5 Creepy Winona Ryder Films to Watch Beyond 'Beetlejuice'

Lydia Deetz made her a goth icon twice, in 1988 and again in 2024. But Winona Ryder's career is far stranger and richer than a single Tim Burton franchise. As good as Beetlejuice is as a cozy horror staple, there are so many other films to explore.

She was born October 29, 1971, in Winona, Minnesota, so today's her birthday. Here are five films that show a different side of her. For filmmakers, each one also offers a lesson in casting, collaborating with directors, and how an actor's age and image shape the roles she gets.

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Heathers

Starting with a favorite film of mine. I remember being with my good friend at Amoeba Music in Hollywood and finding Heathers on DVD, and somehow that was my first exposure to this film. Ryder plays Veronica, a reluctant member of a popular high school clique. Written as almost an antidote to John Hughes teen movies, Heathers gets dark fast but stays hilarious.

Director Michael Lehmann told VICE that Beetlejuice co-writer Michael McDowell slipped her the script during that shoot, she loved it, and her agents tried to stop her from taking it.

"They were shooting Beetlejuice. [McDowell] said, 'Oh my god, Winona Ryder would be perfect in this role,' and he gave her the script. She read it, and she flipped for it. She told her agent, and her agents said, 'I'm not gonna let you do this movie,'" Lehmann said.

Screenwriter Daniel Waters told The Irish Times:

“To me it’s all about Winona and how casting can transcend material. The role I wrote was more like a female Travis Bickle. Winona got the darkness and the humour of it, but Winona being Winona just gave a lilt to the character. She worked in a way I never imagined. She made it so much more human and funny. She’s not a Carol Burnett or Alicia Silverstone. She’s not trying to get laughs. But that makes it more satirically interesting. You couldn’t overstate her contribution.”

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Edward Scissorhands

After Beetlejuice, Burton cast Ryder against type as the blonde cheerleader and love interest to the titular character in Edward Scissorhands.

"I thought the idea of her as a cheerleader, wearing a blonde wig, was very funny," Burton wrote in Burton on Burton. "I think she might even say it's probably the most difficult thing she's ever done because she did not relate to her character. She was tortured by these people at school herself. It was so funny. I used to laugh every day when I saw her walk on the set wearing this little cheerleader outfit and a Hayley Mills-type blonde wig. She looked like Bambi."

This is a casting lesson. Playing against an actor's own experience can create tension that shows up on screen.

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Bram Stoker's Dracula

Famously, this beautiful horror film from Francis Ford Coppola might not exist without Ryder. Ryder met with Coppola to clear the air after she left The Godfather Part III, and mentioned a new Dracula script she'd been sent. She pushed to get it made.

Ryder said, "I never really thought he would read it. He was so consumed with Godfather III. As I was leaving, I said, 'If you have a chance, read this script.' He glanced down at it politely, but when he saw the word Dracula, his eyes lit up. It was one of his favorite stories from camp" (via Far Out Magazine).

Ryder plays Mina Harker in the film. It was a difficult project, with rumors of conflict on set.

"To put it in context, I'm supposed to be crying," she remembered about one scene (via The Times). "Literally, Richard E Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu … Francis was trying to get all of them to yell things that would make me cry. But Keanu wouldn't, Anthony wouldn't… the more it happened, I was like [she crosses her arms like a sulky teenager and frowns] … It just didn't work. I was, like, really? It kind of did the opposite." She added, "Me and Francis are good now."

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A Scanner Darkly

After a long break from the screen, this film was part of her return—inside a rotoscoped Philip K. Dick adaptation. The film turned 20 this year. Richard Linklater let this one be super weird, with a visual style to match.

Ryder plays Donna Hawthorne in this one, a drug dealer who is also the romantic interest of the undercover narcotics officer Bob Arctor (played by Keanu Reeves). She frequently pushes him away.

"I felt it was so emotional, as Waking Life was as well," Ryder told City Beat, referencing another Linklater animated film. "And I don't know what rotoscoping is, but I felt somehow really moved."

This answer is charming and honest. She signed on for the emotion, not the technique, which is a good reminder for directors pitching an experimental project to actors. Is the core of what you're wanting to say clear and honest? Then you're well on your way.

The Post-Bulletin reported that it took 50 animators 15 months to trace the film frame by frame.

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Black Swan

She’s on screen for a short time, but she makes a big impact in Black Swan as Beth, the aging star the ballet company pushes aside.

"I did relate to Beth on a certain level," she told Elle (via ABC News). "Just that thing of, you know, when I'm told I'm not the ingénue anymore. And now I'm 39. I remember when I was younger, I couldn't wait to be older, because I was always the kid on the set; I was always younger than everyone else. And now I'm older than a lot of the people I work with. I've been doing this for 25 years, which is so strange."

The role helped kick off the run that led to Stranger Things and a second Beetlejuice.

If you want something lighter than what's on this list, there’s always our non-scary Halloween picks.