Halloween Chat: ‘Beetlejuice’ and the lost art of soft horror

Life and Art from FT Weekend

Forhecz Topher

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture

4.6 • 601 Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we are pulling on our striped demon ghost suits for a special Halloween episode: a deep-dive on Tim Burton’s 1988 classic, Beetlejuice. It persists in our cultural memory, remade as an animated series, a theme park ride, a musical, and as of last month, a legacy sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. We talk about why it’s endured with such ferocity, how the sequel compares, and whether films like it even exist anymore. We also share our own, and listeners’, top Halloween films. Lilah’s joined by FT horror movie superfan Topher Forhecz and political columnist, film buff and Beetlejuice hater Stephen Bush.

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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap, and email at [email protected]. And we’re grateful for reviews on Apple and Spotify!

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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):

– Beetlejuice (1988) is on Netflix in the UK and Max in the US. The sequel is still in theatres

– HTSI’s recent cover interview with Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton is here: https://on.ft.com/3C3iWcM

– Here’s film critic Danny Leigh’s 2-star review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the 2024 sequel: https://on.ft.com/3YcfWCx

– Stephen Bush is on X @stephenkb. You can sign up to receive his newsletter Inside Politics here.

Spooky film recommendations:

– Stephen recommends The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Topher recommends Blades (1989) and Lilah recommends It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).

– Our listeners recommended: Hocus Pocus, House (1977 Japanese psychedelic), Rosemary’s Baby, Practical Magic, Giallo films (Italian 70s slashers, like Deep Red), Mermaids, Sleepy Hollow, Halloween 3, Young Frankenstein and more. If you have Instagram, here’s the full list of listener film recommendations: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18073242955580424/

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Clips this week courtesy of Warner Bros

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Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Life and Art from F.T. Weekend. I'm Lila Raptopoulos, and this is our Friday chat show.
0:07.0	Today, to celebrate Halloween season, we have decided to return to a classic that's recently been revived and lives forever in the public imagination, the original 1988 film, Beetlejuice.
0:18.9	Beetlejuice was directed, of course, by Tim Burton.
0:21.3	It stars a young Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis, who play a married couple living in the countryside,
0:26.8	who die in a car accident, and quickly realize that they've become ghosts,
0:30.6	and a family from the big city has bought and moved into their home.
0:34.1	Their job is to scare the family away, and they contact an unhinged demon named
0:38.9	Beetlejuice to help, played by Michael Keaton. Hygings ensue.
0:43.3	Beetleges, Beetlechus, Beetlechus!
0:45.5	Who's no ordinary ghost?
0:47.4	Yeah, you don't want his help.
0:49.4	Can you be scary?
0:50.5	What do you think of this?
0:53.0	Now, the party's over.
0:55.0	You want somebody out of the house.
0:56.3	I want to get somebody out of your house.
1:01.1	But the fun has just begun.
1:04.2	It's showtime.
1:05.4	Beetlejuice is a cult classic.
1:07.1	It's a Halloween costume staple.
1:09.1	It's been remade as an animated series, a theme park ride, a musical, and as of last month, a legacy sequel, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. And today we're going to talk about why it endured and whether films like it even exist anymore. Okay, let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose. I'm Lila in New York, and I am alone. I am utterly alone.
1:29.4	Joining me from London, it's the F.T.'s political columnist, resident film buff, and our favorite
	...

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