Beetlejuice was released in 1988 and is widely regarded as a bonafide Tim Burton classic. Directed by Burton and starring Michael Keaton as the titular Beetlejuice, the film is a stylistic masterpiece that showcases the best of Burton’s visionary abilities. Despite Burton’s long catalog of unsettling yet charming films, this one in particular has stuck around in the cultural zeitgeist and has shown long term staying power. However, as a film that is now 36 years old and is just now getting its first sequel, now is the best time to look back at Beetlejuice and see if its name is worth saying three times or if it’s better off dead.

The film tells the story about Barbara and Adam Maitland (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), a married couple who die in a tragic accident and turn into ghosts, cursed to wander their house for at least the next century. The situation only complicates itself further when a teenage girl named Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) moves into their house with her father (Jeffrey Jones) and stepmother (Catherine O’Hara). In order to scare the family out of their house, the Maitlands must enlist the help of Beetlejuice, a “bio-exorcist” ghost that is particularly good at scaring but is untrustworthy and perverted. As can be imagined, chaos ensues.

The two biggest strong suits of the film are the incredible art direction and excellent casting. The art direction is truly unique and shows off Burton’s understanding of how to make a visually-appealing film that understands mood and style. The sets are insanely detailed and showcase a variety of settings that are all distinct despite taking place in the same house throughout. The costuming and makeup for the characters are also great, giving all characters, major and minor, unique looks that make them stand out from one another and are incredibly memorable. The casting is also a major strength of the film, as Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara give some of the best performances of their career. The other actors also give convincing and diverse performances that leave an impression on the audience.

However, where the film fails to age well is in the writing department. The plot is often meandering and slow, bringing down the pacing of an already short movie. The film takes far too long to actually get the main plot going and waits an uncomfortably long time to show the titular character, Beetlejuice, and bring him into the narrative. The dialogue often feels dated and not in a particularly charming way, though some may disagree on that. Despite their best attempts, Baldwin and Davis aren’t given much to work with and aren’t able to make Adam or Barbara interesting characters to follow. Thankfully, these writing issues are actually fixed remarkably well in the 2018 stage musical, which is a better version of the story in every way.

In addition to the recent stage musical, Beetlejuice has proven to be a property that still has relevance thanks to the recently-announced long-awaited sequel. The film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is set to release this September. After 36 years it will be interesting to see what they are able to do to modernize the property and follow up on the story after all this time. The film is also directed by Tim Burton and has Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara reprising their roles joined this time by Jenna Ortega playing Lydia’s daughter. From the looks of the trailer, it looks like Lydia will be returning to her childhood home and will be facing off with Beetlejuice himself once again. Not much else is known about the film, but time will tell how the final product turns out. Hopefully the film will revive the franchise back from the dead and won’t just be a ghost of its former self.