There's something weird, and it don't look good.

Rating: 6/10 (3 October 2009)

After losing their university grant, paranormal scientists Dr Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) set up business as Ghost Busters, professional exterminators for those with supernatural pests, unaware that New York is soon to become plagued by spooks as an ancient Sumerian God named Gozer prepares to enter our realm.
When Ghost Busters was originally released, way back in 1984 (bloody hell, that's a quarter of a century ago!!!), cinema audiences went wild for the supernatural adventures of spook wranglers Venkman and Co.: the film was the definition of an 80s, crowd-pleasing blockbuster, with an impressive cast of hot comedy names, a script packed with witty one liners, bucket-loads of flashy, state-of-the-art special effects, and, of course, a catchy theme song that couldn't fail to please.
So this afternoon, I sat down to re-live the magical experience with my children (aged 6 and 8), but to my disappointment, discovered that the film really hasn't aged that well. Despite some classic moments of dry humour from Bill Murray, the impressive sight of a Godzilla-size Mr. Stay Puft trashing New York, and the even more impressive sight of Sigourney Weaver's lovely, long legs, the film just isn't as great as my memory had led me to believe: it's rather cheap looking at times, with shonky props, unconvincing sound-stage sets, and crowd-scenes of, oh, at least 50 people; the effects that once dazzled now look embarrassingly bad, with iffy stop motion animation, crap matte work, random flashy lights, and Richard Edlund's Oscar nominated 'ink in water' clouds looking just like... well, just like ink in water; and rather than being a roller-coaster ride of laughs and scares, the film is actually pretty dull at times. Sorry kids, but I was so sure that this film rocked; instead, it's just another passable piece of 80s nostalgia for the middle-aged.
Oh well, at least the theme song is still a corker; all together now.... Who ya gonna call?