One of the earliest film genres was horror. Universal made a big splash in the early thirties with such classics as ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Dracula’ and the ‘Wolf Man’. Audiences just love to be scared by a movie and the studios knew this very well. It didn’t take long before film makers began to blend horror with other types of films. There was a whole series of such flicks staring the famous comedy team of Abbott and Costello where they would meet up with the aforementioned monsters of the silver screen. In more recent years the horror comedy has taken a different twist and usually is presented either as spoofs of straight horror movies or self parodies; typically when a once scary horror flick franchise has become laughable and the film makers just embrace the fact. Just over twenty years ago there was a little flick that caught on and rose to the level of a true cult classic; ‘Beetlejuice’. This is a dark, quirky movie that has something about it that makes you want to watch it time and time again. As with combination platter flicks this one had to choose which genre will dominate and the decision went to comedy. It is very funny in a macabre sort of a way. The genius of the production lies in the way the film maker, Tim Burton, flaunts every convention in sight. It is difficult to believe that two decades have past since I first saw this movie in the theater but the film remains as fresh as it did during that first viewing. If you enjoyed the old ‘Addams Family’ television show then this is just right for you. There is an odd ball flick whose humor depends on taking the mundane and taking it to a bizarre place. There is also a feel of those old EC horror comics; the ones that use to have a comic tale every so often just to break things up. There is a fine line between horror and comedy as evident by how well the formats work together. This is a prime example of how this type of flick should be made. The twentieth anniversary edition is one both DVD and Blu-ray through Warner Brothers. Both have a bunch of extras that are fun to watch but the real treat is the movie.

The screenplay was written by Michael McDowell based on a story he created with Larry Wilson. McDowell is credited with the actual script and had prior experience on television with scripts for Steven Spielberg’s ‘Amazing Stories’ and ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’. He would use this film as a jumping off point for other horror oriented TV series including ‘Tales from the Darkside’ and ‘Monsters’ before going back to films with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’; another Tim Burton opus. Wilson had a similar background and future career but as was the case with McDowell, this was his first feature film story. We have all seen movies where the living has to get rid of pesky ghosts that refuse to leave. In this story everything is turned on its head as a pair of recently deceased people wants to get rid of the new couple that moved in to their cozy home replacing them. The ghosts have to resort to the titular Beetlejuice to help them achieve their goal and find he is far more trouble than he is worth. The tale works largely because it takes something that we have seen so many times in the past and presents it in a completely novel fashion.

When it comes to dark and twisted comedy nobody does it better than director extraordinaire Tim Burton. As soon as you see his name in the credits you know that you are in for a roller coaster ride of wacky and dark proportions. This film came out a few years after his breakout cult comedy ‘Pee-wee's Big Adventure’ and just before ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and the 1989 kickoff to the ‘Batman’ franchise. He is a highly visual director which is fitting considering his early work as an animator. His sets are usually a mixture of Goth and pure fantasy. This is a man who as a boy most likely relished it when he had a nightmare. In this film Burton takes on what he does best; fight for the rights of the outcast. Burton’s films are fundamentally stories where the individual shunned by regular society triumphs. This helps his audience connect with his films. Americans have always loved to root for the underdog and Burton’s films show that well utilized theme in a unique way. He takes the surreal and presents it as if it was part of everyday life. Burton is also the master of the sight gag. It may take a few times watching this flick but each time you do you are bound to catch some little thing off to the side of the scene. For example there are several scenes that make fun of a typical bureaucratic office. The civil servant in change of the particular case was a chain smoke would take a deep drag of her cigarette only to have ht smoke flow out of the large gash on her neck. This is in many ways a string of little bits loosely tied together with the central premise. Even in death there is no way to avoid paperwork, instruction manuals and regulations. Burton has a warped view of life, death and everything in between. Thankfully for us he turned his dark imagination towards films like this.

Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam (Alec Baldwin) Maitland are a couple that enjoy the simple things in life. They take a vacation at home and the high point would be re-papering their home. While returning from a trip to the nearby town they turn their car sharply too avoid hitting a dog. When they get home they notice a few odd things. For one they can’t see their reflections in the mirror. When they try to leave their home there is nothing beyond their door but a surreal desert with w huge worm lurking about. They are dead and to their credit they take the bad news in stride. They know for sure when they discover a copy of an official looking book titled ‘Handbook for the Recently Deceased. Things seem to be pretty much the same as they had in life until a new family buys their home and moves in. Charles Deetzes (Jeffrey Jones) brings his wife Delia (Catherine O'Hara) and daughter form his first marriage Lydia (Winona Ryder) from New York to their new country home. Charles is happy to sit in his den deep in his thoughts while Delia is an aspiring artist with a perchance for strange sculptures. Lydia is a Goth girl and an outsider everywhere she goes. The Maitlands hate what the new family is doing to their home and want them out. They decide to haunt them and scare them away. Unfortunately neither Barbara nor Adam can muster up anything to drive the new folks away. It actually has the opposite effect when the Deetzes find having a haunted house is camp. With no other options the Maitlands go against official advice and hire a bio- exorcist named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) He is a total misfit and loser failing to do anything effective for his dearly departed clients. In the meanwhile Lydia becomes close to the Maitlands and befriends the ghosts finding that the dead are the only ones you will accept her as she is.

Keaton is in rare form here. While he has gone on to some more serious films he is at his best with a wacky off the wall comedies like this. His screen time is brief but so memorable that you think he is in every scene. This is a classic that should not be left out of your collection.