A beautiful white house sits on top of a grassy hill that looks cozy from the outside, but inside,there is a clash between the home’s deceased owners and the living ones who have moved in. Theclassic haunted house premisewas given a new spin in 1988’sBeetlejuicewhen the ghosts are the ones bothered by the house’s still-breathing occupants. ThisTim Burtonclassic has since become a favorite on Halloween watch lists, and fans of this ghost story have finally gotten a long-awaited sequel,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, to return them to the world this first film introduced. But in the 1988 classic, can the living and the dead coexist?
This is the big question that hangs overBeetlejuice. In many famoussupernatural horrorfilms, the answer is a hard no, not when malevolent entities, be it demons or spirits, wish to disrupt the lives of human characters with possible grim consequences. When it comes toBeetlejuice, this isn’t a standard haunting and so the answer it provides is just as surprising. Fans may have gone on to memorize the “Day-O” dinner scene or been influenced byWinona Ryder’s goth style, but in understanding the ending, a bizarre yet heartwarming family dynamic is at the heart of thishorror-comedy.
Tim Burton Blends the Absurd and the Normal in ‘Beetlejuice’
Danny Elfman’s electrifying score opensBeetlejuiceas the camera hovers over the tranquil small town of Winter River, Connecticut, before switching to the miniature model version.Already, there is a mix of picture-perfect Americana and a dark fantasy,Burton-esque imagination.The town would be overwhelmingly quaint if it weren’t for Elfman’s score bringing a kooky vibe. This strange combowhere a Norman Rockwell painting meets gothic horrorwill soon spill over into everything on screen. The model belongs to Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin), who, along with his wife Barbara (Geena Davis), have made a peaceful life for themselves in Winter River, living in that towering white house on the hilltop. It doesn’t take long for this picturesque depiction of a small town to get further shaken up, asnon-traditional families become a central theme inBeetlejuice.
‘Beetlejuice’ Is All About Non-Traditional Families
There are the Maitlands, a sweet couplewho are not able to have kids due to possible infertility. Their house is deemed too big for them because of this, as pointed out by their overbearing localreal estate agent, Jane (Anne McEnroe). Sadly, in life, the Maitlands’ dream of having kids is permanently dashed when a trip into town ends in disasterafter they die in a car accident and return to their house as ghosts.The Maitlands are under a ghostly “house arrest”before they can move on, with the threat of entering limbo if they step outside the house’s confines. They are unable to stop their home from being sold and soon invaded by the Deetz family, city folks who bring the disconnect between Lydia (Winona Ryder) and her stepmom Delia (Catherine O’Hara) for what is another non-traditional family in the plot. Faced with losing their beloved home, the Maitlands can’t help but be frustrated at seeing all the differences they have with the Deetzes, andthis tension between the living and the dead escalates inBeetlejuice.
Lydia Deetz Forms a Connection With a Married Ghost Couple
Whereas the Maintlands and theirhometown of Winter Riverare “sugar and spice,“the Deetzes’ arrival brings Delia’s abstract artwork and Lydia’s goth moodiness.Dressed all in black, the sardonic teen girl believes her whole life has been “one big dark room,” but her parents are too busy to notice her loneliness. Her father wants to enjoy the suburb’s peace, while Delia never hides her disappointment in their new environment. Left alone,Lydia realizes her new home is haunted by its past owners, and being a little weirdo who loves morbid things, she’s excited to share a house with a pair of ghosts.
Tim Burton Just Broke a Global Box Office Barrier Thanks to ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’
Burton’s biggest hit remains ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which is also his only movie to gross more than $1 billion worldwide.
Because the Maitlands aren’t very good at being scary, they accidentally befriend Lydia, who receives the attention from them that she doesn’t get from her parents. There is a connection between the Maitlands and Lydia, but it’s not strong enough yet. The couple eventually try to find help elsewhere when their haunting tactics end up clumsy. When the couple heads into the ghostly realm for some help, they find the afterlife is not too different from the world of the living. It’s bureaucratic, with overworked staff. They hardly get the answers they hope for, and Barbara starts to realize she likes having Lydia around, but obstacles stand in the way.The living and the dead both want to take advantage of the other.
Lydia Calls on Beetlejuice to Save Barbara and Adam
The Maitlands' failure at being scary grows into a bigger problem for the ghost duo when Delia, Otho (Glenn Shadix), and the Deetzes' city friends plot to capitalize off the haunted house. This being the movie it is though, the bigger threat comes from the lurking, pervy, bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). Squatting in Adam’s model town,Betelgeuse is an unpredictable entity that the Maitlands seek help from, before realizing in a matter of seconds the mistake they have made. He gropes Barbara and soon takes it upon himself to frighten the Deetzes in a dangerous way the Maitlands would never have thought of.
It’s not until Otho accidentally begins the process of exorcising the Maitlands that Lydia reluctantly summons Betelgeuse, accepting his marriage proposal to save the decaying couple.Lydia’s parents aren’t able to help her from Betelgeuse, leaving the Maitlands to save the day: Adam crashes a mini car from the model into Betelgeuse’s foot right before Barbara rides a sandworm to gobble him up. This finally puts both parties on common ground over their need to protect Lydia.Barbara and Adam accept that they can share the house with the Deetzesin an ending that answers if ghosts and mortals can share the same space on good terms.
Delia and Charles are around, but the Maitlands get the surrogate child they couldn’t in life with Lydia, creating the film’s most unusual, non-traditional family.It proves there is no correct way to define a family. The Maitlands ultimately help Lydia grow into a more optimistic and happier person than she was at the beginning. Theclassic haunted housetrope is once again subverted. At the start, the humans were bothering the ghosts, and in the end, the living and the dead learn to accept each other.
WhenLydia floats and sings to a Harry Belafonte song, courtesy of Adam’s supernatural ability, it’s more than just a memorable set piece. As typical inTim Burton films, the mundane can be found in the fantastic and the fantastic can be found in the mundane. By this logic,the living and the dead can coexist inBeetlejuice, despite their great differences. WhileBeetlejuice Beetlejuicegoes on a different path that involves three generations of Deetz women coming together, the originalBeetlejuicehad a big heart that saw death didn’t have to be the end and life could be full of strange and unusual experiences.
Beetlejuice
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