Sunday, October 23, 2022

Bonus Halloween Blog #3 Beetlejuice (1988)

Hello everyone I'm XboxClown89, this month alone I talked a lot about one of my favorite movie directors from my child hood. Tim Burton who had some truly impressive films of the 80s as well as the 90s. I felt this wouldn't be Halloween if I didn't review another particular Burton movie I'm a huge fan of. Of course, some of you might've saw this coming, I'm here to review Beetlejuice.

Sadly I haven't fully watched the show. Back in the day, I did seen a couple episodes of the show. I recalled liking it a lot for the time. Also considering, we might finally be on the verge of getting a movie sequel after all these years. I felt why keep waiting to review the movie in question. We all can agree it's a timeless classic.

Beetlejuice (1988)

I knew early on doing these bonus Halloween entries, I had to do Beetlejuice this year. It centers on a family who moved into a house that's recently haunted by the spirits of the previous owners. I really loved how they chosen to portray the afterlife. This was years before he done the concept again in Corpse Bride. I felt in every possible way, Tim Burton knocked it out the park.

The cast is mostly rememberable for the most part. Obviously, Michael Keaton before he plays Batman delivers a great performance as Beetlejuice. I loved how both sides of the house alive & dead interacts with each other. It sorta plays off like an extended family in a weird way. I grew up with some comical ghost movies like the original Casper as well as the first two Ghostbusters movies.

The special effects are mind blowing, they are strikingly effective by today's standards. The jokes are mostly great stuff for the most part. A lot of people in this movie do appear in other Burton movies as well. In a weird way, Winona Ryder including Edward Scissorhands gets into a relationship. Which never goes as planned but Beetlejuice show still has Lydia hanging out with Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice can be summon or sent away simply by saying his name three times. Let's make something clear, he's a nasty spirit who heavily dislikes the living. The closest movie I ever seen that comes close to being considered a spiritual successor is Monkeybone. Personally, I rather stick with Beetlejuice coughs the better, funnier afterlife comedy movie.

No disrespect towards Brendan Fraser, he clearly balanced back from movies like that. Beetlejuice is still one of my favorite comedy ghost movies ever. This movie has plenty of rememberable scenes. Like the sudden musical scene while having dinner, I loved that scene. There's also the scene where a deceased football team came into the office, the lady working there tells them.

"I'm not your coach. He survived." You kinda felt bad for the team afterwards. I also how they pulled off characters being shrunk down to those who are normal sizes a couple times in the movie. It's no secret, Beetlejuice really steals the show. You just wanna see what he's going to do next. Like when Lydia agreed to summon him to save the spirits from dying again.

The very appearance Beetlejuice had with the crazy carnival ride style hat with this ridiculously long arms with two large hammers. It is stuff like this you won't forget anytime soon. Of course, there's also the famous snake scene where Beetlejuice transformed into a giant snake. The closest thing I seen to parts of the concept in terms of people living on a miniature town set was on the show Goosebumps.

Honestly, those episodes were original not even based on any Goosebumps books were terrible. So I would stick with Beetlejuice once again here. The outfits are very rememberable in the movie. Beetlejuice does take a huge risk killing off characters early in the movie. Which wasn't common to do in comedy horror movies at the movie.

I safely can say this actually gets being a proper parody comedy horror film. You have the perfect ratio in terms of getting afraid as well as the humor. It's no question, this is among the very best works Burton ever made. Beetlejuice is a truly amazing film for it's time. I wouldn't even change a single thing about it, the movie was so damn good.

I even loved how Beetlejuice brought two statues to life as well. I do have an interesting fact not a lot of people knows. Beetlejuice in his deal with Lydia wanted to get married. Of course, someone had to married the two together. Although someone else voices the Preacher character. Tony Cox whose in such classic movies, the list down below...

1. Leprechaun 2

2. Bad Santa series

3. Me, Myself & Irene

4. Friday

5. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

6. Spaceballs

This is exactly why you allow Tim Burton to do what he wants. You end up with a timeless classic that quickly inspires people. This led to another classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, which I also highly recommend. There's no question this was one of the best 80s Burton movies ever. It's up to personal taste if you like this or Batman 1989 more.

I say both films are very decent for their time, I loved with an passion. You really can't go wrong with either film. Beetlejuice also shown where the famous sandworms are. We gotta talk about Beetlejuice got eaten by an sandworm. Yes, I know they are more technically snakes than actual worms. But you know something the afterlife is a vast but mysterious plain of existence.

What we know alive, in the afterlife we don't know anything there. I do liked they did play on that enough in the movie. Like the original Casper movie, eventually both sides of the house came together. Personally, I rather take my chances with Beetlejuice than Casper's three uncles. I should mention the game Beetlejuice & Lydia plays in order to reveal his name to her.

I would say how they chosen to go about that was done amazingly unexpected but incredibly well done. Beetlejuice packs a lot of laughs with a good story. You don't feel like it's over staying it's welcome. If anything you kinda wished the movie kept on going because it's that good. Beetlejuice is a movie I just don't highly recommend.

You really should consider watching it close to or on Halloween. The best part if you are watching with your kids is there's not many death scenes. The few death scenes you get are very tamed. Of course, stuff with Beetlejuice as well as the afterlife may cause nightmares. Other than that, it has a lot of great lighter moments in the movie itself to keep it entertaining for them.

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