TIM Burton was not yet known for his gothic sensibilities back in 1988. Where nowadays, the goth core Californian is shorthand for kooky, weird and darkly comic, the eighties’ Burton began his career with Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Paul Reuben’s’ slapstick reimagining of Vittorio De Sica’s Italian neo-realist classic The Bicycle Thieves.

Beetlejuice was, in fact, only Burton’s second film. Looking back, it’s all very familiar stuff from the director of Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd. In 1988, however, this was a fresh vision for comic horror from a dynamic new cinematic voice.

Supercharged by an electric performance from Michael Keaton, as miscreant bio-exorcist Betelgeuse, the film proved a left-field hit. No less silly than Pee-wee but as visually and conceptually dynamic a work as Burton has ever made and commendable for propelling a little known Winona Ryder into the mainstream.

Thirty-six years later, it’s a meaner feat to try and sell Burton’s madcap box of tricks as fresh. Certainly, from Dark Shadows to Dumbo, Burton has seemed to struggle of late in the art of capturing the imaginations of audiences and critics alike.

To this end, there is something rather creditable in Burton’s approach to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, his first sequel since 1992’s Batman Returns. A legacy sequel if ever one was, this second Beetlejuice burns less on the fuel of nostalgia than most. Certainly, it delivers a narrative that, thoroughly wildly overstuffed, demonstrates a desire to try something new with the franchise.

As before, it is Ryder who provides the film’s beating heart, reprising the role of one time goth teenager Lydia Deetz. Now all grown up, Lydia is a psychic mediator for a paranormal reality TV show called ‘Ghost House’. She has a daughter - Jenna Ortega’s Astrid - and tows along an instantly unlikeable boyfriend in Justin Theroux’s Rory.

A return to Winter River soon sees Lydia’s past come back to haunt her, with the ghost with the most all too ready to bring chaos back into her life. Not that Betelgeuse hasn’t his own problems to contend with. Monica Bellucci is hot on his heels as ex-wife Delores and isn’t to be trifled with.

Keaton eases back into the role like Beetlejuice was made only last year - and barely looks a day older. As for the next gens, Ortega was born for the part.