Beetlejuice Page #31

Synopsis: Adam and Barbara are a normal couple...who happen to be dead. They have given their precious time to decorate their house and make it their own, but unfortunately a family is moving in, and not quietly. Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but end up becoming the main attraction to the money making family. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but Beetlejuice has more in mind than just helping.
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Director(s): Tim Burton
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.5
Metacritic:
69
Rotten Tomatoes:
83%
PG
Year:
1988
92 min
10,409 Views


INT:
CATHY'S ROOM -- NIGHT

CATHY lies on the floor, torn and bloody, as if attacked by an

animal several times her own size. The wooden box that held the

Squirrel lies in splinters around her. DELIA kneels at CATHY's

side, applying first aid. LYDIA runs in with more bandages.

CHARLES:

Cathy! Cathy! Wake up.

Speak to us. Tell us what

happened.

DELIA:

We know what happened.

It was the ghosts.

CATHY opens her eyes a little. She makes a feeble motion of

shaking her head no.

Unnoticed by anyone in the room, the bedroom door is pushed open.

CATHY:

They're here.

DELIA:

We know they're here,

darling. And don't worry.

Otho's going to tell us

how to get rid of them

for good.

INT:
ATTIC -- NIGHT

Dark and quiet. The door is pushed slowly open, and OTHO's round

fat fearful face appears.

OTHO:

Yoo-hoo.

Getting no response, OTHO enters the room. He's brought along a

bottle of wine for courage.

He sees the model town in the moonlight, and his curiosity is

peaked for a moment.

OTHO:

How quaint. An exact

replica of the dullest

town on earth.

He continues his search of the room. Circling the model, he

trips on something, leans down, and retrieves the HANDBOOK FOR

THE RECENTLY DECEASED.

OTHO:

Well, this is interesting.

I wish there were moon light

in here.

As if in answer to his wish, the whorehouse in the model town

bursts into lurid flame. OTHO stares at it a moment, and then

douses the flames with the wine.

INT:
CATHY'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

CATHY has been moved to the bed, and looks a little stronger,

ADAM and BARBARA stand on the opposite side of the bed from the

DEETZs. (In this scene the DEETZs cannot see or hear ADAM and

BARBARA.)

BARBARA:

You know we'd never do anything

that would hurt you.

CATHY:

I know.

CHARLES:

What, honey?

CATHY:

I know it wasn't Barbara and

Adam. It was an evil spirit.

ADAM:

His name is Beetle Juice.

CATHY:

His name is Beetle Juice.

And he's here.

The clock on her mantle begins to chime midnight.

INT:
LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

DELIA'S water clock continues to chime the hour.

GUEST #4

Thank God it's midnight.

Now we can go.

GUEST #5

If Delia has a brain in her

head, she'll stay upstairs.

GUEST #6

It'll be a cold day in hell

before I come back to

Connecticut.

The first guests start for the door. At this moment, the clock

stops chiming. BEETLE JUICE slides down the banister. He's

wearing a magician's top hat and tails, looking like he last

worked the Catskills.

BEETLE JUICE:

Pick a card.

He fans the TAROT DECK. No one takes the bait. He turns over

the deck. Every one of the cards is DEATH.

The GUESTS nearest the door turn away in disgust.

GUEST #7

Christ, this is what we've

been waiting for?

GUEST #7 pulls open the front door.

BEETLE JUICE --

points at the door. It slams shut. GUEST #7, with his hand

still on the knob, is hurtled against the door, and slumps

unconscious to the floor.

BEETLE JUICE smiles at the crowd.

BEETLE JUICE:

Show time.

EXT:
THE HOUSE -- NIGHT

The wind is picking up, blowing the trees, pulling the tent pegs

from the ground. The tent whips high into the air. The barn

door is slammed shut by the force of the gale.

INT:
BARN -- NIGHT

TRIXIE and ART CRITIC #2 are making out in the shadow of one of

DELIA's monumental sculptures in steel and feathers. The whole

barn structure creaks with the force of the wind.

TRIXIE:

Hey, it's midnight. I

want to see Lydia's ghosts.

Let's go inside.

CRITIC #2

Oh, let's stay out here.

Delia probably just hired

some third-rate magician

who's going to --

AN UNNATURAL GROANING OF METAL --

interrupts the critic. He and TRIXIE look around the dimly-

lighted barn.

TRIXIE:

What was that?

CRITIC #2

The wind.

AN OMINOUS DARK SHADOW --

crosses the faces of TRIXIE and CRITIC #2.

They stare at SOMETHING in disbelief.

TRIXIE:

Have you got a car? A

fast car?

EXT:
BARN -- NIGHT

TRIXIE and CRITIC #2 bolt from the barn door. The wind outside

is even higher than before, nearly knocking them off their feet.

We hear that OMINOUS METALLIC CREAK again. Then --

ONE OF DELIA'S STEEL AND FEATHER SCULPTURES

crashes through the barn door, lumbering forward on its sawhorse-

like legs.

Another SCULPTURE follows immediately in its wake.

INT:
LIVING ROOM -- NIGHT

The crowd is warily watching as BEETLE JUICE performs a series of

cheap MAGICIAN's tricks. He produces a bunch of garishly-colored

paper flowers from his sleeve, and then pulls a SMALL SINGING

CANARY out of his mouth.

The WELL-DRESSED MATRON (from earlier) is manifestly anxious to

leave.

MATRON:

I really do have to leave.

BEETLE JUICE smiles at her. The CANARY perched on his finger is

suddenly transformed into a small, flying dragon.

Rate this script:3.7 / 10 votes

Michael McDowell

Michael McEachern McDowell (June 1, 1950 – December 27, 1999) was an American novelist and screenwriter described by author Stephen King as "the finest writer of paperback originals in America today". His most well-known work is the screenplay for the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice. more…

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Submitted by acronimous on August 24, 2016

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