The Screen Scribe

Some films don’t just flirt with weirdness, they marry it, invite it home, and redecorate the living room in black-and-white stripes. Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice is one of those films. Released in 1988, it’s the kind of gleefully macabre comedy that could only have crawled out of Burton’s imagination, equal parts haunted house, gothic fairytale, and anarchic cartoon. And if you’re looking for the perfect Halloween recommendation, you really can’t do better than a movie that revels in death, ghosts, and sandworms while still being laugh-out-loud funny.

At its core, the story follows Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), a sweet, recently deceased couple stuck haunting their own New England home. Their peaceful afterlife is interrupted when an obnoxious yuppie family, the Deetzes, move in and begin redecorating their quaint country house into an avant-garde nightmare. Desperate to reclaim their home, the Maitlands call on “bio-exorcist” Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) to scare the intruders away. This, of course, proves disastrous. The plot sounds simple, but Burton uses it as a playground for wild visual gags, surreal set-pieces, and a deliciously off-kilter sense of humour.

So why should you dust off Beetlejuice this Halloween? First, Michael Keaton’s performance is an unhinged tour de force. He’s only on screen for about 17 minutes, but every second is a masterclass in controlled chaos. Equal parts sleazy used-car salesman and demonic prankster, his Beetlejuice is unpredictable, grotesque, and magnetic, you can’t take your eyes off him. It’s one of those performances that completely redefined what a leading man could do in the late ‘80s, paving the way for Keaton’s chameleonic career.

Second, Burton’s gothic production design and practical effects still dazzle. The afterlife waiting room, the stop-motion sandworms, the grotesque makeup, all of it has aged into something timelessly charming. Unlike today’s over-polished CGI, Beetlejuice leans into the handmade and the theatrical, making the visuals feel tactile and alive. Every frame screams Burton’s signature style, from the twisted architecture to Danny Elfman’s now-iconic score, which bounces between creepy and whimsical with ease.

Third, the supporting cast adds real heart. Winona Ryder, in one of her earliest roles, nails the part of Lydia Deetz, the goth teenager who feels more at home with the dead than the living. Her deadpan line delivery (“I myself am strange and unusual”) has become legendary among outsiders everywhere. Catherine O’Hara is a scene-stealer as Delia Deetz, the eccentric stepmother whose disastrous dinner party dance to Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” remains one of the most brilliantly absurd set pieces in movie history.

But maybe the most enduring reason to watch Beetlejuice is its tone. It’s a film that makes death funny without ever cheapening it, that finds warmth in the afterlife, and that celebrates the oddballs, outcasts, and weirdos. At Halloween, when the world already tilts a little stranger, this kind of anarchic, spooky fun feels exactly right. So, grab the popcorn, turn down the lights, and let Burton’s bizarre vision wash over you. Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, Beetlejuice remains one of the most original, mischievous, and flat-out entertaining films of its era. Just remember, don’t say his name three times… unless you’re ready for trouble.

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