I have recently been wondering whether or not these goofy, avant garde films have a place in modern cinema. Part of the reason I think older films of a similar genre hold up is because we know when they came out, what tools were at their disposal and the climate of the time. I feel that if some films from the eighties and nineties that are cherished as classics came out today they would simply be mocked. This resulted in a small tinge of fear in my chest as the theater lights dimmed and Danny Elfman’s ominous thrum started up. Fear as to whether or not Tim Burton would hit his mark. And I can confidently say he has. Looking back I don’t know why I ever worried, Burton being the long time master of this odd little sub-genre of whimsical horror. Jenna Ortega gave a solid performance, she’s one of the best young stars to come out of the last few years, and always dependable for a good performance, this film only adding to her increasingly impressive resume. Catherine O’Hara, Willem Dafoe, Monica Belucci and co. all brought their A. game. Micheal Keaton however remains the showstopper; slipping easily back into one of his most iconic roles, and seeming practically ageless under all of the prosthetics and makeup despite the 35 year gap between the last film.

Elfman pulled his weight as per usual, the man needs no introduction and I’m not the first to sing his praise, not by a long shot. The score was one of the most iconic parts of the first film and the rule still applies. This isn’t his first run with Burton either, having scored the first film back in 88’, as well as numerous others over the years such as “Corpse Bride”, and “Edward Scissorhsands”.

Part of the fascination of the first film was its unique, satirical and mildly psychotic exploration of death. I think you can kind of feel it when a sequel is made on orders by the studio simply because they think it’l make money and not because there’s more story to tell, and I don’t exactly know how this one came to be but it certainly doesn’t read like one of those. All in all “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” did not disappoint, I’ve seen many a sequel fall flat on their face, failing to live up to first, and this one most certainly did not. It was the perfect balance of strange, spectacular, and just the right amount of disturbing.