Barbara and Adam Maitland (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) are living an idyllic life in a small country village when they die in a motoring accident. As ghosts confined to their home and only equipped with a ‘Handbook for the Recently Deceased’ they have to contend with the new home owners and a madcap bio-exorcist named Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). 

The Maitland’s are a happy couple who are kind and generous to those around them. So when they die they find it difficult to haunt the Deetz family who move into their home. Charles (Jeffrey Jones) wants to get away from the stresses of the city whilst his wife Delia (Catherine O’Hara) is mortified at being taken to the sticks. Their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) on the other hand is just lonely and in need of someone to connect with. The fact that she manages this with the recently dead previous owners is just a kink they will need to work out. 

All sorts of comedic shenanigans ensue though when Betelgeuse is summoned to scare away the Deetz family as he takes a shine to Lydia. 

Prior to watching the sequel to this 1980’s classic I thought it necessary to revisit the original with my children along for the ride and I was pleasantly surprised that it is as wonderful to watch now as it was when I first saw it. Thirty-six years on from its release it still feels wonderfully fresh and an almost perfect template for what made Tim Burton’s best work. The fact that this was only his second feature film is perhaps the biggest surprise given how “Burton-esque” it feels. There is a macabre undertone, zany comedy, lead characters who feel very much like outsiders and a homemade feel to the special effects. 

At only 92 minutes long the film positively zips along. Winona Ryder at the age of seventeen and in only her third feature film is perfect as the outsider at the forefront of many of Burton’s films. The Maitland’s give the film a wholesome centre and heart. The musical number featuring Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” is legendary. And Michael Keaton’s chaotic Betelgeuse is a comedy lightning rod. 

It is utterly superb.