The first thing you notice about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Danny Elfman’s Overture for the film’s opening sequence.  Once that manic oompah begins to sound, you know for sure you’re in Tim Burton-land.  You’ll soon be awash in the color and fantasy that Burton delights in bringing to the screen.  And if, when you die, Don Cornelius appears as the conductor on your Soul Train to the great beyond, well you can sign me up for that Hip Hop ride to infinity.

Basically, Burton, with the writing team of Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith, are plunging us back into the town of Winter River, Connecticut.  The Deetz family are again our unwilling, unwitting hosts, well, at least some of them.  Lydia (Winona Ryder) and mom Delia (Catherine O’Hara) are still living in that exceedingly haunted mansion at the top of the hill.  Jenna Ortega has joined the cast as Lydia’s teen-age daughter, Astrid, adding a new dynamic to the family. 

Astrid’s dad has passed away, and she misses him terribly.  Lydia is now a “psychic mediator”, who, as the host of her own tv show, “Ghost House”, goes into people’s homes and communicates with the undead spirits inhabiting the premises.  Astrid is pretty pissed off that her mom can talk to any ghost she chooses yet seems to have an inability to contact her dead dad.  Rory (Justin Theroux) is on hand as the shady producer of Lydia’s program, and her would-be suitor, who keeps trying to get Lydia to accept his marriage proposal.

Meanwhile, Delia’s beloved, Charles, has gone off to watch birds having sex on the beach in foreign lands.  Sadly, for Delia, a series of misfortunes befalls Charles, who finds himself unable to return to her on this plane of existence.  Delia, though mourning, takes the opportunity to fully embrace her sorrow through a public series of artistic installments, including one with a pair of de-fanged snakes.

From the land of the dead, Delores (Monica Bellucci), the late bride of Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), has resurrected her piecemeal self, and is on the hunt to recapture the soul of her still-dead mate.  Delores’ reputation as a ‘soul sucker’ precedes her.  In fact, she may be the only thing that the Juice fears.  Watching her literally suck the lifeforce out of a number of characters in the film, including Danny DeVito, is hysterical.  As one cast-member says, “she’s back, and she’s pissed”. 

Astrid, the weird H.S. outcast, literally crashes into the home of a local boy, Jeremy (Arthur Conti).  Jeremy is a bit older than Astrid, but seems to fully understand and accept her idiosyncrasies and the sparks soon start to fly between the pair. 

While all this chaos is going on within the Deetz family, Lydia keeps seeing flashes of Beetlejuice in her tv audience and on the street.  And, for some reason, the family still has that miniature town locked away under a sheet, behind a locked door, within their home.  As it turns out, it was a damned good thing it was never destroyed, as Lydia finds it necessary to dive deep into the bowels of the town, hunt down Beetlejuice and save Astrid.  

Bob-shrinker is back, along with his fellow head-shrunken team, as Beetlejuice’s office workers.  Though they never speak, the extremely colorful visuals, akin to finding oneself running through Alice’s own looking-glass, are, as always, part of the Beetlejuice ensemble.

A great soundtrack including lots of prime ‘70’s disco, some hysterical musical and verbal references to the original film, multiple cameos including Willem Dafoe and a few unexpected reveals, all serve up a sequel that you never knew you wanted but will definitely enjoy biting into.  

Lisa Blanck is the Associate Editor / Movie Reviewer for In Focus-Magazine.com and is a member of the Critics Association of Central Florida.  Her background includes 30+ years of digital editing for NBC and CBS News affiliates.  She also edits national promotional spots for Matter Of Fact, the #1 nationally syndicated news & information program.  For 30+ years she has covered the Florida Film Festival & the World Peace Film Festival, and has additional award-winning experience in advertising, marketing, promotions and live special events with MTV Networks.