The Juiciest Horror Comedy

Hey, there, folks. Let's bring October to a close by gushing about another favourite film. This one's a Warner Bros. release from 1988. Tim Burton directed; David Geffen produced. Subsequently, it amassed adulation, lucrativity, merchandise, a diverting 1989 animated series and a modern-day cult classic musical in 2019. Let's chant the movie's name 3 times. Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!! Beetlejuice!!!

A ton of factors contribute to the film's quality. It has special effects with B movie esthetics. There's practical puppetry and Ray Harryhausen-esque stop motion. The prothetics are inventive and craftily applied. Bo Welch was the officiator of distinctive settings; they're smoothly mixed with aptly chosen Vermont location-footage. Harry Belafonte songs are put to ingenious use. This film has a Danny Elfman score of immense memorability. The props, hairstyling and the costuming overseen by Aggie Guererard Rodgers are methodical in their executions. Jane Kurson's editing and Thomas A. Ackerman's cinematography meshed--They were on the points.

A plethora of performers initially turned the film down. However, thanks to Jane Jenkins and Janet Hirshenson (the casting directors), spooktacular individuals were in the cast. Tony Cox and Jack Angel were able at portraying the preacher. Robert Goulet and Maree Cheatham's performances were through the roof. Dick Cavett (as the savage agent), Adelle Lutz and Susan Kellermann made their marks during the Day-O sequence. Annie McEnroe supplied a defty performance as Jane. Patrice Martinez and Carmen Filpi were screams as a duo of afterlife civil servants. Glenn Shadix was enjoyable, puggish and callous as Otho. Regarding Charles Deetz, all I'll type is that Adam Dannheisser is skilled and has a worthwhile reputation. Catherine O'Hara's Delia Deetz is entertainingly garish and extravagant, but she succeeded at making her character human. Controversy aside, Alec Baldwin's Adam and Gina Davis's Barbara were a pwecious, engaging, rootable onscreen couple. Winona Ryder was a talented teen and an uncanny, relatable Lydia. My 2nd favourite performance is provided by Sylvia Sydney, who was wonderfully brusque, New Yorky and exposit as Juno.

In spite of minimal screentime, working mostly alone and only 2 weeks on set, the scene stealing Michael Keaton dominated as our title-character. Keaton's performance is the result of shrewd acting choices. He took a piece of direction from Burton and rolled with it. Michael and makeup artist Ve Neill were responsible for the look of the character. Keaton was instrumental in reconceiving the role. Making perverse humor work isn't easy, but Keaton succeeded. With support from the crew, he improved dialogue. Michael's so impish, uncouth, dynamic, eerie, quirky and duplicitous. He truly was the ghost with the most.

This movie was an earner of its PG rating. Thanks to rewrites, it averted being overtly gratuitous. Larry Wilson and Warren Scaaren were invaluable at reshaping Michael MacDowall's original screenplay. The film's appropriately titled. There are a ton of indelible moments, colorful characters and snappy lines. It's so unique how the living haunts the dead. I admire the afterlife's office-like portrayal. There's a lot of build-up to Beetlejuice being fully revealed. Naturally, it's followed by loads of pay off. The movie's exceptionally paced. It has an off-the-wall climax. It's consummately ended, too.

This project allowed Tim Burton to demonstrate his talents as a director. He had a lot of skill for an up-and-coming director and enacted the film to a T. Beetlejuice is a jocular, surreal, uproariously ghoulish motion-picture. It continues to endure. Incidentally, Happy Halloween to you. I hope you have a day filled with safety, fun and prosperity.