There’s something strange in your neighbourhood, who ya gunna call? Ghostbusters!
It wouldn’t feel right not use that headline. So badass a slogan, that you know what to say, even if you've never seen the film. If this is the case, I’m very disappointed.
Lets pretend you didn’t just kick me in the balls. I’m sure you must’ve heard the theme song? Played every Halloween without fail alongside the likes of ‘Monster Mash’ and ‘Thriller.’ It’s one of the greatest franchise theme songs to ever step out of the 80’s, and that's a fact.
The eighties. A time when WWF (I mean WWE) was actually good and Hulk Hogan ran up a t-shirt bill. A time when Madonna recalled what it was like to be a virgin, and Michael Jackson moon walked across the charts. Luke Skywalker discovered Darth Vader was his father, E.T. ran up a huge phone bill, Arnie was punctual, Marty McFly went back to the future, and Mario was in rehab after getting addicted to mushrooms. The 80’s couldn't of got any better... but it did.
On June 8th 1984, Columbia Pictures gave birth to a baby, and they named it Ghostbusters. A beauty. The film is about 3 parapsychologists (Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz ) who where kicked out of University after they came in contact with their first real life ghost. I can’t believe I’m going over what happens, as I’m sure you must’ve seen it. They gather information to contain ghosts and decide to go into business for themselves.
A carton of eggs jump out of their shells on the counter of an innocent New Yorker by the name of Dana Barret. She also hears noises from her fridge in which she opens to find a helldog living inside it. Their first job of many has landed soon after discovering slimmer. This scenes is then punctuated with a classic 80’s montage. Here we see the process of business and stresses of demand, followed by Winston Zeddemore's arrival, who becomes the forth and sadly, outcast member of the group in terms of promotional material. Don’t worry Winston, you’re my favourite Ghostbuster.
To cut it short, we discover that the building Dana Barret and her stalker neighbour Louis Tully live in, is the prime location of Gozer Worshippers. They both become possessed by the Hell Dogs, Zull (Gatekeeper) and Vince (Keymaster). Bringing these two together opens up the door to the end of the world, letting Gozer— a demi God— free to rule. Not only do the Ghostbusters have ghosts to worry about, they have Walter Peck to deal with. Peck is an EPA officer willing to shut them down. He get’s his own way, closing down the containment grid that the Ghostbusters store ghosts. This causes an explosion, releasing ghosts. The men in grey (the colour of the jump suit is actually kahaki) come to save the world from Gozer, with the destructor coming in the size of a giant marshmallow man!
This year is the 30th and the 25th anniversary of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, respectively. They both became box office hits creating a franchise that touched on all media platforms from the big screen to TV and the music charts. Today, we see the likes of Frozen and Peppa Pig becoming a drug to the kids— the must have and the must watch. In the 80’s, Ghostbusters was the same. After the success of the first movie, the cartoon, The Real Ghostbusters, came to the small screen. A cartoon that followed the adventures of the Ghostbusters with minor changes to the characters in terms of image. They all had their own coloured jump suit (in the same vein as The Power Rangers) to separate them. The cartoon became a hit in it’s own right and featured some very great story lines— some being far too scary for certain age groups to watch.
Ghostbusters to me is the ultimate film, simply due to its timeless motifs. Yes, the effects are dated (although at the time groundbreaking) and their fashion senses leave a lot to be desired, but it’s always a joy to watch. The story is solid, casting is perfect with all actors performing at the top of their game, in both movies. It produced a number one hit in the music charts that in turn helped consolidate a franchise to last 30 years and still be loved to this day.
You get Star Wars nerds, Trekkies and Dr. Who fanatics who collect all things related to the franchise. I am a Ghostbusters geek and have a forever growing collection of memorabilia. I feel I don’t have to say much more apart from... make sure you have this film in your collection.
