FILM PICKS
SUNDAY
Beetlejuice (1988) (C5, 5.05pm)
After Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) are killed in a car crash, they discover they will be stuck haunting their beloved home for the next 125 years. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact their house has been purchased by an obnoxious real-estate developer (Jeffrey Jones), his sculptor wife (Catherine O’Hara) and goth daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder in a starmaking performance). When the Maitlands fail to scare the interlopers away, they turn to “bio-exorcist” Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) for help. Despite the wafer-thin premise, Tim Burton’s supernatural comedy is huge fun. Keaton only appears for 17 minutes in total, but he dominates the movie as the eponymous slobbish spook, and the bouncy Danny Elfman score keeps things ticking over nicely.
MONDAY
The Exorcist (1973) (BBC3, 10pm)
A 12-year-old girl (Linda Blair) is possessed by a malevolent demonic entity, and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) recruits Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) to stage an exorcism. Aided by the mysterious Jesuit Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), Father Damien must confront not only the supernatural phenomena in front of him, but also his own inadequate faith and displaced guilt over his mother’s recent death. This Oscar-winning adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel is one of the most talked-about and controversial horror movies of all time.
TUESDAY
The Greatest Showman (2017) (Film4, 6.55pm)
A massive sleeper hit, this musical stars Hugh Jackman as the legendary PT Barnum, a tailor’s son who falls under the spell of the privileged Charity Hallett (Michelle Williams). They live modestly until PT blags a $10,000 bank loan for a museum of living curiosities. The exhibits include bearded-lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), dwarf Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey) and high-flying trapeze siblings WD and Anne Wheeler (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Zendaya). Sardonic newspaper critic James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks) denounces the enterprise as “a primitive circus of humbug”, but the public disagrees, as does investor Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron).
THURSDAY
Monster (2003) (Film4, 9pm)
Charlize Theron cast aside her glamorous image to give an Oscarwinning performance as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the downbeat Monster. The film follows Aileen as she tries to make a new life with her lover Selby (Christina Ricci) but shows how she is unable to escape prostitution. When one client turns violent, she kills him in self-defence, but before long she doesn’t need a reason to murder the men who visit her. Director Patty Jenkins’ grim, unrelenting drama is not an easy watch. However, Monster is worth seeing for Theron’s astonishing performance alone.