Tim Burton
15
Horror, Comedy
25/01/1999
Newly-deads Adam and Barbara haven't quite got the celestial message and return home to find it `invaded' by yuppie buyers from New York. When no amount of haunting sends the unwanted tenants packing, they call up ancient exorcist Betelgeuse, a spirit who fancies himself as a demonic Dirty Harry (`Go on! Make my millenium!'). Wonderfully weird second feature from director Tim Burton.
Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Michael Keaton, Robert Goulet, Sylvia Sidney, Winona Ryder
TRIVIA: - Originally planned as a supernatural drama entitled "The Maitlands", about a deceased couple dealing with the troubles of the afterlife. The scenes were scripted much more morbidly than they appear (most notably the waiting room scenes, which were supposed to be particularly ghoulish), and most of the characters were much darker. Only when Michael Keaton began filming his scenes and asked for creative freedom did Tim Burton realize the potential of a dark comedy. - The receptionist in the waiting room is Miss Argentina.
"Coasts by like a rocket, thanks to Keaton's inspired performance and Burton's dark-carnival lunacy" EFILMCRITIC.COM; "One of the all-time great ghost movies, and certainly the funniest" NORTH-WEST HERALD