Throwback Thursday: Beetlejuice (dvd)

When October arrives, my first go-to movie is, of course, Hocus Pocus (because nothing says Spooky like the Sanderson Sisters and their insatiable hunger for the souls of little children of Salem...MWA-hahahaha!). But although there are no words for how much I love this movie, I'm not reviewing it for today's Throwback, because it would be a bit too obvious. Even for (and especially for) me. 

Instead, I've elected to review my Number 2 Halloween Movie, which is Beetlejuice. This film about two recently deceased souls trying to rid their beloved home of the living is classic Halloween and director Tim Burton at his best. And despite its mid-80s special effects and over-the-top campy-ness, this film holds up amazingly well. And that's not just the nostalgia talking. 

Beetlejuice opens as small-town newlyweds leave their quaint farmhouse for an innocent drive through the countryside...and meet with tragic demise when their car plunges off the bridge into the raging waters below!! They return home wet and shaken, but otherwise all right. Or so they think. It takes them a while to realize they are dead. But if blood-thirsty sandworms and an ominously-titled book aren't clues enough, their BIG wake-up call comes when a quirky family from the Big City move into their former house and proceed to do some very bizarre remodeling. The ghostly couple decide they must get rid of these people at all costs. But when their "haunting" efforts don't amount to anything, they go against better judgement and hire a bio-exorcist, whose name I will not say a third time (because you know what happens when you do!), to get rid of these pesky mortals. But his methods aren't exactly conventional...or safe. And there are hints things will end badly for everyone unless he-who-shall-not-be-named-a-third-time is banished back to the nether-realms. 

So if you're looking for a Halloween classic movie that's not extreme in its scariness, try Beet...OOPS! (I almost said it) This film whose title I shall not speak a third time. Because whether you're re-experiencing this movie's awesomeness or are watching it for the first time, you're craving for a near-perfect Halloween film is sure to be satisfied.

--AJB