Favourite Halloween Movies: Ghostbusters (1984)

Spooky movie season has landed once more! Every time October hits, many get the urge to watch their favourite scary or spooky movie. Sometimes, people like to take on a different movie for each day of the season, but those who may not have time, they might want to revisit their favourite Halloween movie. Everyone has their own, unique, nostalgic choice, but for myself, it has to be Ghostbusters!

Ghostbusters Is A Classic And Favourite Halloween Movie

Growing up in the 90s meant that the Ghostbusters craze was still in full swing for me. I had the fancy dress costume, fully equipped with the Proton Pack & the Ghost Trap. I had the best time pretending to track down ghosts in my own home with my best mates also becoming Ghostbusters. To add to this, I even had a recurring nightmare about Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters II, but I’ll save that story for another article. Anyhow, let’s get into the first movie, and some of the reasons why it has become so legendary over the years…

For many, I think the reason why Ghostbusters sticks with us, is because we probably were not meant to watch it when it first came out. Parents probably thought that it was going to be OK for the entire family to watch it, but it turns out, that it actually did have some truly scary moments within it. Those moments, like the old lady librarian right at the start of the movie, are embedded in our most nostalgic memories.

How Ghostbusters Became A Classic Halloween Movie

With a genius and unique story from Dan Akroyd, who has famously been obsessed with ghosts, Harold Ramis & Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters tells the story of Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) & Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis). A group of scientists lose their university jobs and end up forming the Ghostbusters. An elite paranormal hunting team that will capture ghosts for a fee. Shortly after their formation at a local fire-house, they bring in Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) & a fourth Ghostbusters member, Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson).

Once the team is cemented, they focus on a major case through the character of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver). She and her frantic neighbour Louis Tully (Rick Moranis) become taken over by the terror dogs Zuul and Vinz Clortho, which eventually unleashes Gozer upon an unsuspecting Manhattan. One of the first sequences that come to mind when I think back is when the Ghostbusters head out on a call within the Sedgewick Hotel. There, they meet the hesitant manager, who doesn’t seem quite sure the Ghostbusters have the know-how to take on the case. This is where we first meet the iconic Slimer, and as they make their way through the hotel, chaos follows. The late director Ivan Reitman gives space for our characters here, in the sense that the sequence becomes a bit more scarier than you’d expect.

A Timeless Classic

Pacing their way around long hotel corridors, it’s a tense watch. No one can forget the moment when Ray Stantz is standing there, motionless and almost paralyzed with a cigarette in his mouth. After Ray gets famously slimed, and they recklessly destroy the whole hotel, as a viewer, you feel like you could watch an entire TV series of them taking on different cases if it’s anything as fun as this. “We Came, We Saw, We Kicked Its Ass!” indeed.

What really makes this film stand out is the overall coolness of it. It mixed comedy, scares, and a serious plot together in a way that viewers really hadn’t seen before. Due to that, it’ll always stand the test of time. Dan Aykroyd has mentioned before how he’ll always remember when the cast first ran down a crowded Manhattan dressed up as the Ghostbusters. The general public had no idea what was going on, but the costumes looked incredible, and many were in awe. You’ve got the Ectomobile, which looks as brilliant as it sounds.

When it drifts its way around the streets of Manhattan, with the sirens blasting over the soundtrack, you can’t help but feel like these guys have the best job on the planet. The practical effects are also nothing short of astonishing within the movie. If you look at the final confrontation, it’s surprising to see how small the actual set is in real life…The Terror Dogs, Slimer, Stay Puft. What you see on-screen tends to be practical effects, and that realistic style helps the film hold up to this day.

Ghostbusters Soundtrack Adds To Its Favourite Halloween Movie Status

The soundtrack to Ghostbusters is otherworldly. Sure, you’ve got the Ghostbusters Song by Ray Parker Jr. which probably, every person on the planet knows at this point, and of course, Cleanin’ Up the Town by The BusBoys. However, on top of that, you have fantastic orchestral work that threads its way throughout. One of my favourite bits has to be when the music really kicks in as the Ghostbusters save the day at the end of the movie. Talking of which, and I know I’ve danced around this part already by mentioning Stay Puft, but yes, no one can forget the final showdown with Gozer!

The Ghostbusters then go into a rooftop battle, in an attempt to send Gozer straight back to where it came from. The team takes a heavy hit, and Gozer even uses their imaginations against them. When Ray Stantz innocently thinks of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man, we see a giant version of it start to cause havoc. This whole sequence is so unique and just so damn cool to watch. As the paranormal investigators dangerously cross their streams, our film comes to a kick-ass ending.

The film is a timeless classic, and to this day it unsurprisingly has a massive following. Also, for those fans looking for more after Ghostbusters II, don’t forget that the main Ghostbusters cast returned for the 2009 video game of the same name. It’s a ton of fun, and sort of gives you that trilogy feeling fans have always wanted after the second output. If you’d like to know even more about the first movie, then check out the 2019 documentary Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters is legendary, and I can’t wait to watch it again this Halloween!