Home Is Where the Horror Is: Beetlejuice

Many horror movies are set in motion by an unforgivable crime—in 1988’s Beetlejuice, it’s the post-modern makeover of a 19th-century house. When the obnoxious Deetz family renovate their newly purchased home, the offense against taste spurs the previous owners, the recently deceased Maitlands, to begin a campaign of haunting that wreaks hilarious havoc on both the living and the dead. The second installment in our summer film series, this screening of Beetlejuice at O Cinema will be followed by a discussion led by Wolfsonian curator/old-house enthusiast Shoshana Resnikoff, who will zero in on the life, death, and afterlife of American domestic design.

Presented in partnership with O Cinema South Beach as part of The Wolfsonian’s Mark Mamolen program series on American homes, investigating how the design of living space powerfully expresses individual personality and social values.