It’s showtime! Yes, everyone’s favourite eccentric bio-exorcist, Betelgeuse, is coming back to the big screen, with Tim Burton’s much-anticipated sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice heading to cinemas very soon. That makes now the perfect time to revisit the gothic, gruesome tale that started it all – Burton’s original Beetlejuice, released back in 1988, which first established Michael Keaton as the striped-suited ghost with the most.
A movie that pushed the boundaries when it came to makeup and hairstyling, prosthetics and special effects, Beetlejuice is the story of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), a self-proclaimed ‘strange and unusual’ girl who feels increasingly isolated from her father and stepmother as they move into their new suburban home, which just happens to be haunted by the couple that previously lived there (Adam and Barbara Maitland, played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis).
The Maitlands aren’t happy either, as new matriarch and high-maintenance sculptor Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) sets about redecorating the home they had so carefully and lovingly crafted for themselves. So, they recruit undead hustler Betelgeuse to help them get rid of their new human housemates – and all kinds of creepy chaos ensues, making for some truly memorable moments. Here are Empire’s picks of five most iconic sequences:
The Scary Sandworm
Perhaps the most surreal element of this overall very surreal film is what happens when Adam and Barbara try to leave their house after they’ve died. Desperate to escape the Deetzs, they step outside to find themselves in a desert wasteland instead of their front garden, full of bright yellow sand, red rocks, a green moon – and, most threateningly, an enormous black-and-white-striped sandworm. It’s both menacing and cartoonish, something we haven’t seen in a movie like this before or since, and just one slice of pure Burton-esque creature design of many throughout the film.
The Neitherworld Waiting Room
Turns out, even in the afterlife, queuing is inevitable. As the Maitlands struggle to make sense of their new undead existence and the manual they found in their attic room, they end up finding themselves in a strange space doused in green light. It’s a waiting room for the recently deceased, complete with barriers, ticket machines to take a number, and a reception – as well as a blue woman whose body is in two parts, some seriously shrunken heads, and a burnt-to-a-crisp skeletal guy lighting up a cigarette. It’s the first time we see this vivid, iconic part of the Beetlejuice universe – an ingenious creation from Tim Burton, which combines the creepy grossness of its residents’ various deaths with the mundanity of the sort of space you’d expect to wait in at a Post Office.
‘Banana Boat (Day-O)’
Of course – maybe the most memorable scene from the original Beetlejuice movie is the one where Adam and Barbara, in an attempt to dial up their haunting tekkers and scare off the Deetzs for good, take possession of them and their house guests for a unusual bit of dinner party entertainment. The hilarious sequence sees Delia singing Harry Belafonte’s classic song (‘Day-o, day-o, daylight come and me want to go home’) and breaking out into some elaborate dancing, before being joined by the others. It’s properly silly – and trust us, that song will be in your head for days – but also ends on a properly scary note, thanks to some prawn-related production design.
Snake On The Stairs
When the Deetzs and their pals find the Maitland’s ‘Banana Boat’ antics amusing (and potentially lucrative) rather than frightening, they finally turn to Betelgeuse for help. After they say his name three times, he bursts out of Adam’s model village and into action: “Let’s turn on the juice and see what shakes loose”. What shakes loose is a terrifying scaly snake, with an enormous Betelgeuse-esque head, large slitted eyes and fangs. In a movie that balances horror and comedy, this is Beetlejuice flexing its horror muscles.
‘Jump In The Line’
At the end of the film, we get one last musical sequence. After a movie full of ghostly antics meant to induce fear and mischief, Winona Ryder sees the movie out on a high with a moment that induces only joy. Adam floats Lydia into the air and she sings another great Belafonte tune, ‘Jump In The Line’ – it’s the perfect, feel-good end to this part of Lydia’s story, to see her swinging her arms in her schoolgirl uniform and poofy checked skirt, having such fun in a house she initially hated. All together now: ‘Jump in the line, rock your body in time…’