PopHorror Let's Get Scared
With Halloween over, there’s still some time to celebrate the spooky and supernatural. What better way to do that with one of the most beloved franchises for the past forty plus years, Ghostbusters? The series itself has a long and arduous history that delayed the subject of today’s editorial for over 30 years, but when it finally happened, a lot of fans felt satisfied. Tonight’s movie is the 2021 supernatural family film, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE.
Normally there would be no need to go into a complete chronicle of a series but in this case, it’s important as to why and how GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE was made. Back in the early 80s, Second City comedy ace Harold Ramis (Stripes 1981) hooked up with Saturday Night Live‘s Dan Aykroyd (Coneheads 1993) to come up with a horror comedy about average Joes catching ghosts. What we got out of it was the original Ghostbusters in 1984.
Harold had worked with Bill Murray (Scrooged 1989) when he directed Caddyshack and Dan worked with him on Saturday Night Live. Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman also worked with Harold and Bill on Stripes, so it was a match made in heaven to make Bill the third Ghostbuster. The fourth was originally supposed to be their friend John Belushi but he passed away in May of 1982. Supposedly the character Onionhead (later renamed by fans as Slimer) was their tip of the hat to Belushi.
Adding Ernie Hudson (Leviathan 1987) as the fourth Ghostbuster to give the everyman appeal while hiring Sigourney Weaver (Alien 1979) to play the damsel in distress, Annie Potts (TV series Young Sheldon) to play the secretary Janine, and Harold’s second city buddy Rick Moranis to play the goofy Lewis made the cast perfect. Add in the classic Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr and the kooky score by Elmer Bernstein, and the original Ghostbusters became an all-time classic.
Merchandise sales went through the roof after a children’s cartoon The Real Ghostbusters came out in 1985 and for the next four years, fans salivated over a sequel. In 1989, they got their wish. The original cast came together along with some new faces to make Ghostbusters 2. The cartoon was renamed Slimer & The Real Ghostbusters as the show Slimer was given personality and the legendary voice actor Frank Welker voiced him perfectly. Ghostbusters 2 wasn’t as regarded as the first movie but with video games for 2 and the original, Ghostbusters mania was still in effect. I personally liked Ghostbusters 2 the video game but like many others, not the first. Then came the drop.
Dan and Harold spent the next decade plus trying to write a proper script for a third Ghostbusters but it never got off the ground. Compounding things was the real life feud that developed between Harold and Bill in 1993. Bill just happened to be going through a messy divorce during filming of Groundhog Day and Harold and Bill came to blows a few times, leading to the two not speaking anymore.
While the cartoon Extreme Ghostbusters came out in 1997, it wasn’t until 2009 that something got off the ground. In 2009, a Ghostbusters video game came out written by Dan and Harold with all four original Ghostbusters and Annie Potts reprising their roles. Naturally they were recorded individually since Harold and Bill still weren’t speaking. The game had amazing humor, fun play and great one liners. If that was the end of Ghostbusters, fans felt that THIS would pass as the third movie.
Then things went south when Harold Ramis died of illness in 2014 and Sony pictures made a huge mistake in 2016….yes I’m going there. Sony gave Paul Feig the rights to make a third Ghostbusters movie but the caveat was it would not star the original characters. The internet exploded when it was revealed it would star Saturday Night Live veterans Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate MacKinnon along with comedian Melissa McCarthy. Which meant, oh yes, this would be “the female Ghostbusters”. Compounding this, the original actors did their best to go along with the project as Dan, Ernie, Bill and Sigourney played bit parts, but fans were livid.
Its not the fault of the actors since the original Ghostbusters were done by Saturday Night Live veterans Dan and Bill, but fans wanted the OG’s. Then politics got involved. You see, this was right around the time of the 2016 presidential election when everyone had to choose a “side”. Case in point, legendary Youtube personality James “The Angry Video Game Nerd” Rolfe put out a video saying he saw the trailer, didn’t like what he saw and wouldn’t join the dogpile to hate watch like everyone else. Because James had the unmitigated audacity to…simply not watch the movie…celebrities such as Dane Cook and Patton Oswalt (keep that name in mind Ghostbusters fans for another day) called James every name in the book including a misogynist.
We were supposed to enjoy female Ghostbusters and a female president, or else! The movie itself is actually quite entertaining and Chris Hemsworth playing an absolute dumbass stole the show, even if it was petty theft. What got fans the most was it wasn’t canon to the first two movies. All it had to do was say the characters were the daughters of the OG’s and maybe Chris Hemsworth plays a now grown Oscar from Ghostbusters 2. Instead we got a non-canon movie that the fanbase largely rejected.
So with Ghostbusters fandom at an all time low following the fan backlash in 2016, a phoenix rose from the ashes. There was a meme floating around that said “Ghostbusters: Answer The Call isn’t for them” showing a picture of grown men dressed up “but for THEM” and it showed a little girl dressed up. Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters director Ivan, must have seen it. FINALLY, a legitimate third movie was given the go-ahead in 2019. Thanks to Covid, things got delayed but in 2021 the project finally came together…and they got it right. Thus, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE was born.
So what’s the plot? Dr. Egon Spangler (Ramis) is in rural Oklahoma on the run from ghosts when he drops dead after hiding one of his ghost traps. His estranged family includes his daughter Callie (Carrie Coon – The Post 2017) and grandchildren Trevor (Finn Wolfhard – It 2017) and the nerdy Phoebe (McKenna Grace – Amityville: The Awakening 2017). Callie and the kids get evicted from their Chicago home and are forced to take over Egon’s dilapidated house in Summerville, Oklahoma.
After a cameo from Janine Melnitz (Potts), the family attempts to adjust. The socially awkward Phoebe meets fellow middle schooler Podcast (Logan Kim – The Walking Dead: Dead City TV series) who’s a quirky aspiring podcaster of the supernatural. Callie meets Phoebe’s friendly teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd – Halloween 6 1994) while Trevor falls for local teen Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor – Scream 7). Phoebe then realizes the house is haunted and an unknown spirit guides her to the trap Egon had left behind.
With the help of Gary & Podcast, Phoebe unknowingly opens the trap & releases none other than Vinz “The Keymaster” Clortho in dog form who runs into the Shandor Mine. Its revealed that the entire town was built by Ivo Shandor (JK Simmons – Everything), the architect of the portal to Gozer from the first Ghostbusters movie. This town was the backup plan to bring back Gozer in case New York failed. Can Phoebe, Podcast and the OG’s stop Vinz and prevent Gozer from returning? Watch GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE to find out.
What made GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE special was it did a reboot the right way. It brought back the OG’s just to introduce the new characters to breathe new life into the franchise. Little bit of a spoiler alert, the OG’s return at the end to confront Gozer (which got a massive cheer in the theater I was in) after Phoebe Spangler makes a call to Ray (Aykroyd) to find out why Egon abandoned everyone. Other than that, the new characters carry the movie.
McKenna Grace as the dad joke telling nerd was hilarious and Finn Wolfhard was the master at the teenage role with experience in both It and Stranger Things. Logan Kim knocked Podcast out of the park and the best thing was with Rick Moranis retired, they essentially plugged Paul Rudd into the lackey role. The best part was Paul Rudd didn’t try to be Rick Moranis, he was just Paul Rudd being Paul Rudd and that worked just fine. Carrie Coon as the new damsel worked as well and I don’t even have to mention Bill Murray, Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, they never miss.
Was there anything to complain about in GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE? Certain fans weren’t too thrilled that the new protagonist was a teenage girl but at least Jason Reitman did the right thing and make her Egon’s granddaughter to continue the legacy. Fans also felt going back to Zuul, Vinz and Gozer was a bit lazy but at the same time, at least fans already knew who they were. But the end….oh the ending.
*SPOILER ALERT….skip a paragraph if you don’t want the ending revealed*
For those that have seen the movie, the ending was the biggest tearjerker. After Gozer subdues the OG’s and Podcast & Trevor are busy, its down to Phoebe by herself against Gozer when Egon in ghost form comes to her aid. When the OG’s get up and join back in, Peter Venkmin (Murray) keeps it lighthearted by saying “I figured you’d show up.”
After Gozer is dispatched, the final scene is Egon embracing his family and vanishing into the sky with the message “For Harold” flashing across the screen. The first time I saw GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE in theaters I legitimately teared up and even now just typing it out is making me ask who’s cutting onions. Because Harold and Bill didn’t patch things up until Harold was on his deathbed in 2014 and Answer The Call faltered, GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE felt like a fitting ending not just for Egon but for Harold as well. Without him, there is no Ghostbusters.
The credits lightened the mood by having Sigourney Weaver return as Dana Barrett to screw with Peter and Winston Zeddmore (Hudson) talks to Janine saying “I’ll always be a Ghostbuster.” In my personal opinion, that wasn’t Winston talking, that was Ernie Hudson himself saying that even though he was supposed to be in character.
So how did GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE do in the box office? The budget was 75 million and it grossed over 200 million. That’s a rounding success. The film was successful enough to warrant another sequel which came out in 2023 called Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire…but that’s a story for another day. All in all Ghostbusters as a franchise has survived over 40 years with video games, toys, merchandise, four movies…..okay okay…five movies, and tons of fan support. However, a new generation of fans were given their own movie in 2021 and they will continue on the legacy once us older folk are no longer around. Whether you were old or young in 1984 or 2021, Ghostbusters is for everyone. If you want a true sequel to Ghostbusters 2, you got it with GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE.
One last thing before we sign off. Phoebe “What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fshhhhhhhh”
