Although, I've found movies such as CLUE, Dr. Where some films tend to only work a few times, Ghostbusters is consistent. The story itself is interesting as well, involving some intriguing mythology of Sommeria among other countries. Though the scares are few, they do work fairly well (They had me convinced as a youngster) bringing enough threat to the ghosts that haunt New York City. Among the most frightening involve stop motion animated puppets called Terror Dogs. Though purposely outrageous, the effects do serve as some potential scare moments. Another thing that should not be forgotten is the horror elements of the film. Along with Parker, there are numerous other great songs including a song by The Bus Boys that climbed charts and a rather creepy seeming song (But works well) by Mick Smiley. Ghostbusters was nominated for numerous awards including Oscars for best song (Courtesy of Ray Parker Jr.) and special effects, which are now slightly dated but possibly work even better with the wacky style being consistent with the rest of the movie. Not to be forgotten however in all the funny one liners and set ups is the overall film. Well, it just so happens that the characters all work well with each other to set the great comedic moments staged in this film. Like any good comic will tell you, good comedy is generally about setting up the other guys around you. Numerous other well known faces are seen on screen too, which includes John Belushi (Or rather his continuation of the character Bluto, from Animal House) as the principal image used for the now famous 'Disgusting Blob,' Slimer. Not to be forgotten in the mix is Annie Potts as Janine who has some rather memorable humorous lines, for instance the one I've written to summarize the movie. Ernie Hudson in one of his first big roles has a few good lines as the other Ghostbuster, Winston Zeddmore (The only one who's not a doctor) and William Atherton of Die Hard fame plays the ultimate annoyance as Walter Peck. The scatological humor toward the end of the film between Rick Moranis (In a role intended for John Candy) and Sigourney Weaver is quite laughter inducing. The film also produces some laughter out of the minor characters as well. It's like Rodney Dangerfield in the party scene in Caddyshack but a whole lot funnier and continues the rest of the movie. This of course leaves Bill Murray (He was nominated for a Gloden Globe) as the sarcastic Peter Venkman (The mouth of the beast.) Peter is likely the one that gets the most laughs because he, being the mouth that he is, never stops making fun of everything. (Probably through studying habits, despite ignorance.) There's a line that he says involving a smell in the beginning of the movie that I am chuckling at just thinking about it. Ray has a tenacity for saying simple minded things and using very little logic and yet somehow the man got a P.H.D. At the heart of the Ghostbusters is Dan Aykroyd's (Who created the idea for the film) lovable fool, Ray Stantz. If you have the right mind set, almost everything Spengler says is laugh out loud funny. As the brain of the bunch, Egon Spengler's (Harold Ramis also co-wrote it) use of witty humor is hilarious. Director Ivan Reitman said that he found a comedic formula for works as follows: There's the brain, the heart, and the mouth. I popped it in and oh my God.I just about died with laughter. About eight years later, I noticed that I hadn't seen the film for forever and a day. I hadn't yet caught on to a lot of the humor. At the time, I thought it was a horror movie (I wasn't the brightest bulb) so I watched it constantly (Being that I am a horror buff) never realizing what it truly was. I remember when I was a kid, I wore our copy of Ghostbusters out. You know how there are those movies that you see that are hysterical the first few times you see them? This one just keeps on coming. This film holds up probably more than any other comedy in existence. That's quite the bold statement to make but with good cause. The first thing that needs to be said is that Ghostbusters (1984) is possibly the funniest film ever.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |