Beetle Juice (1988)

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Michael McDowell (screenplay)
Michael McDowell (story)

Release Date:

30 March 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Say it once... Say it twice... But we dare you to say it THREE TIMES

Plot:

A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Yuppie | Car Crash | Attic | Photograph

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Adam Maitland
Geena Davis	...	Barbara Maitland
Annie McEnroe	...	Jane Butterfield
Maurice Page	...	Ernie
Hugo Stanger	...	Old Bill
Michael Keaton	...	Beetlejuice
Rachel Mittelman	...	Little Jane Butterfield
Catherine O'Hara	...	Delia Deetz
J. Jay Saunders	...	Moving Man #1
Mark Ettlinger	...	Moving Man #2
Jeffrey Jones	...	Charles Deetz
Winona Ryder	...	Lydia Deetz
Glenn Shadix	...	Otho
Patrice Martinez	...	Receptionist
Cindy Daly	...	3-Fingered Typist (as Cynthia Daly)

Also Known As:

Beetlejuice (USA) (alternative spelling) (USA) (DVD title)
The Maitlands (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Spain:T | Ireland:15 | South Korea:All | France:Unrated | West Germany:12 (f) | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | Israel:PG | New Zealand:PG | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Canada:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Geffen Company, The

Trivia:

The original script was a horror film, and featured Beetlejuice as a winged, reptilian demon who transformed into a small Middle Eastern man to interact with the Maitlands and the Deetzes. Lydia was a minor character, with her six year old sister Cathy being the Deetz child able to see the Maitlands. Beetlejuice's goal was to kill the Maitlands, rather than frighten them away, and included sequences where he mauled Cathy in the form of a rabid squirrel and tried to rape Lydia. Subsequent script rewrites turned the film into a comedy and toned down Beetlejuice's character into the ghost of an Ebonics-speaking con-artist rather than a demon.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Otho summons the Maitlands into their wedding clothes, they start to age rapidly. Their age isn't always consistent in the following scenes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Adam: [about a spider on his hand] Now that's a big fella! Whoa!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

The Light Cavalry

Beetlejuice

Keaton steals the show as the title character in this off the wall comedy from director Burton. Baldwin and Davis are two new ghosts who try to scare new occupants of their home out, with the help of "bio exorcist" Keaton. Won a much deserved Oscar for its make up effects.