It’s been a hot, dark minute since Tim Burton has got his goth on. His last live-action gothic fantasy was 2012’s Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp, and his last studio film was the very un-gothic Dumbo.

Thankfully his latest feels like Burton coming home, as he returns to a real fan favourite with this sequel to the second film that he directed, 1988’s Beetlejuice.

Hosting her very own paranormal show is Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). At lot has happened since she was a teen in Winter River; she got married, had a baby – who is now grown up teen Astrid (Jenna Ortega) – and have her husband die.

She then gets contacted by her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara), who informs her that her dad has died. She drops everything and returns to her childhood home. As she is estranged from her daughter it’s down to Delia to drag Astrid out of school for the funeral, reuniting all the family once again.

It’s not the only reunion to take place however; Astrid gets herself into a spot of bother that sees her mom having to say a name – three times – that she hasn’t uttered in some time. But there really is only one demon that can help her now – Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) – but the real question is, what will he want in return?

There’s been an impressive 36 year gap between these two films, which could be cause for concern for some, especially as their director has shied away from gothic material for some time now.

Thankfully there was nothing to worry about as Burton fully embraces not only his gothic side, but also the absurd silliness of it all to great effect.

Not only does it do the original justice, especially with Keaton clearly thoroughly enjoying himself returning as the titular character, it also pays homage to all those cheesy eighties fantasy films. This is mostly down to the director embracing classic technology over CGI, with him embracing older techniques such as animatronics, as well as more physical and tangible elements such as the quirky set designs.

He’s also savvy enough to please fans of the original, as well as draw in a more youthful crowd with current ‘it girl’ Ortega involved, who has worked previously with on the hit Netflix show Wednesday, that may well have brought his goth out to play.

It’s incredibly silly but thoroughly entertaining with it, and certainly leaning more into old skool rather than old fashioned.

It may have taken a ridiculously long time for this sequel to turn up, but it was worth it, with the deliciously gothic mayhem that Beetlejuice has brought with his return.