Thirty-six years later, an aptly titled sequel to “Beetlejuice," “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was released to haunt theaters.
Picking up decades after the first film, it followed Lydia Deetz, now a mother and popular TV medium. Throughout the movie, she dealt with the trickster demon a second time while fighting to protect her daughter, Astrid, from the dead.
The first movie was released in 1988. Michael Keaton, Winona Rider and Catherine O’Hara reprised their roles. Tim Burton also returned to direct it. The crew was joined by new cast members including Jenna Ortega as Astrid, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Monica Bellucci.
Highs
A comedy-horror film that delivered on both fronts with witty humor and gloriously gory ghosts. The movie was perfect for this Halloween season. The movie leaned into the macabre, jammed packed with dark jokes that mostly stuck the landing.
Beyond just clever dialog and visuals, the cast put on great performances. Winona Rider once again brought life to her character, now a goth adult dealing with the trauma of the first film and a complicated relationship with her daughter. Jenna Ortega was perfectly cast as Astrid, further cementing her status as a scream queen. Catherine O’Hara stole the show in regards to humor, her character continued to be wacky and enduringly self-centered. And of course, Michael Keaton still knew how to make the undead larger-than-life.
The movie mostly stayed true to the style of the original when it came to costume and set designs. Showing even more ghosts and parts of the underworld than the original, it got creative with their appearances, leaning further into the horror elements.
Lows
The plot was absolute pandemonium. Far too many subplots and characters made the movie jumbled and unfocused, making it half-baked. In particular when compared to the focus of the first movie, mainly on a ghost couple trying to exorcize the living from their house. The new film could have also done a clever subversion of ghost tropes, but was too busy.
This also led to a pacing issue, the first act of the film having been slow to set up the characters before jumping into insanity. The film would have benefitted from keeping a slower pace throughout, allowing the story to carry more weight. In order for this to happen, subplots would have had to have been cut or condensed.
There was one special effect that did not gel with this movie or the original, the sandworm. A powerful and terrifying monster, the sandworm was created via stop-motion animation, a style that has become synonymous with Tim Burton thanks to films such as “The Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (the latter of which was produced by Burton, but directed by Henry Selick). In “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” the sandworm was recreated digitally, losing much of both its charm and edge.
Verdict
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a great watch for Halloween. Though the plot was a mess, it had a delightful blend of comedy and horror carried by a strong cast. Though of course, it did not live up to the original film, but that says more about the quality of the original than the sequel.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is currently playing in theaters.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Frank Remski is a film and theater reviewer for the Eastern Echo. He is majoring in media studies and journalism and minoring in public relations. He has worked for The Echo since summer of 2023 and has written both news stories and opinion pieces.
