Dazzling craft and entertaining performances overcome the varied shortcomings of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel that lack the creative ingenuity of the original yet retains much of its cheeky macabre spirit.

The 1988 cult-smash Beetlejuice was the film that put director Tim Burton on the map as a new creative force in Hollywood. 38-years-later and Burton’s once quirky brilliance has become stale, yet there is some charm left in the Universal-monster-movie meets Walt Disney inspired style of Burton’s films, as exemplified in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a long in-development sequel that features the return of original stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reunites us with Lydia Deetz (Ryder) the suicidal goth teen of the original film who now is a famous medium exploited by her sleazy manager/fiancé Rory (Justin Theroux.)

When Lydia’s father Charles (previously played by the late Jeffrey Jones, more on that later) dies in a shark attack, Lydia and her performance-artist mother Delia (O’Hara) return to their abandoned Winter River home, where waiting in the dark depth of the afterlife is the mischievous “ghost-with-the-most” Beetlejuice (Keaton.)

A major complaint regarding Burton’s recent films is his overuse of CGI. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice somewhat rectifies this, with a return to the practical effects driven world-building of the 1988 original a highlight, even though it is clear that some VFX magic is used to polish those rough edges.

The creature make-up designs for the varied ghouls of the afterlife are especially memorable, with makeup and hair designer Christine Blundell (Mr. Turner) and creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) – and their respective crews – delivering macabre spirits in various states of decease.

One of those is the previously mentioned character of Charles, who rummages through the afterlife as a headless corpse via shark attack. Charles was played in Beetlejuice by Jeffrey Jones, who saw his career derailed in the early 2000s after he was charged with possession of child pornography. Burton sidesteps using actual footage of Jones in flashbacks by having his character portrayed in stop-motion sequences.

Living and less scandal plagued cast members deliver entertaining turns, especially Keaton who in his return as Beetlejuice is his witty and playful best, albeit slightly less energetic. Great as well is the perfectly cast Jenna Ortega who plays a moody teen with the right amount of spunk and charisma and has great chemistry with co-star Arthur Conti who plays her love interest Jeremy.

The biggest gripe to be had with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that there are too many characters, with sub-plots involving Monica Belluci’s vengeful spirit and Theroux’s slimy grifter not bringing much to the proceedings. Considering, though, that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice could have been a disaster, this sequel is a surprisingly welcome trip to the Burton universe of old.