A sequel to Beetlejuice, once again starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, is spooking theaters 36 years after the original. With Keaton’s troublemaking bio-exorcist and the family he once frightened returning to screens, you can get reacquainted with the ghost with the most by watching the 1988 original at home.
The 2024 Tim Burton-directed follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, will exhume the comedy and horror on Sept. 6. Newcomers to the freakishly stacked cast include Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Willem Dafoe and Jenna Ortega, who’s playing Astrid, the teenage daughter of Ryder’s Lydia Deetz. The fantasy film reunites the Deetz family with Winter River, Connecticut, and, inevitably, the untrustworthy spirit, Betelgeuse.
According to CNET reviewer Aaron Pruner, it’s worth hanging around in Beetlejuice’s afterlife for “the chemistry between the cast, the onslaught of visual gags, Tim Burton’s signature world-building and the steady stream of horror.” If you’re waiting to watch the scary successor, here’s how to stream the first Beetlejuice.
How to watch Beetlejuice (1988)
It’s showtime if you have a subscription to Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service, Max. The movie is available on-demand at no additional cost in the US.
If you don’t have access to a Max account, you have a few options. The ad-supported version of the streamer is available for free to DashPass annual plan subscribers and Cricket Wireless customers on the $60-a-month unlimited plan. Max offers a student discount, and you can also get a bundle of Max, Disney Plus and Hulu, which saves money over paying for all three services separately.
Otherwise, Max costs $10 per month for the ad-supported version and $17 or $21 per month for the versions without ads. The first Beetlejuice is also available to rent digitally for around $4 at Amazon and Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu).
If you know you want to have Max for 12 months, you can pay upfront for a year of the service. The annual price of Max With Ads is $100. In comparison, it would be $120 if you paid one month at a time. For more on Max, read our review of the streaming service.
How to watch Beetlejuice with a VPN
Perhaps you’re traveling abroad and want to stream Max while away from home. With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to access the movie from anywhere in the world. There are also other good reasons to use a VPN for streaming.
A VPN is the best way to encrypt your traffic to stop your internet service provider from throttling your speeds. Using a VPN is also a great idea if you’re traveling and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and log-ins when connecting to Wi-Fi networks. Streaming TV can be a bit smoother with a reliable, quality VPN that’s passed our tests and meets our security standards.
You can use a VPN to stream content legally as long as VPNs are allowed in your country and you have a valid subscription to the streaming service you’re using. The US and Canada are among the countries where VPNs are legal, but we advise against streaming or downloading content on illegal torrent sites. We recommend ExpressVPN, but you may opt for another provider from our best list, such as Surfshark or NordVPN.
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If you’re looking for a secure and dependable VPN, our Editors’ Choice is ExpressVPN. It’s fast, works on multiple devices, and provides stable streams. It’s $13 a month, or you can opt for a deal that gives you 15 months for $6.67 per month if you pay the total amount up front.
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Follow the VPN provider’s instructions for installation, and choose a country where Beetlejuice will be streaming on Max. Before you open the streaming app, make sure you’re connected to your VPN using your selected region. If you want to stream Beetlejuice on more than one device, it’s possible you’ll need to configure each one to ensure you’re signed in. Go to settings and check your network connections to verify you’re logged in and connected to your VPN account. Now you’re ready to open Max to stream.
If you run into issues with streaming, first make sure your VPN is up and running on its encrypted IP address. Double-check that you’ve followed installation instructions correctly and picked the right geographical area for viewing. If you still encounter connection problems, you may need to reboot your device. Close all apps and windows, restart your device and connect to your VPN first. Note that some streaming services will restrict VPN access.
