2024-05-09T18:41:15-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150328326/is-tim-burton-s-beetlejuice-the-best-halloween-movie-for-design-students-to-watch Josh Niland 2022-10-29T09:00:00-04:00 >2024-03-15T01:45:58-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/b4/b4e758dc70d32873ae77f38b7d61424d.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Every season has its own set of iconic movies, and within that set, there are those that stick out for their portrayal and elevation of architectural issues. Tim Burton&rsquo;s 1988 classic, <em>Beetlejuice,</em> is perhaps the fall&rsquo;s best example &mdash; an ever-trendy classic Halloween tale that showcases and offers some critique of the period&rsquo;s salient design trends. Even the scale model of the town has some architectural qualities, and its central star &mdash; a shopworn Victorian-style home &mdash; has become an <a href="https://www.pdxmonthly.com/home-and-real-estate/2022/03/beetlejuice-house-west-hills-renovation" target="_blank">inspiration</a> to aspiring designers around the world. </p> <p>The conceit of <em>Beetlejuice</em> has essential elements that design students would be well-served to evaluate. Two families fighting for the creative control of a structure with radically different agendas. Its conflict is based on a disagreement about preferences in residential architecture: The &ldquo;good, sturdy country craftsmanship&rdquo; of a rural Victorian run up against a vacuous amalgam of 80s high design.<br></p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/85/85065e849f05fb7237126f60af4f3e28.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/85/85065e849f05fb7237126f60af4f3e28.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Opening title sequence from the film. Image courtes...</figcaption></figure>