Halloween Favorites: Ghostbusters

Halloween is here again so this year Cody and the fellas at Cave Drawing Ink decided to take a trip back to the 80's (Everyone is doing it this year: Karate Kid, A-Team, etc.) and explore two of our favorite flicks that coincide nicely with Halloween. Monster Squad and Ghostbusters. Both are great classics and both make fun homages to the Monster Movies of the 40's and 50's. In this first post we'll talk a little bit about Ghostbusters, we've got a couple of original pieces from Ian Glaubinger and Ori Ayalon so take a look and enjoy!

 Print by Ian Glaubinger

I know, everyone and their brother loves Ghostbusters, you may ask why am I talking about something that has been seen by so many people and has been analyzed and fawned over by popular culture and nerds like me for at least twenty years? All true, but there is something about the mythology and the story telling that makes Ghostbusters stand above the rest and should be strongly considered a favorite for families to watch over Halloween. And I'm going to make that case right now. One of the best parts about Ghostbusters is how they pay tribute to those timeless classics  like Abbot and Costello meet the Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein and I believe the Mummy. In my mind those classic creatures were what Horror movies were all about. Fun, kind of campy with some mild creepiness. I'm sorry but I just can't seem to find any interest in these torture porn flicks like Saw or Hostel, where is the suspense if you are watching somebody being carved up in a bloody massacre? Subtlety is the best way to go, build up to a good scare or like in Jaws where most of the destruction takes place off camera, allowing your imagination to take over. Now Ghostbusters isn't as scary as Jaws but nothing scared the shit out of me more than that damn librarian at the beginning of the film. I practically jumped out of my seat. Such a great scene; they get me laughing on the way in, scare the crap out of you, and get you laughing again right after.  I mean how creepy is Sigourney Weaver when she's possessed by Zuul. "There is no Dana only Zuul." That shit gave me nightmares for weeks, of course I was ten. But I couldn't get enough of that movie I remember seeing it like ten times in the theatre no matter how many times it scared me. And of course no conversation of creepiness would be complete if I didn't mention that Prehistoric Bitch who sent a 400 foot Marshmellow Man on a rampage on the upper west side, Gozer the Gozarian. What a fantastic name for an inter-dimensional demon hell bent on the destruction of New York. That lady was seriously creepy with her butch cut and crazy red eyes. It fits perfectly in the canon of old folk tales and Ghost Stories. No kid could walk out of that movie and not want to strap on proton pack and hunt for ghosts. What makes Ghostbusters so unique is director Ivan Reitman's ability to go for the laugh just as much as he goes for the scare. It's a hard blend but in this film it's perfect.

 Sketch by Ori Ayalon

My son just recently discovered Ghostbusters, the soundtrack actually, not the movie, he's not quite of age yet. But he loves it, he dances around and then cries when it's over. I recently showed him a couple episodes of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. The one that sticks out most in my mind is the one titled the Headless Motorcyclist. The Ghostbusters take a job tracking down the Headless Horseman, who in modern times, has been hunting down the descendants of school master Ichabod Crane on a wicked flaming Harley. It was a great little follow up story to the classic, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. My little guy seemed to enjoy it and I too found myself drawn to the cartoon again after all of these years. There isn't as much of an edge and it isn't as funny but the characters are still consistent with the films and most importantly it put a smile on my kids face. After watching the episode I found myself drawn back to Irving's classic tale of the Headless Hessian and it's interesting how much he seems to be, like Ghostbusters, going for the humorous as much as the scare. His Ichabod Crane could be a cross between Egon and Peter Venkman. He's lanky and bookish, a little goofy, with a long nose and he's always looking for the financial angle to get him ahead. It's written in a very satirical fashion. It's also steeped in lore and haunted tales, almost like the Ghostbusters film where we get the pieces to the disturbing puzzle of Gozer and the NY highrise. All of it built on a rich layer of myth and legend. It is a fact that Ghostbusters is one of the most quoted films ever made and it boasts the funniest cast ever with Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Rick Moranis. But it is also a great ghost story/folk tale about a group of working class stiffs who are just trying to stay afloat against the worst spooks and specters the great city of New York has to throw at them. It's this kind of narrative that gets you in the Halloween spirit and it doesn't have to involve chain saws and bloody hockey masks. So go and revisit Ghostbusters again with your kid after a night of trick-or-treating it should be a staple in your household it certainly will be in mine. In about 7 years or so....

 What do you want I don't want my kid having nightmares!