Beetlejuice

Who would have ever guessed that death is the problem and not the solution?

As morbid as it sounds, on real stressful days everyone's pondered the possibilites of a care-free existance in the afterlife. A place where you don't have to think, only relax; where you don't have to work, only play. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Well, it would... if it were true. But it's not... according to Tim Burton.

The film starts by giving us a peek into the comfortable lives of Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin). The two are happily in love and live in a quaint but beautiful town called Winter River in Connecticut. Other than the facts that Barbara has to clean their entire country mansion herself and that Jane Butterfield, a nosy friend, barges into their home at 6:45 a.m, life seems to be full of sunshine and smiles. Emphasis on the word "life".

A trip to the hardware store ends up being more trouble then it's worth, to say the least. Crossing the bridge that seperates the town from the countryside, a dog walks right out in the middle of the road. Barbara swerves suddenly and before they know it the couple are dangling over the side of the bridge. Teetering on a plank of wood, the couple then crash into the water as doom-and-gloom type music plays, cluing the viewer in to the fact that the Maitlands have just met their demise.

“

DELIA:If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own I will go insane and I will take you with me!

”

Or have they? They are unaware of their deaths until they end up back home where they are welcomed by a burning fireplace which wasn't there when they left. Wanting to warm her hands, Barbara's finger catches fire, but oddly enough she doesn't feel it. The couple are then completely perplexed, and their front yard does not help matters. It seems that the entire outside world has turned into a massive planet-like desert with humongous sandworms always willing and able to gobble a person up in one bite.

Think that is horrible? There's more. the Maitlands no longer have a reflection in the mirror, and resting on their coffee table is a book that wasn't there before:The Handbook For The Recently Deceased. Hmmm, maybe they didn't survive that crash after all.

“

LYDIA:Live people ignore the strange and unusual. I myself am strange and unusual.

”

The Maitlands are confined to their home and as if that were not bad enough a new family is moving into their house. And that wouldn't be so bad if the family were more like the Maitlands...but they're not.

Meet the Deitz's. The Deitz's are comprised of Charles, Delia, and Lydia. Charles (Jeffrey Jones) is a happy-go-lucky man who's made an investment in the house and never walks away from equity. Delia (Catherine O'Hara) is an eccentric, flaky sculpturist with crimson red hair and lips, and an oh-so-chic New York enseamble. Lydia (Winona Ryder) is the goth daughter and the only sane person out of the whole bunch. Otho (Glenn Shadix) is Delia's home decorater who has big plans to change the flower-wallpapered home with beautiful, flamboyant colors like Mauve and Floridian Blue-Green.

What are the Maitlands to do? The Deitz's seem like some afterlife punishment, except for Lydia, who is also the only one that can see them.

The Maitlands have a couple of options to help their situation. The first is some guy named Betelgeuse. Adam finds an advertisment that reads:

“

Betelgeuse The Bio-Exorcist. Troubled by the Living? Is death the problem and not the solution? Unhappy with eternity? Having difficulty adjusting? Call Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse.

”

Their other option is to draw a door on the wall and knock three times. When they do, the door opens up to a waiting room with ghoulish patients such as a guy with a shrunken head, a man with a chicken-bone in his throat, and a magicians sawn-in-half assistant, just to name a few, all waiting to talk to Juno the case worker.

Juno basically says they have to get rid of the Deitz's themselves, and the rest of the movie basically deals with that. The Maitlands be-friend Lydia, but Beetlejuice has his eye on her too and pulls such nasty tricks as turning into a snake and getting Lydia to marry him. The Maitlands also pull some tricks of their own, like the memorable scene where they possess Delia and her guests and make them dance the Calypso while singing Day-O by Harry Belefonte.

The film takes the viewer on many twists and turns and the viewer is happy to see the two families compromise their lifestyles and co-exist happily while a levitating Lydia sings Shake Shake Senora in the living room.

And as for Beetlejuice? Well, lets just say his head isn't as puffed up with confidance as it used to be.