H'ween Horrorthon: Beetlejuice

Hello out there.

So...my second entry is a comedy (as was promised). Horror and comedy have been two genres that have been mixed together since the days of Abbott & Costello when they went up against all the monsters from The Universal backlot. The success of Ivan Reitman's 80s horror/comedy Ghostbusters paved the way for other horror spec scripts to undergo a more comedic transformation — and no surprise, Beetlejuice was one of the horror/comedy hybrids that got greenlit — and it actually worked.

Beetlejuice was initially envisioned as a straight-up horror film, written by Michael McDowell (one of the brainchildren behind the successful horror anthology series Tales From the Darkside), until the script landed on Tim Burton's lap. Having directed the madcap comedy Pee Wee's Big Adventure, this would be Tim Burton's second feature film. He was a former animator with Disney who broke free and made his first film with none other than Pee Wee Herman. (Paul Reubens, for those NOT in the know.) The comedian's child-like alter ego had his first taste of movie fame courtesy of Burton. Burton's oddball, kooky, non-linear, three-dimensional animation style was on display in his first film effort. Beetlejuice had more of the same, with the added bonus of actor Michael Keaton in the title role. It would also feature Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin (in an early strictly-comedy role) as well as Catherine O'Hara, Jeffery Jones, Glenn Shadix, and one of the earliest roles for then-teenaged Winona Ryder.

The basic plot. Yuppie suburban couple Barbara and Adam Maitland (Davis, Baldwin) are enjoying their much-needed vacation with the purpose of starting a family. A store errand, however, puts them in the untenable situation of a scary car accident — and the big tragic shock: they do NOT survive.

They soon learn they crossed into the next "life", but it's not different at all from their early life. But, making matters worse, is the realization that they are "ghosts" who cannot haunt their own home, especially when an odious city family named the Dietz's (Jones, O'Hara, Ryder) purchase the home, along with droll, very flamboyant interior designer/confidant Otho, (the late comedian, Shadix), with the full intention of gutting it and turning it into some sort of cold, yuppified art museum.

What to do? What to do? What to do? A flyer appears out of nowhere in a manual on how to adjust to life after death. It's from a self-proclaimed "bio-exorcist" named Betelgeuse (Keaton, in full-creep-out makeup and with the on-switch always on). Why the name? Was he German? Was he a former priest? The movie never bothers to establish his backstory. It just puts this character as the Maitland's potential salvation. But...as they soon discover, his on-switch is broken and cannot take direction by any means. ("Does Not Work or Play Well With Others" was the essential problem.) Being inappropriate with Barbara pretty much becomes the deal-breaker and they attempt to scare the Dietz's out themselves — with a little help from their Harry Belafonte music collection.

Even a business dinner (set to Belafonte's classic, "Day-O: The Banana Boat Song") doesn't go as planned and are forced back to square one. Betelgeuse is relishing all this and decides to one-up the Maitlands. A cool, animated snake sequence is proof he's got scare skills, but it complicates things when Lydia (Ryder) is now traumatized. She's met the Maitlands, despite being alive and has grown to like them a lot. Sadly, Lydia's family has a morbid streak and love the supernatural, so they decide to expand their weird museum to include the Maitlands as the freak-show attraction.

I feel I should leave it right here. This was a fun ride from start-to-finish. At a breezy 90 minutes, it manages to deftly handle the scares and big, belly laughs with equal measure. The cast is game and seem to all be having a blast making it. Alec Baldwin was up-and-coming and it was nice to see him play anything other than a villain. Geena Davis got her first taste of fame before landing even bigger roles in Thelma & Louise and A League of Their Own. She did, however, win an Oscar for The Accidental Tourist as Best Supporting Actress. Winona Ryder would reunite with Burton with her then-boyfriend, Johnny Depp, in Edward Scissorhands in 1990 and continue on with roles in Heathers, Mermaids, Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Age of Innocence, just to name a few. Catherine O'Hara would star in the Home Alone movies and Jeffery Jones would still continue acting in TV and film roles.

The oddest superstar in all this ended up being Michael Keaton. His cantankerous "bio-exorcist" ghost became an iconic comedy role that led to his biggest role to date. Filming began instantaneously on Tim Burton's next film: the mega-superhero comic book movie Batman — with Keaton given the starring role as well as Jack Nicholson playing the iconic villain, The Joker. It became a straight-up blockbuster and became the movie game changer for all superhero comic book movies of the future.

Back to Beetlejuice. In closing, I always enjoy a great, funny horror/comedy and it's a nice break from the shocks, blood/guts/gore scary movies in my repertoire. Just as long as I don't die laughing.

Next up: a KILLER birthday party!