46/39
I went to Juilliard
Synopsis
The ghosts of a deceased couple are harassed by an insufferable family who have moved into their house, and hire a malevolent spirit to drive them away. This is Michael Keaton’s favorite movie. Otho’s shoes, as he spray paints the walls in the house, change from fire engine red elf shoes to white sneakers as he walks through the bathroom, and then they change back to the red elf shoes as he enters the next room. Adam: What are your qualifications?Beetlejuice: Ah. Well… I’m a graduate of Harvard Business School. I travel quite a bit.
You think I’m qualified?
I’ve experienced the plague and had a pretty good time doing it. I’ve seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty times, and it gets funnier every time I see it… not to mention talking to a dead guy… now what do you think? The Geffen Company logo is accompanied by a creepy version of the Banana Boat song (sung by the film’s composer, Danny Elfman). A work print of the film has surfaced with some additional/alternate scenes. This version of the film is about two minutes shorter than the theatrical cut, has a few additional scenes and is missing some others, is in black and white, and has a time code at the bottom.
The film ends with one final exterior shot of the house
This version has four 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 empty darkness filled with rolling gears. Additional Scenes:
There is an additional scene where Lydia develops the pictures she took of Adam and Barbra. After her mother yells at her and accuses her of cutting holes in her sheets, Lydia runs upstairs and tries to convince her father that the pictures are real. There’s more in the scene where the adults search the attic for the ghosts, where we see the desert monster trying to eat Adam and Barbra while they hang out the attic window. And finally, there’s an extra 2-minute scene at the end where we see Lydia riding her bike home from school and her parents talking 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 scene with Beetlejuice in the waiting room.
Edited together in Terror Toons (2002)
Day-OTraditional, lyrics by William A. Attaway and Irving Burgie [Incorrectly stated as written by William A. Attaway & Irving Burgie (as Lord Burgess)]Performed by Harry BelafonteCourtesy of RCA Records. Re-watching this on TV yesterday made me think of the first time I saw it in the theater all those years ago, when Tim Burton was still the guy who made that funny Pee-wee Herman movie. Going into Beetlejuice back then, not knowing anything about it, was an incredible experience. Along with Blade Runner, Blue Velvet, Videodrome, Brazil, Paris, Texas, Terminator, and Repo Man, it was one of the most amazing and unforgettable films of the 1980s, an era dominated by Hollywood trash like Flashdance, Top Gun, and Footloose. The whole Bruckheimer/Simpson/Spielberg/Hughes zeitgeist that simplified popular films like never before.
Everything about it is perfect
Films like Beetlejuice were a glimmer of hope in a truly horrific time. The big question is: what does it look like today? The answer is: better than ever! In fact, I would argue that Beetlejuice is Tim Burton’s most successful and uncompromising film. A great cast, led by the very appealing and likable Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the roles of the recently departed Maitlands, a star turn by Michael Keaton as the crazed “bio-exorcist” in the title role, and strong support from Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara and especially Winona Ryder (who really rose to fame with her performance) in the roles of the new residents of the Maitlands’ house.
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