National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Warner Bros. released Beetlejuice in March 1988, marking Tim Burton's breakthrough as a major studio director following Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The film blended dark comedy with practical effects and production design that felt genuinely unlike anything else in mainstream cinema at the time. Michael Keaton's performance as the self-described bio-exorcist became a cultural touchstone, and the film's success helped establish Burton's long relationship with the studio.

This cell, titled Harry the Hunter, captures a low-angle moment from a darkened interior set, showing the Beetlejuice character crouching or lunging over a cylindrical prop in his layered dark costume. The duplicate or adjacent framing offers collectors a rare paired glimpse at the physicality of the performance within a single encapsulated piece of 35mm original material.