Ghostbusters (1984)
Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney
Weaver, Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis
Directed by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
Written by Ivan Reitman

 

Depending on what you believe, they might be. Whether we all remain on earth after we die, or some got lost on there way to judgment or if remaining here is our heaven or hell, we don't know. However, the myths and stories about them, of haunting spirits and bizarre activities, have lasted for countless years.

So...how do you get rid of the spirits that give you shit? There's the traditional Exorcist or Poltergeist method, but you whati if you don't want to waste time with all that religious crap? Well, in 1984, a film came out that offered a new means to get them out, no religious strings attached. To put it simply, you treat ghosts like you do cockroaches: you call a professional to take care of the bastards. So who you gonna call?

Moving along, she comes to an aisle where info cards are held in tiny drawers. To her shock, they slowly open and begin to shoot out. Running if fear, she gets lost in the rows of books and tries to escape, until she runs into an area where she screams in horror as a bright light and something not visible terrifies her. We then cut to the front of NYC Campus college as the title and theme song plays.

Inside, Dr. Peter Venkman, professor of the Psychic and Paranormal is doing a card reading test with a young male and attractive female student using shock therapy. Despite the boy being for more gifted (guessing one card actually correct) Peter lies to impress the girl, to the point where the young man storms off in anger.

Alone, Peter begins to make his move, until his partner Dr. Raymond Stantz bursts in and informs him of whats happening at the Library. He tries to stay, but Ray insists he come.

At the library, Peter is skeptical of any of this as opposed to Ray's enthusiasm. Inside, they meet up with their partner Egon Spengler and the head librarian. They then interview the still shaken librarian, Peter asking some questions (some authentic and others more bizarre) until Egon using his equipment and figures out that the ghost is on the move.

Down below, Egon and Ray notices several bizarre instances such as books being stacked and the card area being a mess with mucus, however, Peter still remains skeptical. When they turn into a huge hall section, they see something unexpected: a real ghost in the form of an old librarian.

After Peter fails to communicate with it, Ray decides on another tactic. Slowly creeping up, the three try to jump on her, but she then sheds her human look and transforms into a scary creature. Scared by the sudden change, the three turn and run, leaving the Library much to the annoyance of the head librarian.

On the street walking back, the three discuss what they saw, and Egon informs them that they could possibly even go as far as capturing a ghost and holding it. But when they get back to there place at the campus, the Dean is there with men removing the equipment from their office. When they demand to know why they're being released, the Dean scolds Peter for failing to live up to his potential and how there pathetic branch of science is over at the college.

Outside, Peter and Ray discuss what to do next, Ray more worried as they now have a limited budget. Peter though keeps calm and informs Ray that this could be the best thing for them, that they are now destined to turn this into a business.

The three then take a mortgage out of Ray's childhood home as a means to commence there project. Now financially secure, they go searching for an HQ, deciding on a rather beat up and old firehouse (more to Ray's excitement than Egon's or Peter's).

We then see a building at Central Park West with bizarre architecture on it and cello player Dana Barrett heading up to her apartment with groceries. As she goes, her kind but rather annoying neighbor Luis Tully comes out to greet her. As they talk (partly him rambling), he mentions her TV being on and inviting her to a party he's throwing.

Inside, she turns on the TV and sees the Ghostbusters commercial. In her kitchen, she begins to take her stuff out, but then sees in shock her eggs open and pop out onto the counter, cooking right there. She then hears a noise from her fridge, and when she opens it, she sees a floating temple with a demon dog creature screaming Zuul, which frightens her.

A couple of days later, as the sign is put up and Ray arrives with their car (a beat up old police car that’s worse for wear), Peter goes in and is disappointed to find out from their secretary, Janine (who has taken a liking to Egon), that nothing new has come up.

Dana then goes in and arranges a meeting, immediately catching Peter's eye. After conducting tests and hearing the story, Peter, Egon and Ray all figure she's telling the truth and decide to do some digging. As Egon decides to research Zuul and Ray looks up the building's history, Peter offers to take Dana back and inspect her apartment.

Back there, Peter inspects the place, much to Dana being unsure of her hired client, partly do to his witty and smart aleck nature. In the kitchen, he inspects the eggs and looks in the fridge, but everything now is back to normal, much to her frustration. After she gets angry that her evidence is gone, Peter tries to come on to her and flatter her, but she quickly rejects him, even though she agrees to let him dig and figure out what's going on.

Back at HQ, Peter, Ray and Egon are eating Chinese which was bought with the last of there money, and are realizing that they're going nowhere fast. But before they can finish, Janine gets a call for a job and rings the bell to get them ready.

Once suited up and heading out as fast as they can in the "Ectomobile", they head into an ultra fancy hotel where they're told of the disturbances by the head of staff, that stuff has happened but not this bad until recently. He insists that they do it quietly, which the Ghostbusters assure they can (although they're appearance alone draws much attention).

After some bizarre glances by hotel guests as they get on the elevator, they discuss how they never truly tested their equipment and that they're heading in rather unprepared. Once up, Ray and Egon are spooked by a maid with a cart and fire there Proton Guns at her cart, nearly destroying it.

Once their accidental testing is done, they split up and search. Ray eventually comes across the ghost, the green and disgusting Slimer. He tries to catch it with his gun, but fails and only causes more damage.

After it escapes, Peter encounters it in another hall. Ray tells him of it on the radio, but Peter, froze stiff, informs him he's looking at it. slimer then charges head fast at Peter who screams in terror on the radio. Ray runs through the halls and finally finds Peter, on the floor, confused and covered in slim. They then get a word from Egon that the ghost is in a ballroom.

After assuring the head of staff that they'll take care of it for good, they head in and lock the doors. Inside, they spot slimer floating in circles around the Chandelier. They then begin a cat and mouse game, failing to hit him and causing more and more damage to the room which is currently being held waiting for a banquet. In the midst of this, Egon warns them that if the beams of their Particle Rays are crossed, the effect will be catastrophic, and to be extremely careful.

Clearing the room (by throwing the tables and furniture around), they manage to grab a hold of slimer with there Particle Rays and Ray gets him in the trap. Outside, they come to a gathered group of employees and guests who where attracted to the noise. After showing the trap, Peter informs the head of staff that the full charge for there work will be $5,000. After he refuses, they threaten to let loose the ghost, to which he agrees to finally pay and they leave.

We then see several scenes of the next several weeks (maybe even months), as the Ghostbusters get more work, do longer hours and quickly gain in popularity. In doing so, they themselves get worn out by the heavy workloads, to the point where they start having dreams of ghosts (some rather exotic and sexual dreams).

Once they relies that they're getting in over there heads, they take out a want add for more help, and Winston Zeddemore answers. After only 1 question by Janine and briefly meeting Ray and Peter, Winston is hired on the spot.

After a hard rehearsal for the Orchestra, Dana comes out with a fellow musician and finds Peter waiting for her. After talking briefly about her musicianship (and her friend), Peter reveals that Zuul was a Demigod worshiped in several ancient societies and that he was the servant of Gozer, an ancient god. Dana is still confused as to how this relates to her apartment, but Peter quickly trys to win a date with her. After several attempts, she finally agrees.

Back at HQ Ray shows Winston the simple (to him at least) means of taking care of the stored ghosts. Meanwhile Ray gets a visit (informed by the annoyed Janine who wants more help) by Walter Peck, in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency. He quickly makes a point that he wants to see how there operations work, but refuses to say why. Peter quickly rejects him, and the argument turns to legal threats.

Below, Egon mentions that the amount of paranormal activity is way beyond what it should be, and that there storage facility is reaching its full maximum limit.

As lightning strikes at Dana's building, the very top is shown, resembling a ceremonial alter with a giant door looking wall behind it and demon dog statues. Suddenly, the statues start to crack and a creature inside awakens.

Dana then arrives at her floor and is greeted by Louis who's throwing another party. Despite her having a date, he invites both to come along anyway. Once inside, Dana talks briefly with her mother on the phone and relaxes, but doesn't notice the light from her kitchen door. When she does and sees the door bow out, hands erupt from the chair and hold her down. As the door opens, her chair turns and rushes into the kitchen, with a Demon Dog waiting. We then see the alter up top with the statues broken.

Back at Luis's party, he invites some more guests in (his actual clients, him being their tax attorney), and fails to notice the second Demon Dog because the quests throw their coats on him. Annoyed, it roars and bursts into the party, causing chaos and singleling out Luis. As he flees his apartment and down into the street, the dog follows. He then tries to escape into a fancy restaurant but fails (as to what the dog does, we don't see).

Peter then arrives at the building for his date. After seeing the damage caused, he heads to Dana's door and knocks. He's shocked to find her in a trance like state and rejects him when he says he's not the Keymaster. After knocking again and asking him the same question, he admits he is the Keymaster.

Inside, he sees instantly that something isn't right by the sate of her apartment. She then admits to being Zuul "The Gatekeeper", and that they will summon Gozer, the Destructor. In her bedroom, she tries to seduce him, but he manages to resist and insists on talking to Dana. After annoying Zuul, she speaks in a demon voice and starts to hover, scaring Peter.

Out in the city, Luis, now calling him Vinz Clortho "Keymaster of Gozer", tries to find the Gatekeeper and terrorizes some people. He's eventually picked up by police and they give him to Egon at HQ.

Inside, Egon and Janine question Vinz about his past, where he reveals the past destructions of Gozer, and how he and the Gatekeeper will bring it to happen again. They then get a call from Peter who tells them about Dana, Zuul and that he's drugged her to keep her out for a while. He then leaves to meet up with Egon.

Driving back from another job, Ray and Winston talk about religion, God and the end of the world. Ray instantly puts it off studying Dana's apartment layout. They then talk about the old scripture and points out what everyone else has failed to see: that it preaches of the dead rising and that they've been so busy because the dead have truly been rising, hinting that true apocalyptic events could be around the corner.

Back at HQ, Peck returns with a police officer and an electrician who head in with a warrant. Down below, Egon with Vinz try to stop them. Peter arrives and also tries to reason, but Peck quickly shoots them down. Even the electrician doesn’t feel comfortable as the technology is past his knowledge, but Peck wins and he shuts it down.

Instantly, the grid goes haywire and everyone flees as the building explodes and ghosts who were once captured erupt from the ceiling. Ray and Winston arrive to see the chaos and realize all their hard work is wasted. Vinz, seeing this as the sign that the time is close, flees in the chaos. The Ghostbusters try to find him when they see he's gone, but Peck stops them and has them arrested as he says it was their fault this explosion happened.

Meanwhile, Zuul rises from her sleep and looks out the window. As the ghosts that were captured escape, the City of New York turns to chaos as they cause mayhem and trouble everywhere (slimer included). Her apartment then explodes and revealing new passages while Vinz searches through the city.

Back in jail, the Ghostbusters spread out the details to Dana's apartment and study them. Egon reveals that the man behind the building was Ivo Shandor, an insane doctor and cult leader. After some unnecessary surgeries and starting the cult to follow Gozer, he created the building to work as a transmitter to the paranormal world and that its true design was to bring Gozer, the bringer of apocalypse. Thankfully for them as they discuss how to get out, they are told that the Mayor wishes to see them.

Meanwhile, Vinz arrives at the building and looks up. Opening the door, Vinz finds Zuul. The two share a kiss and walk like groom and bride up a hidden set of stairs.

Back at City Hall, Mayor Lenny brings in the Ghostbusters along with Peck and hears both sides. Peck quickly pushes that the Ghostbusters are frauds, but several head of police insist that they've seen things that defy explanation. The Ghostbusters then make their case and the Mayor asks what if they're wrong. Peter points out though that if they can save the city, that his decision to will save the lives of the voters. He then has Peck removed and offers his support.

Back in the street and in the Ectomobile, the Ghostbusters get a guarded transport by National Guard, Police and Special Agents. As they make there way to the building (which has clouds form around it sensing the time is close), a crowd has formed outside waiting for them.

When they're about to enter, though, a force shakes the building and causes a rift in the street, dropping them into a crack along with some cars. But they manage to recover and head in ready for war. Their demeanor though is taken away as the elevator is down and they take the stairs up all 22 floors.

As they continue to climb, Zuul and Vinz (possibly just finishing making love) move to there respective positions on the platforms where their demon counterparts where. As they prepare, the Ghostbusters make to the level and go into the apartment. After finding the stairs and going up, they see Zuul and Vinz suddenly struck by lightning which hits the wall and opens it, turning it into a door. They then turn into Demon Dogs.

While the Demon Dogs take spots inside the door (the same temple that was seen in the fridge), The Ghostbusters see the door to the temple open and a giant red eyed woman come out, Gozer. Peter insists Ray get her, but all he does is give her orders similar to an authority figure to leave there universe. After she asks if he's a god and he tells her no, she fires lighting that shoots them down and nearly knocks them over the buildings edge.

After regrouping, they prepare there Proton guns and take aim. As they fire, Gozer jumps over them and lands on the outside. They fire again, but she disappears. They instantly think it's over, but Egon's gadgets reveals that things are about to get worse.

Causing another rumble, Gozer's voice is heard from the clouds above and gives the Ghostbusters a chance to choose the form of the destructor. Peter catches on quickly and tells everyone to keep blank minds, but Gozer says that they've made there choice.

After talking, they see that only Ray could have made the choice. He reveals that he couldn't help but think of the most harmless, innocent thing that couldn't ever do them harm. But to his and everyone else's horror, they hear footsteps. Ray reveals it's the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.

It's then that the giant Marshmallow Man walks out, coming in the form of a smiling giant that could crush them with ease. It slowly makes its way down the street, and looks up at the Ghostbusters. They then shoot there Particle Rays, but despite it causing it to catch fire, it still starts its climb in agony up after them.

Out of options, Egon comes up with only 1 solution, that in order to reverse the doorway, they could cross the Particle rays. The possibility of Survival is extremely slim, but they could still survive. They then decide to go ahead with it.

Hurrying out, they quickly fire up there guns and shoot. After wishing each other goodbye, the slowly move there rays together, the Marshmallow man finally arriving but to late. The temple in the door way suddenly blasts as the Ghostbusters flee, flames exploding out and burning through the Marshmallow man. The top of the building then explodes, causing the skies to clear and melted marshmallow to rain down (which just so happens to land on Walter Peck).

Up above in the destruction, Ray, Egon, Winston and Peter slowly rise up, covered in marshmallow and bearly surviving the blast. Peter though sees the Demon Dog now a charred version of itself and sees Dana's gone. Before he leaves, it starts to break and they see that she's really inside.

After freeing her, the rest help Luis get out of the remains. As Peter helps Dana, the rest talk with Luis about what he experienced. Back down on the street, the ending credits roll as everyone comes out to fanfare by the crowd waiting. Peter and Dana finally kiss. After several other scenes, we see slimer racing towards the camera which goes blank as we go to the normal credits.

Fun Facts

The Script was originally written by the film's stars, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis who played Ray and Egon. Harold originally didn't want to play Egon but since they couldn't get an actor to play him, Harold eventually stepped forward. He's stated that this re-energized his will to act.

The film was originally intended for the Ghostbusters to travel through space, time and to differnt worlds, but director Ivan Reitman saw the immense budget and had Aykroyd re-write the film.

The film was made originally with the idea of John Belushi as Peter, Eddie Murphy as Winston and John Candy as Luis. Sadly, Belushi died from a drug overdose before the film even started, and John and Eddie couldn't commit to the film. That's when Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Rick Moranis where all hired.

There was fear of copyright infringement as there was a British television show in the 70's called "The Ghost Busters" but the studio eventually bought rights.

The popularity of the film led to the eventual Sequel, Ghostbusters II in 1989, which had the plot of the Ghostbusters being demanded to Cease and Desist as the city sued them for property damage from their battles, but they must defy the orders as a bizarre orangey/red slim is causing havoc and raising ghosts again. Also, Peter and Dana have split and Dana's now a mother, but he tries to re-win her. The force behind the evil is a 17th Century Tyrant called Vigo the Carpathian, who's trapped in a painting at Dana's job and demands a child in order to be reborn. All in all, the film was viewed with less enthusiasm then the first. I'd say the problem is they just took what happened last time, and washed, rinsed and reused.

After several years of speculations, some reports that a Ghostbusters three could be made very soon.

The movie has spawned 2 TV series, The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. It's also spawned several comics, songs and video games.

The theme song used has become one of the most famous songs to date.

The characters of Stay Puff Marshmallow Man and slimer are also synonimous with the film.

Several top 100 comedy film lists have included this film.

My Rating for this is R (10/11)

I think this is one of the films that fits perfect into the rating. There's really no blood in this, and the foul language is at a minimum. However, there are some scenes that are truly a bit scary, like when Dana gets sucked into her kitchen or the fridge scene. They keep it from having a lower rating, but the comedy balances it out perfectly.

That's it for this issue. Next time, we'll take a break from the usual reviews and instead use SfK to do a different kind of article.

Until then, have a Happy New Year