His second full-length feature (after “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”), Tim Burton’s 1988’s “Beetlejuice” is still one of his very best offerings, showcasing all of the goth sensibilities and quirky visual style while managing to keep a lid on the whimsy and self-consciousness of his later efforts. It’s a movie that’s just as funny today as it was twenty years ago, and, for an effects-driven film, visually still holds up remarkably well.

Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin star as Adam and Barbara – two yuppie ghosts haunting their own country home, and only just getting used to their “powers”. When Delia (Catherine O’Hara), Charles (Jeffery Jones), and their death-obsessed daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder) move in, Adam and Barbara watch in horror as the new owners tear apart their beloved abode, and turn it into a gallery of Delia’s (Catherine O’hara) post-modern absurdist sculptures and shrine to Soho chic. Adam and Barbara hatch a plan to scare the newcomers, but their ghostly act only serves to excite Delia and Charles, who find it oh so deliciously dark that their new digs come with its own set of matching specters. Feeling that their hand has been forced, Adam and Barbara enlist the aid of Betelgeuse, a poltergeist who promises to rid the couple of their human problem once and for all. However, when the extreme tactics of “Beetlejuice” prove to be more than the kindly couple bargained for, they find themselves torn between their love for their home, and their newfound love for the tragically misunderstood Lydia.

Headlined by a tour de force performance from Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice is a wonderfully inventive knee-slapper, buoyed by great supporting turns by O’Hara and Jones, and presented in the sort of “gothic cartoon” style that would become Burton’s trademark. Baldwin and Davis play it as straight as a razor, serving as terrific foils for Keaton’s mercurial miscreant, while Ryder’s turn as the dark and wizened Lydia launched the actress into the stratosphere (for awhile, anyway).

While some of the effects have certainly shown their age, the hilarious make-up effects and gloriously retro stop-motion sequences are timeless stuff, indeed, and Keaton’s bravura performance never gets old. This is classic stuff.

Warner Brothers scares up a 1080p VC-1 encode of Beetlejuice in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1:85.1, and the results are fairly solid. While there’s a noticeable grain and the sort of gauzy softness seemingly inherent in films from the period, detail is still fairly strong, and the transfer is free of any major artifacts, scratches, or general blemishes. While it’s not the best example of HD I’ve seen, it’s certainly the best I’ve seen Beetlejuice look, which makes it well worth the upgrade.

The audio fares much better, with a nice 5.1 Dolby TrueHD mix that offers crystal clear dialogue and robust representation of Danny Elfman’s nifty score. Surround effects are a little on the scarce side, however, with the whole presentation feeling as though it were being generated in the front of the house. While, like the video transfer, the audio never quite dazzles, it’s still a vast improvement over my aged DVD

Warner brings Beetlejuice to Blu-ray with a somewhat curious assortment of extras consisting of three short episodes of the animated series - A-Ha! , Skeletons in the Closet and Spooky Boo-Tique – as well as Music Only Audio Track highlighting Elfman’s score, but, sadly, presented in standard 5.1 Dolby Digital as opposed to TrueHD. A standard definition trailer, “collectible booklet”, and a bonus CD featuring a sampling of songs from the film’s soundtrack album round out the supplements. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of any truly “film-specific” extras, here, especially given the fact that this is a 20th anniversary release, but it’s certainly a better haul than Warner typically offers with its catalog titles.

Beetlejuice is a wild and wacky, laugh-out-loud funny, and visually arresting light horror comedy that pulls off the rare feat of being family friendly without catering to the kiddies. While it’s far from a reference quality Blu-ray presentation, Beetlejuice on BD is a substantial upgrade over its DVD counterpart, and, if you're a fan like me, well worth adding to your collection.