Back in 1988 I was 10 or 11 years old when this absolute sparkling gem was released. I have a huge soft spot in my heart for this film. The reasoning behind that? My oldest sister and I watched this when it was out on VHS tape. My sister only got about halfway through it, so I guess I only got halfway through as well. It wasn't that the movie wasn't entertaining, it was because it is entirely too entertaining. Particularly in one spot, and that spot happens to be the "Nice F**kin' Model!" area. My sister laughed so hard during this section that she kept rewinding it over and over to rewatch it. I believe she did this about 20 times and laughed just as hard the last time as she did the first time. But, enough of my flashback and onto something that can resemble a review.
So this picture is directed by the legendary Tim Burton. He is such a visionary film maker in my eyes because of this movie and the majority of his other works. In this he brought out the best in comical antics out of mostly a crew of serious actors. Everyone is great and I mean everyone! Catherine O'Hara plays Delia Deetz, and she plays her so well in fact that you really want to hate her. Her step daughter is played by Winona Ryder, and she seems to be the most incredibly lonely teenager in all of film up to this point. The real standout is Michael Keaton. He pointed to center-field and commenced to knocking the ball outta the park on the first swing. This is probably my favorite role he ever played. The film goes along and is kind of amusing until he shows his ugly mug as the title character. It shifts from generally amusing to absolute hilarity in mach speed and doesn't let up while he is on screen.
For the most part the special effects are done in the practical manner, meaning with makeup and prosthetics. It is all done well and really gives you the feel of supernatural realism, which I call it that because it doesn't look real per se, but it does when you think all the ghost characters are supposed to be in the same state as the way they bit it. Some parts of the film have the effects done with either stop motion animation or what is called clay-mation, effects made with clay sculptures and using stop motion. Some people really hate effects done in this manner but I like it immensely because without this style we would never have had CGI. He had nothing to do with this film but if it wasn't for him then effects wouldn't have moved forward as they have so, a huge shout out to the legendary pioneer of film effects, Ray Harryhausen, who died about a year ago!
The writing for BeetleJuice is just spot on. The comical bits are great and talk of the afterlife is handled well. They really just don't make films like this anymore, which is a huge shame.
Great comedy, great acting and a great and entertaining story to boot. Just watch it! you won't be disappointed.
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