User reviews

Despite an interesting premise and several impressive, unsurprisingly strange sight-gags, 'Beetlejuice (1988)' isn't really all that engaging. It isn't bad, but it doesn't quite grip you in the way it should. It isn't particularly funny, for instance. It's also somewhat undisciplined, with a plot that seems to operate on an "and then this happens" logic. Of course, the thing has its more successful moments. Keaton is good as the eponymous creepy character, bringing a lot of unnerving energy to the role. Baldwin and Davis do a good job of playing an everyday couple forced to cope with an inconceivable situation, too. The film is at its best when Burton's signature weirdness is allowed to run wild, with stop-motion monsters and grotesque make-up galore. It can be a very visually pleasing experience. It just isn't all that entertaining as a whole, though. It's hard to say why, but it just isn't all that compelling. 5/10

Beetlejuice is one of those films you feel guilty about not liking more. Sounds daft, I know, but it's a bit like not liking as much an aunt everyone else insists is a real sweetie, but with the best will in the world you just can't see it. I mean, Beetlejuice is by Tim Burton, right, and an early masterpiece, right; and Michael Keaton in the title role, delivers a barnstorming performance, right; and it's full of examples of Tim Burton's celebrated off-the-wall, wacky humour right, with loads of imaginative special effects, right. And anyway, everyone, and I mean everyone thinks it's really, really good and really, really cool and just, you know, brilliant, I mean really, really brilliant, right. So if you disagree and, you know, you don't get it, it's your problem, man, because everyone else thinks it's really, really cool and really, really brilliant. But unfortunately I don't think it is really, really good and really, really brilliant. The real problem is that I don't think I even have a problem — I just don't think Beetlejuice is quite as good as everyone, and I mean, everyone, right, says. It's rather like Robert De Niro's performance in Mean Streets: everyone says it's pure genius, then you see it, and you think: aren't they exaggerating just a little, I mean, just a little? It's good, yes, but . . . Beetlejuice is this film I had heard so much about, which was truly original and with which Tim Burton first made his name (or something). But I had never seen it because somehow I didn't when it first came out, and then it was never in a cinema near me or else when it was shown on TV, I didn't get to hear about it until it was too late. But I also made a mental note that I simply must see it and when I found that one of our local supermarkets was selling a copy for £4, which is my sort of price, in it went into the shopping basket. In the event, I didn't get to slip it into my DVD player (i.e. my iBook) until a few weeks later, but when I did, I couldn't get rid of the niggling suspicion that I was in for something of a disappointment. Now, it would be pointless to go into chapter and verse pointing out a flaw here and a flaw there, because, quite truthfully Tim Burton does have a rather extraordinary imagination and in many respects Beetlejuice is streets ahead of the competition. You might even say that Burton re-wrote the rules for making films in a certain kind of genre, although I would be hard-pushed to give that genre a name. But let me give just one example: the Maitland's are in so many ways such caricatures that you assume such characterisation will be part of the plot. But it isn't. Then we are presented with the Deetz family and their camp interior designer and again the characterisation is so broadbrush that you wonder just at what level the whole thing is being pitched. Well, actually, it doesn't matter. This is cartoon stuff, except that it doesn't feature animation but acting. OK, fair enough. Then we get to Keaton giving an undoubted tour de force but in an odd sort of way it never really takes off. We are informed that at one point he was someone's assistant but his behaviour became so extreme that he had to be let go. Well, perhaps I'm being a little over-pernickety here, but I want some sort of back story which would help flesh out Beetlejuice. But all we are led to believe is that he should, on no account, be invoked. Naturally, he is invoked, but oddly the film finishes quite soon afterwards (in an ending which involved a deus ex machina of such obviousness that I would bet my shirt the writer simply did not know how to end his story. In fact, apart from the fact that one could dies and wants to scare another couple out of their home, what was the story. When the film came, I was even taken by surprise: was that it? I thought, for although by now Beetlejuice had already been running for 90 minutes odd, in a sense it was only just getting going. But no, that was it, like it or lump it. Perhaps, I am expecting too much. Perhaps I am being too serious. Perhaps I should just relax and get into the spirit of the film (and no silly pun intended there). The trouble is that Beetlejuice could have been so much more. We often say that so-and-so was more than just the sum of its parts, and hope to indicate that it included an x factor which raised it above the rest. Well, for me Beetlejuice is, in a sense, less the sum of its parts. It seemingly has everything, but . . . Oh well, I'll just have to firm a sub-group of those who don't think this is the best thing since sliced bread.

I like most of Tim Burton movies or what ever he does, but this movie is more or less "nothing". There is nothing to look forward to. It should have been better especially with a pretty good concept story.

The movie base on life after dead, when two ghosts is trying to scare the new owner of the house but they were too weird and wouldn't even scared, so they tried to bring Beetle Juice to help them do so.

It was a pretty good plot but somewhere along the ways I didn't quite keep my interest with it. It was good and very much original Tim Burton style just by looking at the animation.

Overall this is worth another shot, because I don't like it in first watch.

Recommendation: It Was Good, But Not Enough Satisfaction.

Rating: 6/10 (Grade: C)

Weird and at times boring empty plot which had potential because of the life after death story, some laughs here and there but not so much, nice old-fashioned visual effects though.

The main problem with "Beetlejuice" is that its supposed main character, Beetlejuice, or "geuse," doesn't seem to hold any relevancy to the plot. He's there, but why? He doesn't really make up the film at all. His total time on-screen is probably about thirty minutes, yet they play him up as if he is what the film is about.

The film starts off with a newlywed couple, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, moving into an old house in the middle of nowhere. However, their lives are cut short after they die in a car accident.

But their actual spirits are far from dead. They are attached to their house, and they cannot leave, or "sandworms" will kill them. Er, kill them more than they are killed already, I suppose. I guess Tim Burton didn't realize that dead people can't die. Anyway...

Soon, a couple (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara) move into the home with their gothic daughter, Winona Ryder. They redecorate the home, much to the dislike of Jeffrey, and pretty much change everything about the house.

This makes ghosts Geena and Alec mad, and they want the new occupants of their home out. As Baldwin says in one scene, "Do you want to have to eat breakfast with these people for the rest of our lives?" I'm not sure if this line is meant to be funny, since they are already dead, or if it is supposed to be serious. It's hard to tell in this film that confuses the dead for the living many, many times.

So the two ghosts take a trip to the other side, where they learn from a dead counselor that they must scare the owners out of the ghosts' old home if they want them to leave.

The couple of ghosts try this haunting thing in an effort to scare the new home-owners out of THEIR home. But, unfortunately, O'Hara and Jones only find the supernatural figures living in their attic amusing and see it as a profit.

The two ghosts are left with no choice. They call upon Beetlegeuse (Michael Keaton) to help them rid the house of its unwanted occupants. Beetlegeuse is called upon by saying his name three times, a technique later to be ripped-off in "Candyman." He comes, he tries to rid the home, but in the process causes a lot of mayhem.

But here's the catch. Beetlegeuse comes in about an hour into the film, which is only some 90 minutes long. You do the math. He is not in the film nearly enough.

The beginning is quite good, but they should either have a) sped up the beginning a bit more to fit more time with Beetlegeuse in or b) made the film a half hour longer, which would probably have been a better choice. Michael Keaton is wild in his role, and entertaining. His sporadic and crazy personality is a mix between Ace Ventura and Jerry Lewis, only ten times funnier.. And I would liked to have seen him some more before the credits started rolling.

The film takes too much time setting everything up, when, in fact, it could have been set up in half the time. Beetlegeuse just doesn't get enough screen-time, and because of this, he seems like an empty character that pays nothing to the plot, even though the entire film is named after him. He comes, he scares the people twice, and then he disappears. Credits.

If you really analyze the film, you will realize that with Beetlegeuse (the character), the plot really gained nothing. He doesn't really pay anything to the plot at all. He scares the occupants once or twice (which wasn't Keaton but visual effects one of the times). This could have been done with someone else. He saves the ghosts from dying at the end. This could have been done by the dead counselor from the other side.

Of course, that wouldn't have made the film any good, but my point that is Beetlegeuse really didn't need to be in the film. The writers could easily have put existing characters in his place to do actions he performs. This is bad for a film that is named after a character who barely appears in it at all, and really pays no relevancy whatsoever.

The writers apparently wrote themselves into a corner with Beetlegeuse (the character). What does his character give to the plot? What is the relevancy? Nothing, really, as I said before. They should have skimmed on the other characters (like the dead counselor) and played up Beetlegeuse a bit. Then the film would have been a whole lot better than it is.

I suppose the sheer originality of the film makes it worth seeing, and one of the scenes involving a group of people being possessed and singing and dancing is very funny. But again, the filmmakers should have taken more time to write Beetlegeuse into the script before they started filming.

3/5 stars -

John Ulmer

It is always amazing to think about our childhood as a different era. We like to think of our infant years as living life as a different person. After recently watching this film, I found this to be inevitably true.

At a much younger age I had the privilege of watching Tim Burtons 'Beetlejuice' and was taken aback by this wonderment of fiction versus reality. Ghosts, ghouls, a freaky child, a scary woman and a clown-like rogue who everyone can't help but love - Beetlejuice. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a good comedy, well not if you're over the age of ten.

Beetlejuice - revisited was a disappointment. I was alarmed at the wooden performance given by Alec Baldwin as Adam, a man who is recently deceased and has to face life as an immortal along with his wife Barbara - Geena Davis. Now I do understand that it is a family comedy and brilliant acting is not essential but I was alarmed that he actually agreed to star in this film.

The story is pretty straight forward. Adam and Barbara become the undead, and a new, obnoxious family move into their home. Adam and Barbara still live there, but as they are dead they cannot be seen, except by the family's goth-like daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder.) The couple take a liking to Lydia and she begins to help the couple in their distress. They are unable to come to terms with their new selves and are drawn into dealings with the great 'Beetlejuice,' a helper of the recently deceased. However, as time passes Beetlejuice's antics as a troublesome rogue become too much for everyone.

Overall it is a good film for children, it has the impish comedy seen in films like 'Home Alone,' and it would most definitely occupy a younger viewer. An advantage is that it stars Michael Keaton as the indelible 'Beetlejuice' and his performance is worthy of a look., as always.

For me, it's Michael Keaton's interpretation of the title character that makes the picture. As the free lance bio-exorcist straight from (can I say it?) hell, he brings a manic quality to the character that just cracks me up even today. To this date, whenever I hear someone say 'It's showtime', it's Keaton's showtime I'm reminded of.

Some will say this is a macabre story, but it's got a strange balance of wit and humor. My favorite scene is the Da-yo sequence, seemingly coming out of nowhere with no connection to the events of the story, but it captures just the right tone to make the film enjoyable. Other little quirks like the 'Handbook for the Recently Deceased' and the 'Lost Souls Room' are curiously amusing as well. Probably the best gag in the picture was that cool tribute to Vincent Price's 1959 flick "The Fly", in that scene with the Zagnut Bar and the fly crying 'Help me, help me'. You just have to see that earlier picture to get it.

With Alec Baldwin's recent conflicted real life history, I can't say that I'm any kind of fan of his, but he does a fair enough job here. Geena Davis is always pleasing to see, and I recall this early film appearance of Winona Ryder with some fondness. The coolest casting surprise in the movie was Sylvia Sidney as the after-life spiritual guide. Hey, she worked with some of the best in her career - Bogart, Cagney, Raft and Hitchcock - and you can't get any better than that.

If you're an old time movie or TV fan, you've probably seen an episode or two of 'Topper'. Well "Beetlejuice" is like 'Topper' on steroids, but without the St. Bernard. You know, that would have been a good idea, so if anyone's thinking of a remake, that would be a good starting point.

I laughed a few times, just because of the good performance of Michael Keaton, he saved the movie.

Beetlejuice definitely has its own weird charm. The set design is wild, the characters are all kinds of quirky, and the whole thing feels like it came straight from the mind of someone who grew up loving Halloween just a little too much. It's got that offbeat energy that only Tim Burton could pull off in the late '80s.

That said, the movie's a bit all over the place. Some scenes land great, others feel like they're trying a little too hard to be odd for odd's sake. It's fun, no doubt, but I didn't find myself all that invested after a while. I like it, but didn't love it.

This movie is well worth watching, though I think the problem more often is accomplishing NOT watching it during one of its 30-40 showings a week on Comedy Central, WGN, TBS, TNT, or the Disney Channel.

I find myself watching Beetlejuice every now and then when it comes on, but have noticed that I always turn it off half-way through. The opening of this movie, with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the daffy and clueless Maitlands, then the fun advent of Catherine O'Hara as the ditzy artist without a clue and Jeffrey Jones as her suffering and pretentious husband is an absolute riot. As the Maitlands try to run these flakes out of their home we get a thoroughly wacky view of the afterlife. I must admit I'm not that thrilled with the stereotypically Goth character in Winona Ryder (she is capable of much better). But, this stuff is darn fun. The scenes in the afterlife office are particularly fun.

Then Michael Keaton positively steals the show. And, he should be arrested for it. Keaton plays "the ghost with the most", an obvious stand-up act that takes over the remainder of the movie. Any possibilities for interesting scenes are robbed by an endless tirade of "I'm gross" jokes. He's not that bad at it, but it's BORING. You rapidly get fatigued and tune it out. It's like they decided to take several strong actors and turn them all into props. It ruins the entire second half of the movie.

Is this another musical? Ha no not really, but there are a couple of songs and a lot more grotesque stuff than I recall. The music is courtesy of Danny Elfman of course, as with most of Tim Burtons films, they must really like each other. Burton has an odd view of the world, creating his own with a weird mix of cookie-cutter America, small towns, with dark under-bellies. Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davies) are a young couple living... for a short while in a typically quirky Burtonesque house. Within 5 minutes they're dead, having taken their car for a swim off a nearby bridge and wind up living an afterlife in their house, now covered with dust sheets. Not for long though, the house has new owners, the mum from Home Alone, Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller and their daughter Winona Ryder, the only one who can see Adam and Barbara, who are trapped in the house, failing in their ghostly attempts to scare off the new occupants ruining their home. So far, it's okay, but things really are a bit slow, despite a couple of quirky scenes involving sand worms and the waiting room from hell. Until the arrival of Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, who they call upon as a Bio-exorcist to get back their home. They're warned not to enlist his help, from a chain-smoking lady with a cut throat, who tells them they ought to learn to haunt the house themselves. Which they do, but it turns out The Deets like being haunted, having poltergeists is cool, an asset, especially after possessing their dinner guests in the hilarious 'Day O' scene. Once they've unleashed Beetlejuice through, there's no going back and from here on in, it's an utterly bonkers, off the wall, surreal trip... at least in its design at least, plot-wise it's pretty mundane. Beetlejuice is loud, ugly, filthy in several senses of the word, loud, angry, unhinged, creepy, loud, annoying, perverted, loathsome, lecherous and loud. Totally at odds with Adam and Barbara's preferred way of haunting, y'know, nicely. He's the villain and as the story unfolds, it turns out he's quite pointless too. It's a mix of silly and inappropriate. It might've worked in 1988, but I'm afraid it's dated really badly. The story is simplistic, the characters universally a bit irritating, the special effects, well they're of their day and there's something to be said for that at least. It's heavy on in camera effects and trickery. The make-up department must've had a lot of fun, but I found myself having very little. I know it's much loved and it's not without it's charms. One of Burton's first outings, it's ambitious, creative and stamps his mark, there's a lot to be said for that. It now feels very much the cult film, those who remember and loved it in the 80s, will probably still enjoy it for it's stand out nature, but otherwise revisiting it can be a bit disappointing.

From "Topper" to "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" to present day, we have had movies where ghosts occupy space with humans and even are in discourse with them (usually, only one of them). In this film, a couple of newlyweds purchase an old house and everything is fine until they are both killed in a car accident. In the afterlife, they continue to occupy the place, but, of course, the house is sold, and another couple moves in. This is disheartening as they now realize they are actually dead. We have a lot of potential here. They decide to drive the new owners out of the house, but they don't know what they can do, so they enlist an evil spirit, played by Michael Keaton, to do their dirty work. The problem is that he is totally uncontrollable and soon they are paying a bigger price than the new occupants. Of course, it's Tim Burton, so it's dark and oddly funny, but Keaton wears on one after a while, and the film slides into all sorts of gimmicky special effects. He is not the least likable, and that works against the charm of the story.

This movie has a good premise. And really good actors. But it lacks in one actor. Michael Keaton is Beetlejuice barely shows up in this movie. And when he shows up it is really good. But the other 95% of the movie without him the snooze. The goth emo family is quite annoying even though the acting is quite good. The direction make up and set design is really good. I mean it's a Tim Burton movie how can those things not be good in one of his movies. Show me this movie is just OK and didn't give me too many laughs or too many scares it give me an OK amount. 6/10

BEETLE JUICE is the tale of Adam and Barbara (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), a couple who die but don't really know it until they discover a new family moving into their house. This family consists of dad Charles (Jeffrey Jones), stepmom Delia (Catherine O'Hara), and daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). Since Adam and Barbara are confined to their old house by the powers of the afterlife, they call upon "bio-exorcist" Beetle Juice (Michael Keaton) to try to get the new family to move out. However, the spirits simply appeal to the family and hence, they don't want to leave. Does Beetle Juice succeed in his mission?

This movie is probably considered by many to be Tim Burton's best. It's certainly one of the most popular. But I have to disagree. Though Burton is a master director and is very stylish, BEETLE JUICE just doesn't sit well with me. It's supposed to be a dark comedy, and it is indeed dark, but I definitely don't find it to be very funny. It's not that the idea of making fun of death offends me or anything (actually, quite the contrary); I just don't find the jokes, for the most part, to be humorous.

Also, the special effects are incredibly cheesy by today's standards. The Claymation scenes are almost ridiculous, but add a certain charming campiness to the whole film. Burton does set up many classic imageries, however (i.e., the snake, the faces Adam and Barbara put on to try to scare the family, the entire waiting room and its occupants). And there are a few timelessly classic scenes as well--namely, the wedding, the "Day-oh" dinner party, and the dancing sequence at the end.

The acting is decent. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are both good, if miscast. Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara are also good and occasionally funny as the parents of the family, while Winona Ryder puts in a solid and humorous performance as the depressed Lydia, in one of her first acting roles. But I think it was Michael Keaton, in the title role, that completely ruined the film for me. He was certainly charismatic, but I found him to be rather annoying. I also think he got the brunt of the jokes that were supposed to be funny, but aren't. Or maybe it's because of him that they aren't funny.

I thought BEETLE JUICE would be a pretty enjoyable dark comedy, but I didn't like it much. A lot of the jokes fail, and Michael Keaton puts in an extremely irritating performance. But, Tim Burton is an excellent director and manages to execute many memorable scenes and visuals. 6/10.

Tim Burton could do no wrong after risking twice, first to make this movie and secondly, casting Michael Keaton in this most unlikely role. Beetle Juice is a sleeper hit, fast approaching 20 years since its release and not really straying much from quality from when audiences first viewed it. I've seen this movie half a dozen since its release and its never become old yet. To sum it all up, if you're looking for a ghouly comic film with a bit of lighthearted fun and all around creativity, take this review to heart and rent this for Halloween.

After moving in, the Maitlands, Adam and Barbara meet a tragic end and receive a handbook and guide to haunting their house. When their amateur efforts prove only to attract the new owners' curious daughter, they are tempted by a 'bio-exorcist' who is nothing but bad news.

Burton was given an all star cast to work with in Beetle Juice and the creativity that came from this movie was to be the standard that we expect now from all of Tim's films. But there just isn't enough to work with in a 92 minute film. Sandworms, the world of the dead, Beetle Juice himself aren't nearly as explained enough as they would be in this day and age of information. Beetle Juice needed a sequel, though the cartoon series was just as good a fun hit as the original.

After re-watching the movie recently.. I can't really pinpoint as to why I remember liking Beetlejuice a LOT as a child! Probably the cartoon?

I mean, you still cannot take away the weird creativity of Tim Burton's imaginative world building and interesting storytelling and details. It's raunchy, fun and very original. You have dead trapped in the world of living, a DMV-like afterlife and businessmen wanting to monetize ghostly-trickery! But I feel "Betelgeuse" was a bit more straightforward and simplistic movie than I remember it being. Which was a shame.. even if I had fun. But it is a classic for a reason, but I think Burton has made better films.

When this first came out, I couldn't believe how different it was from other horror or comedy movies, or the combo of the two, which obviously is what it is, however, I have been amazed at it's simplicity of special effects in regard to the movies now. Yet it has a real artsy-goth appeal. I have thought about the movie on and off for years, then wrote what my version would be as a sequel installment on the original and expanded on the characters with a few new ones.

The only real problem with this is, I am not contracted to write for Warner Bros., or Mr.Burton. But would it not be great to see a whole other chapter in the BeEtLeJuicE library, the original writers (Both late) would have probably wanted another as well.

I would love to see, Keaton reprise his role as the royal, ghostly pain in the afterlife. He was the voice, the posturing, the whole attitude that made this one such a winner. He is young and strong character builder, besides who else is gonna be 'BeEtLeJuIcE' anyway?

To me this is a quirky-comedic horror-romping treat, with a spanking-good cast, that would be excellent in this world of 'Re-makes' to produce a second-time around original.

I say, the scenery and sets were great, I really did get enthralled with the visual and audio set up. But, due to the occult 'references' (sayonce etc) and semi-poor scripting, the lack of music in spots causing some audio dry spots, that needed more scoring from 'Elfman' than what was originally dubbed-in. My rating for this dropped down.

the sequel that I copywrote into the writter's Guild I also handed a copy to the youngest Baldwin, Stephen. I had hoped that if anyone could push it that I knew that it would be him. He just looked at me and said "This is gonna be hard to do."

Keaton stole this show, he is the ghost with the most babes. You know what one of the funniest unknown facts about this movie was? Not many know this but this was written for one of the original Rat-Pack members from the 60's fame. I wonder how many people would guess, that the first written script pick to play Beetlejuice was ......Sammy Davis Jr. No kidding. (I'm still crackin' up over here!!)

I gave it an 6, because Michael Keaton is only in it for a total time of about 19 or 20 minutes. (**)

The young married couple invested a lot of time, love and effort into renovating the house and turning it into a home of their liking. And then they died and left trapped in the house as ghosts. Soon the house got new, extremely irritating owners, so the ghosts decided to get rid of them. When it doesn't work for them, they hire an (un)professional exterminator of the living - Betelgeuse.

This is only the second movie for Tim Burton, so the atmosphere he is known for is still evolving, but already recognizable. The story is for all ages, simple and tame enough for kids, but laced with jokes and references that make it interesting for adults. Burton has assembled a great cast. The lead roles are interpreted by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, with Michael Keaton in the title role, while the irritating new tenants are played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and then seventeen-year-old Jeffrey Jones.

As a kid, I adored this movie. I can't criticize anything in particular, because, for its target audience and the time in which it was made, it is really well done. But from today's perspective, it is too tame and tepid to me and I don't see any praiseworthy qualities. An average fantasy comedy for a single viewing.

6/10

This movie was totally all over the place. First, why is the spelling of the movie different than the spelling of his name in the movie? Didn't get that. I also didn't get the songs being sung to in the movie. What was the point? To laugh? I didn't. And then the movie plot of the ghosts and their outcome was just so sloppy and didn't make sense entirely. It was just not my favorite Burton in the least.

After the sugary fun of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Burton made this ingenious and witty horror comedy. Bristling with imagination, it brilliantly showcases the visual style that Burton would come to call his own with comic-Gothic productions like Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman Returns.

Adam (Alex Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) play the recently deceased homeowners who are desperate to haunt yuppie couple Delia (Catherine O'Hara) and Charles (Jeffrey Jones) off their property. Adam and Barbara find a useful ally in depressive goth kid Lydia (Winona Ryder), before the titular 'Betelgeuse' (Michael Keaton) throws a spanner in the works.

It's a pity the film has been granted a 15 certificate in the UK, because there's plenty here for kids to enjoy. Adam and Barbara's complete acceptance of their predicament (namely being dead) is a conceit usually reserved for children's films, and their ensuing antics play out like a kind of ghoulish Home Alone. But then Keaton's vile, swearing, swaggering Beetlejuice steps into shot. It's a hilarious performance, perhaps one that Jim Carrey might have a go at these days; and yet I doubt Carrey would be able to create such a magnificently obnoxious hick.

The production design and make-up is fantastic. The purgatory-style waiting room scenes, with all their shark attack victims and shrunken heads, perfectly house Burton's love for pantomime black humour. Some of the 'bigger' special effects, particularly in the desert netherworld that awaits Adam and Barbara outside their front door, look dated. But hey, no amount of CGI will look this charming after 20 years.

Beetlejuice is a movie that, for me, is a fun mix of humor and fantasy with the peculiar touch of Tim Burton. The idea is original and the look is unmistakable, with that characteristic Burton aesthetic that really creates a world apart. Michael Keaton is in shape, making the title character with an energy that is hard not to like.

However, the plot ends up becoming a little repetitive, and some of the jokes and scenes may seem exaggerated or forced. The narrative sometimes gets lost in style and does not develop its secondary characters very well, which makes some parts of the movie drag on a little.

Overall, it is a visually interesting experience with some fun moments, but it is not as striking as other works of the genre. It is a movie that has its merits, but also has significant flaws.