuice (1988)

Cast and Crew

Directed by Tim Burton
Writing by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson

Alec Baldwin as Adam
Geena Davis as Barbara
Annie McEnroe as Jane Butterfield
Maurice Page as Ernie
Hugo Stanger as Old Bill
Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse
Rachel Mittelman as Little Jane
Catherine O’Hara as Delia
J. Jay Saunders as Moving Man #1
Mark Ettlinger as Moving Man #2
Jeffrey Jones as Charles
Winona Ryder as Lydia
Glenn Shadix as Otho

Premise

The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out. (from IMDB.)

High Points

Beetlejuice is not a likeable character.  He’s fun to watch happen to somebody else, and the movie does a very good job of making sure that he stays over the line, but not too far over the line to stop being fun.

Low Point

The internal rules and story is secondary to the fun and gags.  They had a story to tell, but it seems they’d have rather forgotten it and just had Beetlejuice unchained for the entire runtime.

The Scores:

Originality: 5/6 A person who’s passed on and has to accept it is not new, but having a … a whatever Beetlejuice is helping you is a new twist.

Effects: 2/6 Given that this was 1988, the effects still look laughably bad.

Production: 5/6 Effects aside, they do manage to tell their story and not be constrained by a script.  The Afterlife is strange and unusual and intriguing.  Extra points for the use of Day-O and for Danny Elfman’s music.

Acting: 6/6 The acting lands everywhere they want it to.  Catherine O’Hara manages to give an amazing comedic performance while playing it straight the entire time.

Story: 4/6 The story gets a bit lost in the craziness of the afterlife, but they do manage to get from the beginning, to grow as characters, and resolve itself satisfactorily.

Emotional Response: 5/6 As commented before, it is hard to deny an emotional response when decades later the movie is still popular enough to get a sequel.

Overall: 6/6 Tim Burton would not be Tim Burton if he had not knocked this one out of the park.

In total, Beetlejuice (1988) receives 33/42

The Schedule

October 5/6: Abigail (2024) and Abigail (2023): JD
October 12/13: Season of the Witch (1972) and Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) and Season of the Witch (2009) and Season of the Witch (2011) : JD
October 19/20: Hocus Pocus (1993) and Hocus Pocus 2 (2022): `Lex
October 26/27: The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) and Humanist Vampire Seeks Suicidal Person (2023): JD
October 31: The Love Witch (2016):`Lex and Sleepaway Camp (1983): JD and Dark Gathering (2023): Alexander Case