"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" haunts the home cinema: A nostalgia feast for all Tim Burton fans

"Beetlejuice", released in 1988, is one of those few films that truly deserves the title of horror comedy. This is of course thanks to director Tim Burton (66), who created a classic in film history with his characteristic mixture of macabre humor and sometimes silly, sometimes quite disturbing effects.

It has been around 36 years since this feat was achieved - and in September of last year it was actually reproduced with the sequel "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice". The conditions for this were more than met: numerous stars from the original, including Michael Keaton (73) as the titular monster, returned. There were also franchise newcomers such as Willem Dafoe (69), Jenna Ortega (22), Justin Theroux (53) - and last but not least Burton's lady love Monica Bellucci (60). For fans of part one, there are adorable Easter eggs in every second of the film that provide a real nostalgia boost. From February 28th, they will finally do the same in the home cinema - then "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" can be seen on demand on Sky and the streaming service Wow.

The return of the Lottergeist - that's what it's about

After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return to Winter River. Lydia (Winona Ryder, 53), still haunted by Beetlejuice (Keaton), finds her life thrown into disarray when her rebellious teenage daughter Astrid (Ortega) discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the gate to the world of the dead is inadvertently opened. Both in this world and the afterlife, disaster is brewing quickly, and it's only a matter of time before someone says the name Beetlejuice three times and the mischievous demon returns to wreak his own brand of chaos.

Charming nostalgia or fan service overkill?

In an interview with "The New York Times," Burton talked about how important it was to him to use practical effects instead of CGI (computer-generated effects) in the sequel as much as possible. The filmmaker is sure that this will inevitably lead to better acting: This way, the actors can "work with something real: you have real sets, people in makeup, you have real effects. It helps the creative process when they can see what they're dealing with."

His beloved stop motion effects, which were an integral part of 80s cinema, have also made it into "Beetlejuice". And so Keaton's character must once again beware of the lovable wooden sandworms that loved to eat him in the original.

Successful comeback

But nostalgia can be a double-edged sword. At least if you rely on it too much and offer too few fresh aspects to bring new viewers on board. Or if you duplicate the gags and visual effects of the predecessor too often - an homage is always only a hair's breadth away from being a copy. But Burton managed this demanding balancing act with his sequel and proved once again that his films are never unimaginative or loveless. In any case, cinema audiences welcomed the return with strong box office results, with "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" bringing in around 450 million US dollars at the box office worldwide.

The return as Beetlejuice was a nice anecdote for lead actor Michael Keaton. He famously took on the role of Batman a year after the 1988 original, also directed by Burton. Over 35 years later, it was the other way round: in 2023, he was allowed to don the bat costume again for "The Flash" and returned a year later as the Lottergeist - from February 28th also on Sky and Wow.

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