Beetlejuice (1988)

Beetlejuice is a 1988 American fantasy comedy directed by Tim Burton. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis star as Adam and Barbara Maitland, a recently deceased couple who find themselves trapped as ghosts in their beloved Connecticut farmhouse, which has been sold to the obnoxious Deetz family from New York. When their attempts to haunt the Deetzes into leaving prove comically ineffective, the Maitlands make the mistake of summoning Beetlejuice, a grotesque, fast-talking "bio-exorcist" played by Michael Keaton, whose chaotic methods threaten to make things far worse.

Michael Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice was a force of nature — despite appearing on screen for only 17 minutes, his manic, improvisational energy dominated the film and created one of the most iconic characters in comedy history. Tim Burton's visual imagination, realized through practical effects, stop-motion animation, and elaborate set design, created an afterlife that was both surreal and bureaucratic — a waiting room staffed by civil servants and a handbook for the recently deceased. Winona Ryder, in an early role as the morbid teenager Lydia Deetz, became the film's heart and a goth icon.

Danny Elfman's playfully macabre score and Harry Belafonte's calypso songs gave the film an irresistibly eccentric soundtrack. Beetlejuice earned $73 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.