Beetlejuice
A review of the movie Beetlejuice
As preparation for the new movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice I recently watched Beetlejuice. This movie was really weird but also amazing. The movie is incredibly absurd, but also very funny.
(Obvious) spoiler warning for Beetlejuice
Plot
Winter River House
It is about this couple Adam and Barbara Maitland who live in a house in a small village called Winter River. Then while driving back from the village they get in a car accident and fall off a bridge into a river. Then we cut to them being back at their house, but they don’t remember how they got there. They quickly figure out that they’re dead. They can’t leave the house and are stuck there, the house gets sold to some people and they try to remove them from the house.
Characters
Maitlands
Adam and Barbara Maitland
These characters are made to be very relatable and they are, what would you do if you died? Well I myself would read the entire Guide for the Recently Deceased but that’s just me. How can they not read the entire thing? They have all the time in the world! Every time someone mentions something they almost always reference Guide for the Recently Deceased, so why not read the entire thing? Oh well, they are too busy trying to get the Deetzes out of their house I suppose.
Deetzes
Charles and Delia Deetzes
This is the family that bought the house after the Maitlands died. There is the dad, Charles, who seems to be some sort of real-estate agent or something. Either way, he bought the house to relax and chill for a while. His wife, Delia, is a bit more uptight than him and wants to renovate the entire house. And finally we have the most important character, Lydia, Charles’ daughter and Delia’s step-daughter.
Lydia Deetz
Lydia Deetz
Lydia is a stereotypical goth according to 1988, wearing all black and a veil. After the Maitlands try to scare Delia Lydia discovers them and then discover that Lydia can see them. The Guide mentioned that people don’t want to see the dead and that that is the reason most people cannot see ghosts but because Lydia is strange and weird she can see ghosts. Lydia is the only one that the ghosts trust and they begin to bond. At the end of the movie the Maitlands are integrated into the Deetz family.
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice
After the Maitlands horribly fail to scare the Deetzes away, they employ the help of Beetlejuice. The character Beetlejuice is only shown on-screen for 17 minutes1. That seems crazy given that he is literally the namesake of the movie, however in those 17 minutes he couldn’t be more present. Each minute he’s on-screen he’s making something wacky/funny/horrifying happen. Not to mention that Michael Keaton plays the role very well, without his performance Beetlejuice wouldn’t have been so iconic.
Success
The original Beetlejuice movie apparently did very well for itself2 making 73 million with a 13 million budget. I thought it would have been a flop to be honest and that is why they waited so long, but no it did very well. Also it could have maybe gotten a sequel because of the pretty successful musical adaption. This one video of the musical with 6.2 million views at the time of writing. No matter what reason the reason was that it got a sequel I’m happy it got one because the original is already very fun to watch.
Thoughts
I enjoyed the movie very much! It was an absurd movie but that is not a bad thing. It was very funny and entertaining. The song that played while the Maitlands where “seriously” trying to scare away everyone, Banana Boat (Day-O) has been stuck in my head for a few days now and it just perfectly encapsulates the movie.