Beetlejuice (1988) - Comedy Horror Film Review

I was never taken with Beetlejuice when I saw it as a teen. At the time Tim Burton was my favourite director, Batman Returns remains one of my favourite films of all time, but for me there was something a little off about Beetlejuice. It shares plenty of elements with the horror genre but I never felt it went far enough. With its recent appearance on Netflix I decided to give it another chance, but it turns out this is one of the few times where my adult self and my childhood self have pretty much the exact same thoughts.

Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis - The Exorcist TV series) are happily married, and live an idyllic life in their sprawling house by a sleepy village. One day they get in a car accident which results in their deaths, a fact which they soon become aware of when they return home to discover quite some time has passed, with their house sold and a strange new family moving in. The family is made up of tasteless designer Delia (Catherine O'Hara - Home Alone, Frankenweenie), her long suffering husband Charles (Jeffrey Jones - Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow), and their goth daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder - Edward Scissorhands, Stranger Things). Adam and Barbara are distraught at all the changes the family are making so come up with a plan to scare them away, but in the process unwisely call on the services of a ghoul named Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton - Spider-Man: Homecoming, Batman) who specialises in getting rid of unwanted pests.

While it is not one of my favourites it doesn't take more than a few moments before it is clear this is traditional Burton in every sense of the word, usually a good thing. There is the typical Danny Elfman theme tune, while the monster designs are very familiar, I wouldn't be surprised if some of this design served as inspiration for the look of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Things such as the black and white pattern that appears throughout, and the gothic looking architecture. I can't recall what I thought of the effects at the time, but now they have dated a bit. That is not me saying it looks bad, practical special effects stand up a whole lot better than the truly atrocious CG of the early 2000s, but the stop animation worm for example do not look the best, nor does the super imposing of characters onto the desert hellscape that occasionally pops up. This is inventive though, parts like the couple visiting the afterlife waiting room are real highlights, including sights like a delivery man who is being moved around via a noose around his neck attached to a metal frame, and the explorer with the shrunken head. The moments where Adam and Barbara change their faces into monstrous visages also look fantastic still.

Phantasm II (1988) - Horror Film Review

I had just finished watching Phantasm for the first time in over a decade when I decided I may as well hop straight into Phantasm II. While this was the most expensive film made in the five strong franchise it found itself with some studio interference. The three biggest changes director and writer Don Coscarelli was forced to make was 1. He was only allowed to use one of the original actors for the roles of Mike and Reggie, so Reggie Bannister reprised his role, but A. Michael Baldwin who played Mike couldn't return. 2. The character of Mike had to have a love interest this time around. 3. The dreamlike quality that made the first film seem so special was removed in place of a more traditional process, this meant no dream sequences were allowed.

It has been seven years since the events of the first movie and during that time Mike (James Le Gros) has been kept in a mental asylum due to his wild stories of The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). He is picked up by friend Reggie upon release but they return to Reggie's family home to find it destroyed and his family dead. With nothing left to live for he teams up with Mike to find and kill The Tall Man. Meanwhile this fearsome being has been going from small town to small town murdering the inhabitants and growing his zombie dwarf army, picking up his trail the two friends mean to end him once and for all.

This isn't as good a film at all as the first in the series, however it is still a decent enough sequel even if it does revisit a lot of the same ideas as before. Sometimes this lack of new ideas works, such as expanded scenes involving the murderous spheres, sometimes they don't, as can be best seen with the final scene which is nearly identical to how the first movie finished. Scrimm has a lot less screen time this time around, and with the reduction in the dreamlike elements he doesn't have as memorable a presence here. He doesn't really do much as a character, though has a nice demonic themed part where he hangs a priest by his own crucifix necklace, and there is a great looking sequence involving hydrochloric acid.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) - Horror Film Review

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master is another good film in the series. The film is a direct sequel to The Dream Warriors. The survivors from that movie are now in high school, pretty soon they are all killed off by a recently resurrected Freddy (Robert Englund), but before the last one dies she transfers part of her soul into her friend Alice. Alice and her friends start to be terrorized by Freddy. She realise Freddy needs her to bring people into her dreams as she is the last link to Elm Street. She discovers that she absorbs the powers of everyone Freddy kills, while he himself absorbs his victims souls, this leads to a battle in the dream world between the two.

Yet again the deaths are a real highlight. From a victim having their insides sucked out, to someone being turned into a human cockroach and then squished, they are a treat to watch. Robert Englund is as good as always, and even turns up sans makeup as a cross dressing nurse in one of the scenes. Freddy's death scene is amazing, and probably the most visual highlight of the film.

Unlike other franchises Elm Street films never slipped into monotony, and kept on an even keel rather than feel progressively lower in budget. Also, I loved the hilariously bad eighties theme tune complete with a terrible Kruger rap.

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