October is the month to be spooky af. Is there a better film to welcome in the autumn season then Ghostbusters? It's got a mix of comedy and horror, romance and drama, its overall spooky vibes are second to none and I will personally fight anyone who says this film is unworthy of being a cult classic.
Now last weeks Enola Holmes threw me out of the water a little bit. I had this whole plan for October being my spooky review month and I have so many things I want to talk about but now can't as I decided on weekly reviews. The plus side is I'm going to spill my spooky spiel into the first three weeks of November and then it's Christmas baby! Oh man have I got some good stuff lined up!
So this movie is basically a childhood staple, you cannot be inducted into life without first having watched Ghostbusters. Upon first glance your favourite character might be Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) because he's funny in a witty way. But it wasn't until I actually paid attention to the movie, quite recently in fact, that I have decided my favourite character is Egon (Harold Ramis), despite the fact that I would actually most likely be a Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) in any of these situations.
I can't help but wonder what series of events led to this idea. I mean the fact the human mind is capable of conjuring such a brilliant concept is beyond belief! I think what makes it even better is the fact that it is spoof horror, we live for this kind of stuff in spooky season, it's gentle on the mind but brilliant for the imagination. What I'm saying here is we wont have nightmares and can enjoy the movie.
I think the interaction between the characters is also really great. Although it doesn't seem like we see much of Winston (Ernie Hudson) as the newest member he still gets treated like one of the guys without any prior friendship. Also just shows you can do something in a field without any prior experience or a doctorate! What a role model!
I was going to go more into that but I then decided to research the movie and how it did at the box office and I ended up distracted. In answer to my previous musings on how the concept came up, turns out Dan Aykroyd has a fascination with the supernatural heavily influenced by his family, I can respect that.
So I actually persuaded my brother to watch Ghostbusters and it was a case of him saying yes to shut me up and not actually doing it. But he called me in the other night to witness the fact he was actually watching it and when prompted he admitted it was a pretty good film, which is high praise from a picky teenager.
I also really like the mix of stop motion puppets as the special effects. As I'm sure I've mentioned before I dabble in the stop motion animation scene myself and hopefully will soon have a project finished enough to prove it, but the mix of real and handmade is almost seamless and really spikes the imagination. J'adore!
I also love how the Ghostbusters are basically superheroes. Not in the sense that they have powers and are brave, but the latter is true enough, but because they brought the community together in both New York during the movie and all of us in real life. If you view the Halloween episode of The Goldbergs you get to see little Adam absolutely idolising the Ghostbusters going as far to dress up as one of them and if I remember rightly his Grandpa does the same. I've been reliably informed that this was the biggest fad in the 70s/80s, it was a revolution for kids and adults alike!
My favourite bit is just after the start and it involves symmetrical book stacking. I am guilty of this and therefore most likely to be a paranormal entity as all of my books are stacked dangerously on top of each other and are going to be the death of me.
I am really conscious of this turning into an essay where I just name my favourite clips and don't really talk about the film at all. I did read, however, that when originally casting for the movie Ms Weaver wasn't considered comedic enough after her serious stint in Alien. She proved them wrong by getting down on her hands and knees and barking like a dog. It worked. And I for one, am glad it did. We really needed her seriousness to counteract Murray's deadpan humour. It was a combination that was really unexpected but that worked so well with the tone of the film.
Murray definitely steals the show, but in a good way. I'm going to draw a comparison to Scrooged here, one of the best Christmas films may I add, but he seems to be our comedy relief. Drawing parallels to pop culture and making light of the situation they seem to be in. Sometimes I wonder if he is acting at all, but regardless of this he is still very high on the list of people I wish to work with some day. To be honest so is Dan Aykroyd.
I just struggle to imagine a more badass work ethic. A better team. Let's face it, other than the Scooby gang or perhaps the Winchesters, there is no one else we would want to help us face the paranormal. On that stance then, I would like to give this golden oldie an 8/10. You could argue it's outdated but if that is your take then don't talk to me, we can't be friends. The old ones are the good ones. They have the originality we seem to lack. Kinda sad no one dresses up like the Ghostbusters anymore, maybe with next years installment that will be back on the cards like the influx of Jokers and Harley Quinns we had in 2016.
With that my people, be safe, have fun, and I know it's a long shot but start planning safe alternatives to Halloween this year. Be spooky at home. Who ya gunna call?
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