Tim Burton rewatch! After doing TV for a few years, Burton was back on the big screen in a big way for 1988’s outrageous afterlife comedy, Beetlejuice.

Here’s what happens: After their death, small-town couple Adam and Barbara Maitland are tasked with haunting their home’s new owners, sophisticated yet neurotic urbanites Charles and Lydia Deitz. For help, they bring in a “freelance bio-exorcist” named Beetlejuice. He’s the ghost with the most, but he’s got plans of his own.

Origin story: Originally a horror movie called House Ghost, the script for Beetlejuice was passed around Hollywood for years before being made, with countless rewriting eventually making it a comedy.

In the movie, the character’s name is spelled “Betelgeuse,” a name also used frequently in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy novels. Betelgeuse is a star in the Orion constellation. The name is allegedly derived from old Arabic, roughly translated as “The Hand of Orion.”  

Outsider theory: While all the characters are outsiders in some way, (the Maitlands are outsiders in the afterlife, and the Deitzs are outsiders in this small town), it’s teen daughter Lydia who truly speaks for the Burton fans, identifying herself as “strange and unusual.”  Lydia’s love of photography is a fun detail in the movie, showing she has interests beyond being a disaffected teen.

Reality breaks through: The Maitlands attempt to scare the Deitz family and their dinner guests by possessing everyone and making them lip sync Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O.” It backfires, as the possessed end up enjoying it. The Maitlands are seen listening to Belafonte a couple of times throughout the movie.

Best bits: Beetlejuice: “Well, I attended Juilliard. I’m a graduate of the Harvard Business School. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time doing that. I’ve seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty-seven times and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it, not to mention the fact that you’re talking to a dead guy. Now what do you think? Do you think I’m qualified?”

Thoughts upon this viewing: What’s not to love? A cast of memorable characters, Michael Keaton chewing every bit of scenery as Beetlejuice, and tons of visual razzle-dazzle. The séance scene with the Maitlands’ wedding clothes is beautifully macabre. The only quibble is that some plot and world-building info is sped through too quickly and will likely be lost for first-time viewers. But that’s minor considering how much fun this is.

Next: I am vengeance… I am the night…

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