44/44

I went to Juilliard

Synopsis

The spirits of a deceased couple are being harassed by an obnoxious family who have moved into their home and hired an evil spirit to chase them away. This is Michael Keaton’s favorite movie. Otho’s shoes when he spray paints the walls of the house change from red elf shoes to white sneakers as he walks through the bathroom and then back to red elf shoes when he enters the next room. Adam: What are your qualifications? Beetlejuice: Oh. Well… I graduated from Harvard Business School.

I travel pretty widely

I lived through the Black Death and had a blast. I’VE SEEN THE EXORCIST ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT CONTINUES TO GET FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT… NOT TO MENTION YOU’RE TALKING TO A DEAD GUY… NOW WHAT DO YOU MAKE ME THINK? You think I’m qualified?. The Geffen Company logo is accompanied by a macabre version of the song Banana Boat (sung by the film’s composer Danny Elfman). A print of the film has surfaced with some added/alternated scenes.

Instead of a desert he sees an empty darkness filled with rolling gears

This version of the film is about 2 minutes shorter than the theatrical release, has some extra scenes and is missing some, is in black and white, and has a timecode at the bottom. This version has 4 major differences: Alternate Scene: The scene where Adam tries to leave the house after he and his wife die is different. Extra Scenes: There is an additional scene where Lydia is developing the photos she took of Adam and Barbra. Then, after her mother yells at her and blames her for putting holes in her sheets, Lydia runs upstairs and tries to convince her father that the photos are real. There is more in the scene where the adults search for ghosts in the attic where we see the Desert Monster trying to eat Adam and Barbra as they hang out of the attic window. Finally there is a 2 minute extra scene at the end where we see Lydia riding her bike home from school and her parents talking to Jane on the phone telling her that they don’t want to sell the house. Lydia’s dance scene is shorter in this version and there is no scene with Beetlejuice in the waiting room.

Edited for Terror Toons (2002)

The film ends with one last exterior shot of the house. Day-OTraditional, lyrics by William A. Attaway & Irving Burgie[Incorrectly credited as written by William A. Attaway & Irving Burgie (as Lord Burgess)]Performed by Harry BelafonteCourtesy of RCA Records. Considering he isn’t in the movie much and the movie is named after his character, he steals the entire show when he appears front and center. He’s so good you’re amazed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jim Carrey didn’t use Michael Keaton’s performance as Beetlejuice as the model for his awesome cartoon character Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask.

Overall fun and offbeat movie

I love the B-movie special effects and the Shake Senora dance scene. But the Betelgeuse/Beetlejuice dilemma wasn’t an issue. I wish they would explain it a little better, I thought I was having a dyslexic breakthrough, I kept checking after all these years, I was reading the name of the movie wrong, I kept stopping the movie to check the title. Only downside. I would watch it just for Keaton’s performance.