Wears surprisingly well.

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2011)

Meant as a popcorn comedy feature better than 25 years ago when it debuted, the Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd written tale holds up almost shockingly well despite its age. This partially due to Bill Murray's smarmy, sneering, cynic character which also makes comedies such as "Stripes" and "Groundhog Day" equally re-watchable. It is also due to how Reitman captures NYC's bad ol' days of crime, grit and lawlessness before Disney conquered Times Square. New York in those days was the most likely spawning group of supernatural evil and adding ghosts to the rats, and roaches seemed like an easy fit. The movie also still works because it was fairly edgy with Murray's Venkman torturing one of his male college students in an attempt to bed a female student (Jennifer Runyon was well worth the academic censure). Later he shows up for a date with Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett apparently with Thorazine in tow which he uses to sedate the possessed cellist he finds (if she wasn't possessed, what was he planning to do with it?) There is talk of the existence of god, a marshmallow man burns to death and the famous line "yes, this man has no dick" is uttered. Although awkward when viewed with younger DVD-watchers, the film's spice keeps it fresh even after a quarter century on the shelf. Definitely a very good choice for as a Halloween rental.