“Let’s turn on the juice and see what shakes loose.”

Beetlejuice is probably the definitive Tim Burton experience. Built on a novel premise—a pair of recently deceased ghosts (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) enlist the help of a scuzzy, motor-mouthed “bio-exorcist” to rid their idyllic home of the oddball family (Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder) that has moved in after the property was sold off—it is notable for its bizarre tone, endearingly gimcrack effects, and the titular character’s outrageous persona.

Though much less polished than Burton’s later work, the director’s wild sensibilities are totally unrestrained here, allowing his singular blend of gothic camp, expressionist horror, and warped satire to fully blossom. Macabre, idiosyncratic touches abound. Consider the assortment of clientele assembled in the waiting room for the recently dead, with their shrunken heads, charred flesh, and tire tracks through their torsos. Or the way Betelgeuse initially materializes in miniature within the confines of a scale model of the town that’s been meticulously pieced together in the attic where the ghost couple resides. Or the sandworms prowling the deserts of one of Saturn’s moons (perhaps a nod to David Lynch’s Dune), where the ghosts are transported if they try to leave their abode. Or the primary conflict stemming from the dead couple’s distaste for the new owners’ heinous decorating style. Such manic jags are supported by a bright color palette and an energetic Danny Elfman score, with all of these elements coalescing to produce a delirious texture that overwhelms the threadbare narrative.

It’s inarguable that Keaton gives the standout performance as the title character with his lip-licking, bug-eyed aggression under pounds of gross makeup, and yet it is O’Hara who anchors the film’s most memorable scene. At a posh dinner party with a handful of important guests, O’Hara suddenly blurts out the first lines of Harry Belafonte’s ‘Day-O’, kicking off a delightful non sequitur song-and-dance number that transparently reveals that the cast and crew had a blast putting it together. Anything goes in the spontaneous world of Beetlejuice, and it’s that giddy sense of discovering itself on the fly that makes it such a liberating experience.