Scared Sheetless (Beetlejuice (DVD))

Member Name: ihatebroccoli

Product:	Beetlejuice (DVD)
Date:	21/02/01 (1033 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keaton is amazing, Ryder is creepy, it's a funny and scary brilliant film - see it!

Disadvantages: The sand worms....argh! Can feel a little dated in parts.

A gothic film, but with a kind of “David Lynch” look at small-town normality at the beginning – Barbara and Adam (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) live in a pretty “nicely” decorated little world, where they know everyone in the town, and have a happy marriage. But, as usual, this doesn’t last for long…

Synopsis:

Barbara and Adam Maitland are a happily married couple living in Smallsville USA, when they have an unfortunate accident in their car, and drown. They do however, seem to have survived, and wander back to their house. It is only then when they realise that they are in fact dead, and consequently cannot pick anything up, or be seen or heard. They go up to the attic, and are somehow trapped there, finding a manual entitled: “The Handbook for the Recently Deceased”. They are then unable to leave the house, lest the “Giant Sand Worms” will get them (I’m sure I’ve had dreams like that). Sometime after this, their house is put up for sale, and a new family moves in, whilst the Maitlands are still living there (and still wearing the same clothes as they did when they died).

The new family, The Deitz’s - comprised of the mother Delia, a self-proclaimed socialite, sculptor and a vulgar choice in decorating, father Charles, who opts for peace and harmony every time, and daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder), who is death-obsessed, and frequently dresses in mourning. The Maitlands manage to form a friendship from the Netherworld with Lydia and engage her help in removing her family from their house. They do however, make the mistake of also asking the infamous Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) for help, a bizarre character who is a parody of himself. They are warned against this by “Juno” their agent of sorts in the Netherworld, who is played by Silvia Sydney – off-screen, a veteran in the film world. She plays a chain-smoker who blows smoke through her
slit throat in the afterlife, ironically dying in real life from throat cancer.

Michael Keaton is brilliant as Betelgeuse (a "bio-exorcist"), with his slurring, vulgar dialogue and his quick movements – including celebrated head spinning sequences. Keaton himself developed much of the character, and he and Burton spent many days working on it, trying on different costumes etc… Betelgeuse eventually becomes obsessed with Lydia, and attempts to make a deal with the Maitlands over her, which includes some pretty scary special effects. I won’t of course tell you the ending, but I will say that it involves a man with an extremely small head.


Winona Ryder plays yet another character I used to want to be in real life (is there a trend forming here?) Lydia Deitz is darkly interesting, wears a large black hat as if at a funeral, and takes photographs of ghosts.

Lydia: “My life is a dark room. One big dark room.” “I myself am... strange and unusual.”

She has a unique connection with the underworld, enabling Barbara and Adam to speak to her, but not be seen. Ryder was also not that well known as a film actress at this stage, so she makes for an interesting view. Jeffrey Jones – who I know best as Ed Rooney Dean of Students in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and who has also appeared in other Tim Burton movies, such as Ed Wood, plays Lydia’s peace-loving father, who is forced to take a back seat when his wife takes over the organisation of their new house.

The reason I probably like this film above some others, is that 1) it is directed by Tim Burton, and 2) this inevitably indicates that it will be a little on the weird side, almost certainly gothic in appearance, and contains some fantastic shots and animation. Burton also likes to “reuse” his actors; Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones, and Michael Keaton have all appeared several times in his
films, all playing suitably weird and wonderful parts. With having Geena Davis in it, some of the film also reminds me a little of Earth Girls are Easy, especially when Barbara and Adam are “on the other side”. It has that oddness yet normality about it – there are football teams and office-workers being transported by “wire” (i.e. pegged to it) but, they don’t look distressed in any way, and no one seems to notice.

There are also fantastic special effects, especially in the miniature town, which Betelgeuse inhabits, and in the afterlife. I think it is the general unexpectedness of everything in this film, which makes it so successful, as well as the originality of costume, plot and scenery. The audience is constantly made to “jump”, because they could never expect what happens next will happen. It is the bizarre and the unusual, which Tim Burton thrives on focusing on. Some of his other films; The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow have all been darkly fantastic, and weird. The sets have always been spectacular, and the storylines a little out of the ordinary. Beetlejuice is no exception. The costumes are also amazing, especially Winona Ryder’s red wedding dress! (I want one, I do!)

Delia Deitz’s (the mother, played by Catherine O’Hara) sculptures are absolutely fantastic. They also provide the opportunity for Burton to have a go at the pretentious New York art scene. The character of Delia is also fascinating, and portrays another feature of Burton’s movies; no matter how small the character, they are always significant, and original. I’m not saying that Delia’s character is insignificant, not at all, in fact, it is her very sculptures which add to the nightmarish quality of much of the ghostly goings on, as Barbara and Adam attempt to flush The Deitz’s out of their house (with the aid of Betelgeuse of course). Li
ke a kind of reverse Ghostbusters, Betelgeuse works in the field of removing humans from houses, as opposed to ghosts, and the ghosts are his clients as opposed to the humans.

Soundtrack:

The soundtrack is great if you like instrumental "soundtrack" music(I actually bought it). It is mostly comprised of fantastic instrumental music written by Danny Elfman (see Batman), as well as Harry Belafonte singing two numbers: “Day-O” and "Jump in the Line (Shake Shake Senora)". Danny Elfman has composed the original score music on the majority of Tim Burton’s films, including Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, and Mars Attacks!

The film was also followed by an animated cartoon series, some years later, which mainly revolved around the relationship between Lydia Deitz (Winona Ryder) and Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). Incidentally, I remember seeing one of the character actors at Disney World many years ago, who was dressed up as Betelgeuse, and bore an astounding resemblance.


One of the best scenes is during one of Delia’s dinner parties, where the Maitlands manage to possess the guests, one of whom is Otho, Delia’s decorator played by Glenn Shadix (who I remember a year later, as playing the priest in Heathers – also starring Winona Ryder – sorry if I’m getting a little deep in movie references here). Harry Belafonte’s voice and music is also a terrific addition to the atmosphere here.

An alternative title for the film had been “Scared Sheetless”! Thank goodness they abandoned that one eh?! At one point there was also rumour of a sequel “Beetlejuice in Love”, but I think the film should be left in it’s entirety, and not be continued. It is complete, funny and scary enough as it is, besides, the sequel went out of the window anyway, phew!



If you just can’t get enough of this film, check out The Webpage for the Recently Deceased at: http://members.home.net/beetlejuice/
it’s a must.

Lastly, any film that can feature characters credited as “3-Fingered Typist” and “Roadkill Man” is okay in my books ;-) Beetlejuice is available on DVD and video.

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