Beetlejuice (1988)

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

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Michael McDowell (story), Larry Wilson (story)

Stars:

Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alec Baldwin	...	Adam Maitland
Geena Davis	...	Barbara Maitland
Annie McEnroe	...	Jane Butterfield
Maurice Page	...	Ernie
Hugo Stanger	...	Old Bill
Michael Keaton	...	Betelgeuse
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)

Storyline

Adam and Barbara are a normal couple...who happen to be dead. They have given their precious time to decorate their house and make it their own, but unfortunately a family is moving in, and not quietly. Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but end up becoming the main attraction to the money making family. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but Beetlejuice has more in mind than just helping.

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Plot Keywords:

surrealism | teenage girl | ghost | attic | yuppie | 

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Taglines:

The Name In Laughter From The Hereafter.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beetlejuice

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$73,326,666 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Geffen Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The skeleton head on top of Beetlegeuse's Merry-Go-Round looks remarkably like Jack Skellington, a skeleton figure which Tim Burton had been drawing since 1982 and would ultimately be used as the main character of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), which Burton produced.

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Goofs

The morning after Lydia has taken photos of the Maitlands wearing sheets, she shows 8x10 enlargements of them to her stepmother in the kitchen. The pictures Lydia took were self-developing Polaroids, and there would be no negatives to make enlargements from.

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Quotes

Lydia: I was just trying to open the door. Mrs. Butterfield brought over a skeleton key.
Charles: Let me have it.
Lydia: But it doesn't work.
[She hands her father the key. He looks at it and throws it in the corner]
Charles: Skeleton keys never work. Anyway, this can wait. We'll get a crowbar later. Where's your mother?
Lydia: Stepmother.
Charles: I'm going down to relax. I want a noise-free zone. Do you understand? Noise-free.
[he goes down the stairs]
Lydia: Dad?
Charles: [irritated, over his shoulder] What?
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Casper (1995)

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Soundtracks

The Light Cavalry
Written by Franz von Suppé

User Reviews

Now this is life after death!

You gotta figure that only Tim Burton could come up with this! An ultra-zany story of rural couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis), who accidentally get killed and witness a tasteless couple moving into their house, forcing them to hire "bio-exorcist" Beetle Juice (Michael Keaton), is truly something else. With a new joke almost every minute, the movie never gets dull. And how about that soundtrack? "Day-O" in the most morbid comedy ever? Yep, it's all here. Great support from Catherine O'Hara and Jeffrey Jones as the tasteless couple, Winona Ryder as their disaffected daughter Lydia, and Sylvia Sidney as afterlife counselor Juno, make this one of the coolest movies of 1988!