Beetlejuice (1988)

Beetlejuice is named after a guy who’s barely in Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton shows up late, steals the movie, then vanishes for long stretches so the nicest ghosts in history can read their manual. That’s the issue. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis are sweet as the Maitlands, but sweet isn’t scary, and their haunting lessons drag a little. Everything else is a handmade treat. The afterlife waiting room looks like a DMV run by a haunted craft store. The stop-motion sandworm is goofy and perfect. Catherine O’Hara’s art-world Delia might be the funniest person in the movie, and Winona Ryder’s Lydia basically invented the goth teen who’s over it. The dinner party that gets taken over by calypso music is about as perfect as movie comedy gets. Tim Burton did all of it on a $15 million budget and pulled $74.7 million domestic. A 7.7 because it’s a blast whenever Keaton or the weird stuff is on screen, and slower when it isn’t. $302 says you say the name twice tonight and stop yourself right before the third.

What works: Keaton is a lightning bolt, and the handmade effects, from the sandworm to the waiting room, give it a look nobody has matched.

What doesn’t: The title character is missing for long stretches, and the Maitlands’ haunting lessons slow the middle way down.

Who it’s for: Families with kids who like their spooky stuff silly, and anyone who still knows every word of the dinner party song.