Ghostbusters (1984)

 

I was really young the first time I saw Ghostbusters, probably like 1987 or 1988 because I remember being really excited when Ghostbusters II was coming out in theaters in the summer of 1989 (more on that one later). We owned the movie on VHS and I watched it countless times to the point where I had the movie memorized (in fact, I still do). I've just been a huge Ghostbusters fan and I struggle to recall a time in my life when I wasn't. So, naturally, I thought that with the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, now would be a perfect time to take a look back.   

After being thrown out of their labs on the campus of Columbia University, three paranormal researchers, Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray), Ray Stanz (played by Dan Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (played by Harold Ramis) decide to go into business for themselves starting a business offering their services in capturing and removing ghosts. Their efforts start off a little rough as their first real call ends with them causing some serious damage to a posh New York hotel. Their other client is Dana Barrett (played by Sigourney Weaver), who believes her apartment building is haunted when she sees a vision to another dimension in her refrigerator and a dozen eggs she just bought bust open and start frying on her kitchen counter. Business starts booming, leading the group to hire a fourth Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddemore (played by Ernie Hudson). In fact, they get so busy, the guys start to get the feeling all of this increased paranormal activity in the city is leading to something big. With further research, Ray and Egon discover that the Dana's building was designed by a worshipper of Gozer, a Sumerian God of Destruction. Her building was specifically designed to draw in and concentrate spectral energy to allow the return of Gozer and bring about the end of the world. With no other options, the four Ghostbusters have no choice but to suit up and try and stop it.  

The film was directed by Ivan Reitman from a script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Dan Aykroyd came up with the initial concept, drawing inspiration from his own beliefs in the paranormal, which in turn came from his family's history of paranormal research dating back to Aykroyd's great-grandfather. When I started getting interested in the Paranormal myself, I was surprised to see the terminology that carried over from actual research, especially with the supposed occurrences of Ectoplasm dates back to the late 19th century). When his initial scope for the project proved too ambitious to film, Harold Ramis was brought in to help refine the story and craft the final shooting script grounding it in a sense of reality. The partnership worked well though as they crafted a dynamite movie that perfectly mixed comedy and chills that suited the film perfectly. Reitman likewise does a great job balancing the two moods of the film with both the comedic and practical special effects blending together seemingly effortlessly. The filmmakers do manage to pull off some pretty impressive effects in the film, with a number of them being completely practical, such as the mayhem the ghosts unleash, such as the aforementioned exploding eggs in Dana's apartment (which was accomplished by carefully inserting air hoses into the bottom of the eggs and disguising a giant griddle to look like her kitchen counter). Not to mention the climactic appearance of the 100ft tall Stay Puft Marshmallow man that remains an iconic element of the movie. Although, not all the effects have aged well, most of them have quite well. Bringing it all together is the fantastic score by Elmer Bernstein that really captures both the fantastical and comedic elements of the film perfectly.  

The film is perfectly cast with Bill Murray leading up the cast as the rascally Peter Venkman who is almost always ready to go with a sarcastic one-liner makes him an easy favorite among the group. There is something so adorably pure about how Dan Aykroyd plays Ray Stanz and the almost childlike excitement he has for every discovery they make, whether it's finding actual ectoplasmic residue or their first encounter with a ghost. You also get the sense there is a slightly more off kilter side to Ray, if a certain dream sequence he has that went right over my head as a kid is any indication. Yet, Aykroyd plays it all perfectly. Harold Ramis is great as the always serious and academic Egon Spengler. He plays the comedy of the role quite well without ever playing Egon like a stereotypical nerd. Sigourney Weaver does well in her role as Dana Barrett, who finds herself in way over her head with the sudden occurrences of supernatural activity in her life. She plays off Murray quite well, as Venkman takes a personal interest in her case. Ernie Hudson makes a nice contrast to the original three Ghostbusters, coming into the group initially as a bit of a skeptic but needing the job regardless. Still, Hudson does great in the role and adds a real everyman realness that helps ground the film. Rick Moranis has an amusing supporting role as Lewis Tully, Dana's accountant neighbor who gets pulled into all the supernatural happenings as well and has a recurring joke of constantly accidentally locking himself out of his apartment. Annie Potts has a memorable supporting role as the Ghostbusters' secretary and receptionist Janine, who also has a bit of a flirtation going with Egon as well. 

Ghostbusters naturally turned out to be a massive hit with all ages, spawning a sequel, two different animated series and a reboot in 2016 that proved to be a bit more...divisive (I, for one, loved it.). Still, it all started here with the 1984 original and it is easy to see why I caught the cultural zeitgeist so well. There have been a number of movies that have attempted to replicate this film's unique blend of the fantastical and comedic but none have quite managed to recapture it the way this film did. There are some films that truly fit the term "lightning in a bottle" and this film definitely is one of those.