Beetlejuice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Editors’ Notes In its cabinet of kooky sounds, Danny Elfman’s elastic score for Beetlejuice references the horror exotica soundtracks of the ’50s, but also brings a sense of classic Hollywood grandeur to Tim Burton’s gothic screwball comedy. Like the rhythms of a toy factory, the tempo hurtles forward: “The Fly” is industrious and exhilarating, while “The Incantation” sounds like acid-damaged trapeze music. The tranquility of “The Aftermath” makes way for Harry Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line,” the most incongruously perfect finale in the history of pop music cues.