My plans to attend the Big E this year were thwarted by record-breaking attendance and, by my estimation, record-breaking traffic. For everyone like myself who lacks the patience to wait through lines, here are some fall films that will scare you into the Halloween spirit!
New to Theaters: “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
Synopsis: After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the afterlife.
One of the Hollywood trends I despise the most is the legacy sequel. Legacy sequels showcase the industry in its most creatively lethargic state. Oftentimes, studios will bring an iconic film back from the dead with a follow-up that rarely captures what made the original so beloved. Films like “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Rambo: Last Blood” and “Coming 2 America” in recent years zapped any goodwill audiences might have had by delivering a commercialized carcass of a once-beloved property.
To my surprise, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the follow-up to the 1989 Tim Burton spooky classic, upends this trend. While far from revelatory, the long-awaited sequel plays in its macabre sandbox with gleefully kooky results.
The lion’s share of the credit goes to Burton. Following a mediocre run in the 2010s, Burton feels at home again behind the director’s chair. He’s rediscovered his distinctive eye for arresting aesthetics, creating a world where horror and comedic playfulness blend into one madcap vision. The vibrant colors, evocative set designs and eccentric imagery all help rekindle the spark that made the original so beloved.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is the type of film that gets by through heaving a gag-a-minute at the screen. Burton’s creative world bursts with obtuse yet alluring ideas, whether it’s a character who roams the narrative as an overeager private investigator or the constant parodies aimed at modern paranormal investigative shows. Not all the ideas click, but there is enough vitality in Burton’s vision to muster plenty of laughs along the way.
In terms of narrative, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” lacks the same vibrancy. The screenplay is a mishmash of half-baked ideas that stack upon each other without a clear vision. There are so many dissident threads, like the inclusion of Beetlejuice’s ex-lover, that add little purpose to the experience. It remains strange to me that a sequel can be released over 30 years after its predecessor yet still struggle to articulate anything meaningful conceptually.
Thankfully, the film’s slapdash story is bolstered by an all-star cast. Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara deploy bitting snark with winning results as the oddball Deetz family. Michael Keaton’s portrayal of Beetlejuice remains the true standout, though, with Keaton throwing himself again into the character’s wonderfully chaotic persona.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” never reaches its predecessor’s storied heights, although I would argue that was always an impossible standard. The sequel still shines as a spirited modern redux that retains most of the original’s paranormal allures.
Also in Theaters: “Speak No Evil”
Synopsis: A family is invited to spend a whole weekend in a lonely home in the countryside, but as the weekend progresses, they realize that a dark side lies within the family who invited them.
Another terrible Hollywood trend is the insistent desire to remake foreign films. Any time a foreign film, such as “Oldboy,” earns a modicum of interest in the zeitgeist, studios view it as a golden opportunity to profit off audiences who have no desire to read subtitles. These listless retreads either regurgitate their source material without the same artistic flair or contort the original into some bizarre hodgepodge of new ideas and existing concepts.
In another welcomed surprise, “Speak No Evil,” based on a 2022 Danish film, conquers the dreaded foreign remake mountain. Make no mistake; this reimaging rests in the shadow of its predecessor. Still, “Speak No Evil” scores points for uncorking an unhinged horror crowdpleaser that leaves audiences laughing one minute and unnerved the next.
“Speak No Evil” feels ripped from a bygone era, which I consider a compliment. The film shamelessly embraces being a trashy piece of horror camp, but it also never winks at the camera to let viewers know the creative team is in on the joke. After a quiet opening set in a quaint countryside homestead, “Speak No Evil” quickly unveils its sinister streak.
Writer/director James Watkins is most successful at contorting seemingly mundane moments of domestic awkwardness into deliciously devious exchanges. This approach delivers a first half that showcases cringe comedy at its best, while the second half flips the script by quickly evolving into a nightmarish odyssey.
The unique tonal approach works thanks to the well-calibrated cast, particularly star James McAvoy as the patriarch of a family hiding some major secrets. McAvoy is gifted at portraying oddball caricatures who demonstrate sudden mood shifts at the drop of a hat. It would be easy for his performance to feel like uncomfortable shtick in the wrong hands, yet the actor effectively mines enough nuance under the surface of his unhinged role.
Looking for a slice of horror to get into the Halloween spirit? “Speak No Evil” provides a perfect dose for audiences seeking straightforward escapism.
