User reviews

This movie is a complete waste of time, I couldn't even sit through all of it. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be funny (it isn't), scary (also isn't), or have any key takeaway that leaves you thinking (it doesn't).

I'm only giving it a 2/10 because the premise was a bit interesting, but everything that comes after Betelgeuse appears is complete nonsense.

I'm not sure why this movie was ever made popular but a movie should be either educating or entertaining or ideally both. This movie is neither! I felt like the writers/producers just wanted to make some odd visuals and didn't focus on what sort of storyline they're creating.

I really wanted to like this given all the praise it was given, too bad.

Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) are both killed in a car crash, but return as ghosts in their family home. After their deaths, their house gets sold and a new family move in; mum Delia (Catherine O'Hara) dad Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). The Maitlands do not like this family and object to some of their plans for the home and try to drive the family out of the home by employing scare tactics. When this fails, they decide to enlist the help of bio-exorcist Betelguese (Michael Keaton), but Betelgeuse proves to be out of control and the Maitlands soon begin to regret asking him for help...

Beetlejuice actually starts out as an OK film; the Maitlands are both likeable enough (if a tad icky) and the idea of them trying to scare the living away from their home in a farcical way certainly sounds funny; sort of like an amusing take on The Poltergeist or Amityville Horror. Regrettably though, for me this just didn't work. Like I say, Baldwin and Davis are likeable enough and do OK in their respective roles, but the script is poor and gives them no amusing lines and not a great deal to work with. This also extends to most of the family who move into the house; the likes of O'Hara and Jones are capable actors, but in Beetlejuice their contributions are barely memorable and add nothing to the film. Shaddix seems to just be playing Associate Bob from Demolition Man again. Winona Ryder's character is explored better than the other characters, but her quirky macabre weirdness should have been used better and I was disappointed that she wasn't given any good lines either.

So we've established that the script is rubbish and the story (such as it is) is rather thin, but Burton still has 2 things up his sleeve; the first is Michael Keaton and the second is the visuals. In this context, the former is certainly energetic and occasionally amusing, but he's only in the picture for about a fifth of the running time which would mean he would need to be a strong presence and side-splittingly funny to make up for the shortfall elsewhere in the film; the truth is that he isn't and I think the only scene involving Betelgeuse that I actually found slightly amusing was the scene where they were all inside the model. The visuals are indeed bright and colourful, but once again it feels like Burton's outlandish visuals are merely there to detract from all of the other lesser qualities of the film creating a style over substance feel (that being said the visuals now look somewhat tacky, but hey this film was made 30 years ago so again this perhaps should be taken in context as well).

It's sad really because I think Tim Burton was definitely the right man to direct this film and perhaps that's the reason this film has a cult following, but unless you purely watch films to look at the scenery then there is little point in wasting your time here.

Michael Keaton stars as the thoroughly obnoxious, trouble making ghost Beetle Juice, who is summoned by a recently deceased couple(Geena Davis & Alec Baldwin) to help them scare away the new tenants of their old home, since they have failed to do so. They come to find though, that summoning Beetle Juice is one thing, getting rid of him another...

Tim Burton directed this wild comedy that truly comes to embody the persona of the title character(obnoxious!) Though an amusing idea, film is overproduced and headache inducing, not to mention unfunny, despite the energetic clowning of Michael Keaton, film is dreadful, and I found myself wanting to wish it away as much as the lead characters! Good supporting cast cannot redeem it; reminds me too much of "The Goonies"...

Tim Burton's BEETLEJUICE is a film so over the top that it makes PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE look like a model of restraint. I'll freely admit that I hated this film from beginning to end because it's so stupidly portrayed, particularly on the part of the entire cast. Everyone in this film mugs or shouts their way through the over the top roles, and the result was that I was cringing from beginning to end. I have no choice but to blame Burton for not asking for greater restraint from the participants.

The surreal plot is pretty original and that's the best thing it has going for it, but the execution is rather diabolical. Things happen and exist for no seeming reason other than weirdness, like Beetlejuice living in the toy town or appearing on TV. I was trying to get my head around it all but I never ended up doing so. I was amused to read that Michael Keaton says this was his favourite role, as his character is so generic absolutely anybody could have played the part.

Sure, there are elements of interest here, including some cool stop motion effects and the usual quirky monster creations which prop up Burton films. But when the whole cast are so awful and the characters are so grating, it becomes a film impossible to enjoy. A wooden Alec Baldwin and an embarrassing Geena Davis (closer to EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY than THE FLY, unfortunately) are a case in point, although a youthful Winona Ryder is out of her depth as well.