Thoughts on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Welcome to Beware of Creepy Houses where I share my thoughts on ghost stories and other creepy tales, recommend spooky yarns, and post writing prompts to help you with your own eerie (or not!) creative writing.
Happy Friday the 13th! Apparently American businesses will lose up to $800 million today, as people book the day off and stay in bed where it’s safe! A cheaper way to feel safe is to revel in nostalgia, and there’s very little which is more nostalgic (for me) than a good 80s film.
I’ll be honest, I was very, very, very worried about this (triplicate completely on purpose). The only thing which could strike more fear into my heart than this sequel would be a remake of The Princess Bride. It’s iconic to the point where people can no longer wear monochrome stripes without someone (me!) saying the name over and over and over. I literally wanted to be Lydia when I grew up - obviously adulthood is never what you imagine it will be as a child, but still, I’m pretty damn close. This is the ultimate creepy house. Haunted by humans who the resident ghosts just want to leave. Honestly, forget about Oasis. This is the comeback of my generation. Just don’t walk through any doors. It’s sandy on the other side.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
The film opens with a psychic chatshow which was honestly terrifying - that’s on you Ghostbusters 2. Thankfully, we don’t get to that level. Clearly a break of 36 years makes for a better sequel than a break of five; I’ll be coming back to Ghostbusters in a later edition though - happy fortieth birthday!
But, back to Beetlejuice. Lydia (Winona Ryder) is the host of said psychic chatshow. She helps people who live in haunted houses and her original “Ghost House” back home in Winter River is the stuff of legend. After struggling with the filming of her latest episode after an apparition of Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) unexpectedly appears in the audience, Lydia learns that she in fact needs to return to Winter River because Charles Deetz has been killed - one of several actors missing from the original, this one is because he’s a dreadfully horrific person, which there’s plenty of news coverage about and I won’t be dwelling on further here.
So, Lydia goes to her daughter Astrid’s (Jenna Ortega) school with her (sleazy) agent/boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux) and Moira Delia (Catherine O’Hara) to take the whole “family” back to Winter River for the funeral.
In the meantime, Beetlejuice’s ex-wife is searching the underworld for him and she is annoyed and very scary. But Beetlejuice isn’t worried because Lydia is back in Winter River and he is back in Lydia’s life. And so begins a story that could only ever be produced by Tim Burton.
I loved it.
Is it perfect? No, of course not. Perfection only exists in Valinor.
The trauma sparked by Beetlejuice and added to by a series of tragedies has chipped away at Lydia over the years, making her a very different person to the girl we met in the 80s. A lot of critics have gone for this point, saying she’s had a “personality transplant”. Right. It’s been 36 years, she’s been surrounded by death after encountering a literal demon who tried to force her to marry him as a teenager, but she’s supposed to be exactly the same Goth girl we saw in the original film.
Are you the same person you were 36 years ago? Didn’t think so!
And if she had been, people would be complaining about it, the same way they’re complaining about her having the same haircut and wardrobe. Literally cannot win. Beetlejuice has the same haircut and wardrobe too. Ain’t nobody whining about that!
Anyway, what I really loved about it was that instead of trying to replicate every single little bit of the original film (I’m still looking at you Ghostbusters 2 - everybody knows you wanted a Statue of Liberty made out of marshmallow!), it took some of the main themes and made a whole new story. Completely original? No. Heavy enough on nostalgia with some fresh Burton magic? I thought so.
The fab worldbuilding from the first film is maintained and all the loose ends are tied up, with varying degrees of success, but the effort is there. The soundtrack is excellent - hats off to Danny Elfman as always - with a particularly strange beautiful musical moment between our protagonist and Lydia…
There’s also some gorgeous autumnal scenes in Winter River which beautifully contrast with the darker (and greener) underworld scenes. These were great timing for the autumn season entering full swing and made me feel really cosy and seasonal.
And best of all, you can completely tell everyone, especially Keaton and Ryder, are having an absolute blast. And I love it when the passion and love for a project comes through the screen.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a film that was always going to divide audiences. People who adore the original (like me) will love this, and people who equally adore the original but are absolute purists will hate it. Some people who don’t really remember the original will love it and and others will hate it. Then there’ll be the middle ground of mediocrity who don’t get it. And of course there are like two people who don’t like the original either, so they might not be fans.
Personally, I think it’s a great addition to the Beetlejuice family - I religiously watched the animated series as well… There’s also a Beetlejuice teatowel in my kitchen. I might be biased. But isn’t that what nostalgia is all about?
If you like this…
Watch… Beetlejuice! Of course! The original and (still) the best, this (along with The Karate Kid and Die Hard) are on my Christmas season watch list every year.
Watch… The Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burton’s family friendly Halloween meets Christmas stop-motion animation with a Danny Elfman soundtrack. I watch this at least twice a year in both its seasons. Fun fact: Originally Jack Skellington was supposed to have eyes to make him less scary. Jack Skellington with eyes is terrifying!
Watch… Hocus Pocus Teenager (unwillingly) moves house and inadvertently awakens a demon witches. There are three of them. There’s also a talking cat. It’s boss.
Visit… Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton I am ridiculously excited about this. A celebration of the collaboration between Burton and Elfman over the years; seriously forget about Oasis. These tickets are way cheaper!
Say… Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I dare you!
My microfiction, Revenge Spell, published as part of the National Flash Fiction Day Write-In 2024, utilises repetition to explore dark magic.
Writing prompt
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice creates something new out of something old which can be a great way to generate ideas and even rescue an old story from your rejection pile.
If you’d like to write something new, think of a trope or motif in your chosen genre and twist it in some way. For example, if you were writing a ghost story, you could take a creaky door and anthropomorphise it, so that its creaks are reflective of its emotions. Perhaps it misses someone who used to live in the house and is crying every time someone else opens the door.
Alternatively, take an old object, like an item of clothing or a book, and put something else into it. For example, maybe an old wedding dress possesses anyone who wears with the spirit of its original bride.
If you’d like to rework or rescue an older piece of work, you can transform it into something new by:
Telling the same story with a different narrative voice
Telling a new or alternative story from the point of view of a background character
Telling a new story in the same setting
Remember that creative writing is just like everything else. Reduce excess words, reuse old work and recycle your ideas.
I hope you find this prompt interesting and useful, and I’d love to see anything you write from it.
Please also send over any films you'd like me to cover and let me know what you think of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Sending tricks and treats and tricks and treats and tricks and treats,
Donna
A quick note to let you know that I’m having surgery next week, so will be taking a short break from posting while I recover. I’m hoping to be well enough to do 31 days of spooky in October, so fingers crossed for that! Take care and speak soon!