Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 13
  2. Negative: 1 out of 13
  1. 100
    By the time this irresistible treat is over, it has created some of the funniest moments and most inspired visual humor and design we may expect to experience at the movies all year. [30 Mar 1988]
  2. 100
    Hilarious…The joy of Beetlejuice is its completely bizarre -- but perfectly realized -- view of the world, a la Gary Larson's "The Far Side," or "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." [1 Apr 1988]
  3. Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    90
    Beetlejuice means something good: that imaginative artists can bring a fading genre back from the dead. [11 Apr 1988]
  4. 90
    Not since "Ghostbusters" have the spirits been so uplifting. [30 Mar 1988]
  5. Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    88
    So original that it'll be years before a major filmmaker attempts another one. We're talking black-belt cult-movie status here. [30 Mar 1988]
  6. Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    80
    Beetlejuice springs to life when the raucous and repulsive Betelgeuse (Keaton) rises from his moribund state to wreak havoc on fellow spooks and mortal enemies.
  7. 75
    For all the film's popped eyeballs and severed limbs, Beetlejuice retains an innocence that makes the grotesque humor very appealing. Burton has captured the sweet ghoulishness of a 12-year-old pouring over horror comics, dreaming of the greatest Halloween costume ever invented. [30 Mar 1988]
  8. Reviewed by: Staff (Non Credited)
    70
    A surreal, demented delight.
  9. Only about half of the disconnected gags and oddball conceits pay off, but their gleeful delivery takes up most of the slack.
  10. 50
    Gets off to a start that's so charming it never lives it down. The movie is all anticlimax once we realize it's going to be about gimmicks, not characters.
  11. The screenplay is foolish and Michael Keaton overplays the title role badly, but director Tim Burton gives the comedy a heap of visual imagination. [22 Apr 1988]
  12. Elaborate as this sounds, there really isn't much plot here, only a parade of arbitrary visual tricks to hold the film together. [30 Mar 1988, p.C18]
  13. It's two hours of your life wasted, time once spent that can never be regained. Don't go. Don't do it. [30 Mar 1988]
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. 8
    This has to be my favorite Michael Keaton movie, and my favorite from Tim Burton.It is both dark and funny. Silly & serious. The effects at the time were phenomenal but are a bit dated by today's standards, but even so, hold a little. Still great to see Winona Ryder so young. Story gets a bit to goofy at points and they play the "afterlife" novelty to death (sorry, for the bad pun.)

    Overall:
    Beetlejuice is a ton of fun and enjoyable fore most. I would say keep really little kids away, because I remember it freaked me out when I was little.
    Full Review »
  2. 9
    Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE!! 'The Ghost with the Most' is brought back from the afterlife thanks to Tim Burton's twisted imagination and the wacky writings of Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren. In order to rid themselves of a pesky new family, a recently deceased couple hires the obnoxious ghoul Beetlejuice to perform a "bio-exorcism" and earn back their house! BEETLEJUICE is filled with oddball characters and eccentric performances from the entire cast. HOME ALONE's Catherine O'Hara is wickedly funny as the family's New Age hipster wife, who is married to Jeffrey Jones in another of his quirky character roles. A young Winona Ryder plays their morbid daughter Lydia, the one person who is able to communicate with the dead. And then, of course, there is Michael Keaton in the most unusual and unexpected performances of his career. Beetlejuice is crass, vulgar, and disgusting... And we love him! He is the undead equivalent to the classic Acme characters pushed to their fiendish extremes. The make-up and special effects are superb and highly original, combining traditional stop-motion animation with modern prosthetics to bring each of the otherworldly creatures back to life. Like GREMLINS and GHOSTBUSTERS before it, BEETLEJUICE is another classic comedy that 80's horror fans are sure to love!

    -Carl Manes
    I Like Horror Movies
    Full Review »
  3. Great cast, very good performances, the characters are amazing, Keaton does a pretty good job giving life to the ghost exorcist Beetle Juice, some times the movie gets a little slow and the special effects are not the best of its time, but it has nice make up and hilarious script. Full Review »