Ghostbusters

As a teenager, I thought that Ghostbusters sounded like a fantastic idea for a movie.

Ghosts were eerie. Ghosts were scary. Ghosts were untouchable, so you had to be very clever indeed to fight them.

Then I found out that Ghostbusters didn't really have any ghosts in it.

Monsters, yes, but monsters weren't, and still aren't, ghosts. Comedy cartoon monsters more so.

Hence I decided, right then in 1984, to leave it until I was 39 to actually sit down and watch this film.

And you know what? I was right. These comedy cartoon monsters are neither eerie, nor scary, nor untouchable, and the main characters even fight them with guns.

I'm glad I didn't go see this as a kid. I would have had a real problem with all of those points. These baddies so belong in another genre.

Having finally watched it though, aside from the above observation, I have nothing bad to say about Ghostbusters. It's very popular, fairly inoffensive, and has done a terrific job over the years of fulfilling its purpose to give people a lot of fun.

While admittedly its age does show up the effects, its vintage also champions its style of storytelling. Though the film has a happy ending, the way in which the plot leisurely ambles there makes it feel more like an indie film. Hollywood would never allow this script to get shot today, with its poorly fleshed-out all-male heroes, who can quote the Bible, and who get a similarly shallow fourth member for the second half only.

The music is good too, and it's a surprise to find Bill Murray playing a character who actually seems to be reasonably happy.

So, will I watch Ghostbusters II? Yes.

Available here.