Synopsis:

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

The Freak's Rating: B- : My latest visit to retro cinema (as they are released on Blu Ray) took me to 1988's Beetlejuice, a film I remember thinking was less than stellar at the time I saw it.  Beetlejuice did make a mark in my cinematic history, being one of the earliest movies I remember seeing that truly displayed the value of having a fantastic composer to conduct a score for a film.  Danny Elfman's theme to Beetlejuice is a classic.  Watching the film again now, I see that without the score we may have had a far worse film on our hands.

Tim Burton tries to stay as far away from normalcy as possible when he is behind the camera, a sign of a true artist and one that isn't lost on Beetlejuice.  Interesting camera angles and tricks to attempt to envelop the audience in the film are scattered from opening sequence to rolling credits. 

Micheal Keaton is wonderful as the title character, delivering lines with gusto some didn't think he was capable of.  Prior to Beetlejuice, Keaton was strictly a comedic actor and the role was considered to be a "stretch" for him.  Easily the best performance is given by Catherine O'Hara as Delia, but Winona Ryder is also perfectly adorable as Lydia.  Alec Baldwin is nearly unrecognizable here.  He has easily put on 40 pounds to get to his 30 Rock weight.

With nice casting, decent writing and nice direction, a pleasant fantasy comedy is created here.  It teeters between creepy and comedy at times (Burtonesque), which can be a tad annoying.  There should be a special nod given to the special effects team for the film.  Though the stop motion and CGI created for the film already looks dated, the animatronics are nicely done, even after 20 years.  Overall it is a nice nod to the late 80s birth of Tim Burton as a solid filmmaker and showcases some nice performances.

Alex's Rating: D : It's typical, cheesy 1980's ghost movie. One of those where you quite like it the first time but hate it the second.

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