Ghostbusters (1984) ★★★★★
When the advertising began for Ghostbusters, I was too young to notice and it wasn’t until it was screened on television that I saw, and loved, the film. The marketing campaign was genius, starting first with posters just of the “No Ghosts” logo and then the picture with “They’re coming” as the accompanying caption. When it was released in 1984 it, and the theme song by Ray Parker Jr., became a phenomenon and, since then, has established itself as a firm fan favourite gathering new followers every generation.
Written by, directed and starring men behind Second City, Saturday Night Live, Caddyshack, National Lampoon’s Animal House and Meatballs (to name but a few), this was almost guaranteed comic genius. It began as an idea of Dan Aykroyd’s as his family were strong believers in the supernatural and he read an article on quantum physics and spirits, thinking it would make an interesting premise for a film. Teaming up with friends Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis, they devised a film where hunting ghosts was something normal, like firefighting, but then changed it to a business development story.
The film begins with the three members of the parapsychology department at Columbia University being dismissed because their work is weird and fails to gain results. Two of the doctors, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler are convinced by the garrulous Peter Venkman to go into business as professional Ghost Busters – even talking Stantz into taking out a third mortgage on his house (at horrendous rates) to finance the operation.
When Dana Barrett is unpacking and the eggs on the counter jump from the shelves and begin cooking on the worktop, she is a little freaked, but this is compounded when she looks in the refrigerator and sees a different universe where a voice yells ‘Zuul’ at her. Sceptical, but frightened, she calls the Ghost Busters after seeing their amateurish commercial on TV and they begin investigating. They also start taking calls from all over New York City, trapping ghosts and earning more money than they ever expected.
Their investigations into Zuul prove that there is something big afoot in the Big Apple that only they can handle but the authorities are tough to persuade and their efforts are hampered by über-bureaucrat Walter Peck.
Though the casting was almost done by default, with Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd filling two of the main roles, the addition of Bill Murray to the trio was an inspired decision – the three represent different parts of the team, with Ramis’ nerdy Spengler as the brains, Aykroyd’s naïve Stantz as the heart and Murray’s cynical and sarcastic Venkman as the mouth. It is in this sort of role that Murray excels, though his over the top silliness in Caddyshack is wonderfully memorable. When he is spouting facetious one liners with a straight face that would do Buster Keaton proud, he is a joy to watch and it is Murray that steals the show but, without the other two, his performance wouldn’t be half as memorable – they provide the straight men. In the other smaller but important parts, Sigourney Weaver is marvellous and as far removed from Ripley as she could probably get; Rick Moranis plays her geeky neighbour in a role that was written for John Candy but Moranis is so brilliant that it’s impossible to imagine Candy in that role. In smaller parts, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson provide great support to the bigger names, especially Hudson, whose Zeddmore (the fourth Ghost Buster) is the audience’s way into the jargon as things have to be explained to him and, vicariously, to us.
I’ve been a fan of Ghostbusters since I first saw it and remember reading one of the comic books based on the animated TV series – the theme song was a staple at school discos throughout the 1980s (and apparently still is).
Ghostbusters is a great movie, an endearing classic that will live on as every schoolchild sees it and falls in love with it. The writing is smart so there is plenty for kids to enjoy and lines that go over their heads so they might wonder what the adults are laughing at.
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