7 of the Best Quotes from Beetlejuice

Tim Burton’s comedy/fantasy Beetlejuice has become a cult classic since its 1988 release. Here are seven of the best quotes from this classic.

Tim Burton’s comedy/fantasy Beetlejuice has become a cult classic since its 1988 release. After a happily married couple, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) die, a new family moves into their home. They want to reclaim their home for themselves, but every method they try — haunting, scaring, dressing up as ghosts — doesn’t work.

The Deetz family members aren’t all bad, though. Their daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) is the only one who can see the ghosts. She also sees that they’re good people and she wants to help them. Together, they call upon Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a petty bio-exorcist. Despite the dark themes, the movie is quite lighthearted and funny. Here are seven of the most memorable quotes from this classic.

“It’s Showtime.”

When Beetlejuice finally gets the chance to become who he really is — wicked and cruel — he’s excited at the prospect. He’s practically been salivating at the idea of being called upon to perform his duties ever since he first learned of Adam and Barbara’s troubles.

At last, Lydia is finally the one to repeat his name three times, already regretting the decision but knowing it’s necessary. Beetlejuice grins menacingly and says, “It’s showtime,” as ominous flashes of lightning illuminate his face before throwing it into shadow.

“My Whole Life Is A Dark Room.”

Lydia Deetz is the eccentric daughter of the wealthy Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) and the stepdaughter of privileged Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara). She likes to think of herself as quite the goth, always dressing in black and styling her bangs in iconic sharp points.

Charles promises Lydia that they will build her a darkroom in the basement, but Lydia only laments, “My whole life is a dark room. One … big … dark … room.”

“I Myself Am Strange And Unusual.”

After dying, Adam and Barbara get their hands on the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, a quick-start guide for those who have no idea what’s going on in the afterlife.

Lydia also reads it. “I read through that Handbook for the Recently Deceased. It says, ‘Live people ignore the strange and unusual.’ I myself am strange and unusual,” she says matter-of-factly. She’s also often ignored by her parents.

“The Only One I Think I Can Deal With Is Edgar Allan Poe’s Daughter.”

Beetlejuice doesn’t have much patience for sentimental people like Adam and Barbara, but he doesn’t mind Lydia. She’s dark and serious but also has a strange sense of humor. He’s willing to strike up a deal with her to help the dead couple, but it involves their marriage.

Even Beetlejuice doesn’t skip a beat when it comes to Lydia. It’s pretty hard to ignore her over-the-top gothic costumes, her body language, and her manner of speaking. So, of course, when he says “Edgar Allan Poe’s daughter”, he’s referring to Lydia. It’s a surprisingly accurate way of describing her.

“Go Ahead, Make My Millenium.”

Being dead, Beetlejuice has been around for a long time. In his time, he’s gained a wry sense of humor. He definitely thinks he’s much funnier than anyone else thinks he is.

He’s teasing Adam and Barbara right after he almost kills Charles, but they don’t find it very amusing. He’s also in miniature mode, but he sprouts thorns so that Barbara can’t touch him. He then proceeds to enter Dante’s Inferno Room, a strip club.

“I’m The Ghost With The Most, Babe.”

Beetlejuice is trying to explain to Lydia how his whole model thing works, but she’s not convinced that he’s one of the good guys. The pair play charades so that he may tell her what his name is.

It takes a few tries, but Lydia finally gets it. She even says his name twice, and he begs her to say it a third time, but then she realizes that it’s him who’s been tormenting her family. Even so, Beetlejuice has plenty of opportunities to spout random but kind of funny one-liners, like “I’m the ghost with the most.”

“Ah, Well, I Attended Juilliard …”

When questioned about what Beetlejuice’s experience in his field is, he begins a long-winded spiel about everything he’s achieved in his six hundred years of death. “I attended Juilliard,” he begins, as if that is a credit to his bio-exorcism skills.

“I’m a graduate of the Harvard business school. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that. I’ve seen The Exorcist about 167 times and it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it … Not to mention the fact that you’re talking to a dead guy …”

Originally shared on Vocal.