Who you gonna call? The one and only ghostbusters...no remake necessary.

Rating: 8/10 (11 May 2017)

Poor New York Public Library. The big famous Schwartzman building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue has been plagued by floods, mutants living in the bowels underneath the city and gang members of the future, not to mention in real life, the oldest book on the world, snooty librarians and over diligent security guards. But long before it became a sanctuary from the eye of the storm in "The Day After Tomorrow", it was the home of some really spooky ghosts, maybe not living inside one of the lions like Ted Ross in "The Wiz", but present none the less.
A huge blockbuster when first released, it was a triumph for "Saturday Night Live" veterans Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd, along with Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as the team of spook hunters, Sigourney Weaver as their first client, Rick Moranis as her pesky next door neighbor, and Annie Potts as their wisecracking Eve Arden like secretary. Weaver gets a glamorous role that is a total contrast to her character in "Alien", utilizing sly and subtle comedy as she deals with trained comics who obviously showed her a thing or two.
While everyone is great, Murray is the major scene stealer, and it's easy to see why for a while, he was one of the most sought after actors in films. " He slimed me" couldn't be funnier coming from anybody else. Ackroyd does a variety of his familiar Saturday Night Live characterizations, but Murray has a way of delivering lines that has a greater impact. Ramis, a funny guy in his own right, plays the role completely straight, but it's insinuated that something's going on between him and the cynical Potts.
Along with that bouncy title song and vintage New York location shots, there are some terrific special effects and some amusing references to social trends of the time. Back in 1984, if you weren't entering Indiana Jones' temple of doom or warning Zach Galligan about "Bright light, bright light", you were shoutin' "I ain't afraid of no ghost!" A sequel wasn't horrible, but a recent ripoff of the original was justifiably criticized. This was original in every way, and no modern update could improve on that. Calling "Remake Busters!"