18/15

The ghosts of a dead couple are haunted by an insufferable family that moves into their house and hires an evil spirit to chase them away. This is Michael Keaton’s favorite movie. Otho’s shoes, when he’s spray-painting the walls of the house, change from bright red elf shoes to white sneakers when he goes into the bathroom, and then back to red elf shoes when he goes into the next room. Adam: What qualifications do you have? Beetlejuice: Oh. Well… I went to Juilliard… I graduated from Harvard Business School. I travel a lot. I survived the Black Death and had a great time. I’VE SEEN THE EXORCIST LIKE A HUNDRED AND SEVEN TIMES AND IT GETTS BETTER EVERY TIME… WITHOUT BEING ASHAMED ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEAD MAN… WHAT DO YOU THINK NOW? Do you think I’m qualified? The Geffen Company logo is accompanied by a macabre version of the song Banana Boat (sung by the film’s composer Danny Elfman). A working copy of the film has surfaced with several added/alternate scenes. This version of the film is about 2 minutes shorter than the theatrical version, has several additional scenes and is missing others, is in black and white, and has a timecode at the bottom. This version has 4 major differences: Alternate Scene: The scene where Adam tries to leave the house after he and his wife die is different. Instead of a desert, he sees an empty darkness filled with spinning gears. Additional Scenes: A scene is added where Lydia develops the photos she took of Adam and Barbra. Then, when her mother yells at her and blames her for poking holes in the sheets, Lydia runs upstairs and tries to convince her father that the photos are real. The scene where the adults are searching the attic for ghosts is more, and we see a desert monster trying to eat Adam and Barbra while they are hanging from the attic window. There is an additional 2-minute scene at the end where Lydia is riding her bike home from school and her parents are on the phone to Jane, telling her they don’t want to sell the house. Lydia’s dance scene is shorter in this version and there is no Beetlejuice scene in the waiting room. The film ends with a final shot of the house from the outside. Edited for Terror Toons (2002). Day-OTrditional, Lyrics by William A. Attaway & Irving Burgie [Credit error written by William A. Attaway & Irving Burgie (as Lord Burgess)] Played by Harry Belafonte Courtesy of RCA Records. With ghosts and death, you would normally expect a horror film full of screams and gore. But in Beetlejuice we see experimentation with a new dimension of humor. Considering that the film was made in 1988 with limited special effects, Beetlejuice can simply be described as “creativity at its finest”. Tim Burton is a pure visionary and in the case of this film, it is impossible not to appreciate the amount of creativity and the ability to translate it to the screen. The acting is top-notch in every respect. You can’t help but admire the young and promising Winona Ryder, a flower ready to bloom. It takes several viewings to appreciate the film in its entirety.