Film Reveiw

Film Review  12/09/19


Movie: Beetlejuice


Beetlejuice is a fantasy-comedy-horror movie directed by Tim Burton in 1988. It is a great movie because while it follows many of the typical conventions of the horror/comedy genre, it's also a little crazy, with things such as a giant sandworm, a strip club, and an impromptu wedding between the "villain" of the film and Lydia. The film allows the main "villain" of the plot to be more of an antihero than anything else. This allows the film to create a good balance between the "horror" and the comedy, relying more on props and makeup to scare people, rather than the jump scares that are typical of comedy/horror films. The narrative is also a little different than most typical films, having more "friendly" ghosts, and the humans in the story being portrayed as the "bad guys" subverting the typical genre of humans vs ghosts. This movie is typical of Tim Burton, as he likes the darker side of films, but also the more interesting side of films (e.g. the nightmare before Christmas). His love for making eccentric films is just as clear in Beetlejuice as it is in any other Tim Burton film. For example, there is a scene where the main characters, (Adam and Barbra), attempt to scare the people out of there home by changing their appearance and morph themselves into weird humanoid creatures. This is very typical of Tim Burton as he loves to use human-esque creatures in all his films, such as Edward Scissorhands. Tim Burton was struggling to find a script after the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, he was struggling to find a script that was "original" enough for him, which is why Beetlejuice was so perfect for him.

 One of the best scenes in the film (in my opinion) is the scene where Adam and Barbra first meet Beetlejuice. One point of interest in this scene is the cinematography. There are lots of close up shots used to show the emotion on the characters faces. The scene also uses some camera movement within the scene, using tracking shots for things such as Beetlejuice trying to lift up Barbara's skirt. Another interesting thing about this scene is the mise-en-scene. For example, the scenery in this scene is meant to be in Adam's model town, so the scenery is meant to be fake and plastic-looking, this is done effectively as it creates a funny tone by having Beetlejuice's house and surroundings seem comedic (fake grass and light up signs), but it also allows Tim Burton to present Beetlejuice as comically "scary" by having him scare Adam and Barbara. The costumes in this scene are also important as it shows Beetlejuice and the Maitland's as binary opposites. The Maitlands are wearing quite suburban clothing, they are neat and look like your average everyday people. In contrast, Beetlejuice is dressed in quite ragged, dirty, messy clothing. His outfit is unprofessional, reflecting his own personality. The lack of props is also relevant in this scene, it forces the watcher to focus on the faces and emotions of the Maitland's. The lack of props paired with the large amount of close up shots that are used in the scene means that the watcher is forced to focus on the faces and emotions of the characters in the scene. The use of low lighting in this scene is also important as it brings attention to the characters as it puts a spotlight on Adam, Barbara and Beetlejuice. They also have a neon light over the hole that Beetlejuice is living in. This is making it seem as though Beetlejuice is a celebrity of sorts. The neon lights also stand out from the rest of the quiet town, it stands out and doesn't fit with the rest of the town, much like Beetlejuice. The neon lights shouldn't be there, they don't fit the graveyard theme.

Another good scene is the one where Lydia is about to get married to Beetlejuice. This scene uses sound very effectively, for example, they use the typical "wedding march" song but edit it to be creepier, allowing the scene to be comedic, yet slightly creepy at the same time. The scene also uses costume effectively, it uses the contrast between the Maitland's wedding outfits and Lydia and Beetlejuice's costume. The Maitland's have a typical costume, suggesting the normality of their wedding, they were going to marry for love, whereas Lydia and Beetlejuice have very crazy outfits in the scene, for example, Lydia is wearing a red dress. This connotes the danger that Lydia is in, she doesn't want to marry Beetlejuice, but she is trapped with no way out. The scene also uses clay animation to add to the "horror" part of the scene, allowing the scene to have special effects that weren't possible on CGI at the time. There is some movement of the camera in this scene, for example, the use of zooming out on Beetlejuice when he changes his outfit allows us to see the outfit change clearly and it brings the audiences attention to the change, allowing us to see the significance of the red suit. The camera also pans up to show the fear and panic on Lydia's dads face when Beetlejuice is tying him up with a sculpture.


Another movie by Tim Burton is the nightmare before Christmas. This film also uses clay animation, but through the whole movie, rather than just a couple of scenes. There are many closeups used throughout this movie, much like in Beetlejuice. The film also turns characters that are typically portrayed as "scary" and turns them into loveable characters, subverting the typical stereotype that skeletons are meant to be scary, much like in Beetlejuice where he turns the typical scary ghosts, into kind caring characters. In the nightmare before Christmas there is also a lot of camera movement, an example of this is the scene where Jack Skellington is singing "What is this". For example when jack starts to sit down and the camera zooms in on his face. This very similar to the camera movement in Beetlejuice.