History Film / Ghostbusters1984

* CuteGhostGirl: The ghostly woman Ray dreams about.

* DreamSequence: Ray dreams about a ghost of a woman who has been dead for 150 years in a fort detmerring she's anchored in and then she gives him fellatio.

* FriendlyGhost: The dream ghost in Ray's dream sequence.

* RedEyesTakeWarning

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Crossing the streams" was an accidental one, as the Ghostbusters hold their proton accelerators in an interesting place and "crossing the streams" is a slang for two or more guys peeing so that the urine... well, crosses. However, Reitman and Ramis both stated it was just something they had to put in dramatically so the Ghostbusters had to risk death. Hence, the debate on whether they should cross the streams and endanger everyone including themselves.

A third movie had been stuck in DevelopmentHell for more than a decade. Aykroyd was gung-ho about the prospect and told anyone who'd listen that he had a script all ready to go; on the other hand, Murray was decidedly more skeptical after the ExecutiveMeddling on the second film. ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame'' (2009) was touted in some circles as a spiritual sequel, with so many returning cast members, being set in the same continuity as the movies, having been written by Aykroyd and Ramis, and being described as being the third movie by Aykroyd. The prospect of a third movie with all of the original leads evaporated completely with Ramis' sudden death in 2014.

* NobleDemon: Vince is the Keymaster charged with opening the gates of Armageddon, and he's pretty destructive in terror dog form. In Louis' body, however, he's fairly affable and curious about the world he finds himself in. He also seems to have a moral code, displayed when he encounters a horse in "slavery".

'''Vince:''' ''[growls at the driver as his [[RedEyesTakeWarning eyes flash red]], turning to whisper to the horse]'' Wait for the sign, then all prisoners will be released. ''[screams at the driver as he runs away]'' You will perish in flames! Gozer will destroy you and your kind!\\

* OutrankingYourJob: A subtle example - the police officer seen accompanying Walter Peck when he serves his Cease and Desist order wears captain's insignia. While Peck's ego and the Ghostbusters' celebrity status might explain the personal involvement of mid- to upper-level NYPD management[[labelnote:*]]An NYPD captain would normally command an entire precinct[[/labelnote]] it still begs the question of why the captain is the ''only'' officer present.

** Nestle Crunch, Nabisco Wheat Thins, Sunshine Cheez-Its, Oscar Meyer, Budweiser, Bud Light and Hostess Twinkies are all prominently displayed in Dana's and the Busters' kitchens. Miller High Life gets an actual ShoutOut when Venkman triumphantly says, "It's Miller Time!" when they think they have easily dispatched with Gozer.[[note]]The last is a bit ambiguous, or was at least less blatant, given the time of production: By the 80s the ForcedMeme was in the "ironic usage" stage of its arc, becoming a common ObligatoryJoke along the lines of "We win, lets go get drunk".[[/note]]

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Venkman is sometimes given the RonTheDeathEater treatment for using Thorazine to pacify a possessed Dana, since it seems like he brought a powerful tranquilizer with him ''on a date''. While psychology is not a field of medicine, psychologists can indeed prescribe medication if they've gotten sufficient medical training (as for how he got it, Louis earlier mentioned a nearby pharmacy that delivers to the apartments).[[note]]This is not the case in real-world New York, but the larger point stands that a psychologist prescribing meds is far from impossible.[[/note]]

** Nestle Crunch, Nabisco Wheat Thins, Sunshine Cheez-Its, Oscar Meyer, Budweiser, Bud Light and Hostess Twinkies are all prominently displayed in Dana's and the Busters' kitchens. Miller High Life gets an actual ShoutOut when Venkman triumphantly says, "It's Miller Time!" when they think they have easily dispatched with Gozer.

* BrooklynRage: Venkman is the biggest one. He is the one who shows anger the most in the movie. Janine Melnitz is also the typical 80s New York movie it-girl with a strong "scumbag"-saying gum-chewing attitude. At one point in the movie when Venkman messes with her, she says, picking up a phone call, "Ghostbusters, what do you want?!" in a strong New York attitude. Egon definitely has his moments. And Walter Peck is definitely a very extreme example of BrooklynRage. The mayor, his fire chief and the black advisor who questions Peck, also have strong New York attitude as well.

* BrooklynRage: Venkman is the biggest one. He is the one who shows anger the most in the movie. Janine Melnitz is also the typical 80s New York movie it-girl with a strong "scumbag"-saying gum-chewing attitude. At one point in the movie when Venkman messes with her, she says, "Ghostbusters, what do you want?!" in a strong New York attitude. Egon definitely has his moments. And Walter Peck is definitely a very extreme example of BrooklynRage. The mayor, his fire chief and the black advisor who questions Peck, also have strong New York attitude as well.

* BrooklynRage: Venkman is the most guilty of this. Egon definitely has his moments. And Walter Peck is definitely a very strong antagonist. The mayor, his fire chief and the black advisor who questions Peck, also have strong New York attitude as well.

* UncannyValley:
** Gozer appears as a human woman... with blood-red eyes and near albino-like skin.
** Invoked at times when Dana and Louis are possessed. Louis is seen trying to talk to a horse as if he genuinely believed it was a person, then glaring at the buggy driver with glowing red eyes. Dana practically goes into convulsions during Venkman's encounter with her, and the expression on her face when she says, "There is no Dana, only Zuul!" in the VoiceOfTheLegion is a cross between a rictus grin and an animal baring its teeth in a show of aggression. Both characters, in fact, display mannerisms that are more animalistic than human.

-->'''Egon:''' There's something very important I forgot to tell you.\\

-->'''Peter:''' Well there's something you don't see everyday.

* {{Understatement}}: Egon is prone to these. He says "bad" when what he means is "catastrophic".

MadScience takes on occult terror and wins hilariously in the greatest [[LovecraftLite Lovecraftian]] comedy of the 1980s, directed by Creator/IvanReitman. It went on to spawn [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} a popular franchise]].

One of the defining elements of the movies (and the rest of the franchise as a whole) is that the characters examine the paranormal with the scientific method and combat it with technology, rather than other similar stories where the characters have to combat the supernatural with magic or more arbitrary urban legends. Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/HaroldRamis (who play Ray and Egon, respectively) were responsible for the premise and original script, Aykroyd himself being an avid believer in the paranormal while Ramis admitted to being more of a skeptic. As such, in addition to the excellent comedy and memorable characters ''Ghostbusters'' has been found to appeal to skeptics.

Three parapsychology professors (earnest, forthright, and curious Dr. Raymond Stantz, sarcastic schemer Dr. Peter Venkman (Creator/BillMurray), and detached academic Dr. Egon Spengler) have finally succeeded in discovering proof that ghosts exist! Unfortunately, as they return they discover that they have been fired from their positions at Columbia University in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. Facing dire prospects in finding new collegiate employment, Venkman has a brainstorm: go professional as paranormal investigators and exterminators. In their last investigation they devised a method of actually capturing and containing ghosts. They set up Ghostbusters, a company providing scientific exorcisms. At first business is slow, with cellist Dana Barrett (Creator/SigourneyWeaver) -- who becomes Peter's LoveInterest -- as their sole client. As they begin researching her case, the number of ghosts in New York City increases exponentially.

The Mayor decides to let the Ghostbusters try. Worst case scenario is they're wrong and nothing bad happens. Best case scenario is they're right and he becomes a hero for trusting them. The Ghostbusters climb to Dana's penthouse, take on the Ancient Sumerian deity in the form of a hundred-foot tall marshmallow man, and win by breaking their own most serious rule.

In 2014, plans for a ContinuityReboot were announced, directed by Paul Feig. For more details, see the ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' page. As publicity for the 2016 version, the first film was re-released in theaters with a "behind the scene" sneak peek of the new film. In January 2019, a sequel to the second film, eventually titled ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'', was formally announced, due to release in 2021.

* RaisedHandOfSurvival: Dana Barrett is transformed into a dog demon when during her possession she and Louis Tully opened the portal for Gozer. After Gozer is destroyed the demon's charred, stone body is found. Her hand [[IronicEcho breaks out of the body]], showing that she's still alive inside it.

* DestructoNookie: The intercourse between the possessed Dana Barrett (The [=GateKeeper=]) and Louis Tully (The [=KeyMaster=]), which is supposed to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. The act completely trashes Dana's apartment, to the point of blowing the outside wall out completely and revealing the walled-over stairway to the rooftop (there's a reason this all started in Dana's pad).

-->'''Zuul!Dana:''' Take me now, subcreature!

* GRatedSex: The film never outright states that the Keymaster and Gatekeeper have to have sex to open the portal for Gozer, though it lays down plenty of innuendo. First, there's the obvious phallic/yonic implications of their titles. Dana, when possessed by Zuul, makes some fairly explicit advances on Venkman when she believes he's the Keymaster. When Vinz Clortho does arrive at Dana's apartment the pair share a passionate embrace before ascending up a secret staircase to the rooftop but then the film cuts. When it cuts back to them, they lay atop a large stone table with their clothes disheveled and Vinz awakes with a huge smile and his broken belt dangling between his legs.

* TakeThat: While venting to Peter after being fired from Columbia, Ray tells him that, unlike universities, private sector companies expect their scientists to produce results.

[[caption-width-right:350:''WhoYouGonnaCall?'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:"WhoYouGonnaCall"]]

* NeverMyFault: Walter Peck condemns the Ghostbusters for causing the explosion he himself had caused, in spite of their warnings.

** Walter Peck, the somewhat smarmy government stooge who shows up in a nice suit to inspect the Ghostbuster's equipment and finds himself rebuffed by the exhausted and irritable Venkman.

* AboveTheInfluence: When Venkman comes to visit Dana, he finds she is possessed by Zuul, which makes her want to sleep with the Keymaster. He refuses, since she isn't in her right mind.

* TheAllegedHouse: Egon Spengler describes the firehouse that becomes their headquarters as such (they still buy it, apparently at Ray's insistence [[RuleOfCool because he likes the fire pole]]):[[note]]In real life, the fire house is still active and the surrounding area is the Tribeca neighborhood; definitely ''not'' a ghetto.[[/note]]

** In addition, a NYPD Captain would not be going along to help enforce the shutdown order and ensure the Ghostbusters comply. NYPD Captains are considered senior management and are generally in command of precincts. In reality, a uniformed officer with the rank of Sergeant or below would be present.

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: "It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man." [[spoiler:Ironically, Stay Puft was described as a '100 foot marshmallow man'.]]

* CoolOldGuy: The Archbishop, who is on first name basis with the mayor, has an approachable demeanor and hears out the Ghostbusters.
* CosmicHorrorStory: This is a story about a doomsday cult deliberately building an EldritchLocation in order to perform bizarre rituals in order to summon an EldritchAbomination, which was worshiped as a god in ancient Sumer, from another dimension to destroy the world. A team of paranormal investigators stumble onto the plot, and, well, you know the rest.

* DemonicPossession: Dana Barrett by the Zuul, the Gatekeeper and Louis Tully by Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster. They turn into demon dogs after opening the portal for Gozer.
* DestroyerDeity: [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Gozer The Destructor]] has visited the world several times, and apparently visited several other dimensions and laid waste to them. It does seem to give the world a fairly sporting chance to pick their destruction, which proves its undoing during 1984 when the form it assumes is the Stay Puft Marshmallow man.

* EroticDream: Ray has one where he imagines a ghost girl giving him... um, moral support. [[spoiler:This was originally part of a DeletedScene where Ray and Winston are on a case at a haunted fort where the ghost girl had been greeting other male visitors.]]

* EvilMakeover: [[spoiler:When Dana gets possessed by Zuul]] she dresses and acts in a more provocative manner.

* GlassSmackAndSlide: Louis is chased by the Gatekeeper, Vinz Clortho, and attacked by him until he slams face first into the window of a restaurant and slides down, screaming. On the other side of the glass are a bunch of swanky, upscale diners who glance up briefly, then go back to exactly what they were doing.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Ivo Shandor, worshiper of Gozer. Shandor was the architect for the building where Gozer first enters our world, and led a cult dedicated to him. Of course, Shandor himself has passed away by this point, but was significant enough to become an important mention while the Ghostbusters are locked up as the previously mentioned architect, since he was the one who had brought all the necessary elements for Gozer's return together while he was still alive. [[spoiler:Years later, when Shandor returns and releases Gozer only for the Sumerian god to come back in a weaker Stay Puft form (leading to his second defeat), the ghost of Shandor decides to [[GodhoodSeeker become a god himself]] using an also-previously-established mandala spread throughout New York, as well as become [[TheManBehindTheMan the ghost behind the ghosts to most, if not all of the Ghostbusters's deadlier ghost enemies]] in [[VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame the 2009 Ghostbusters game]]. Oh, and the name he chooses for his Destructor form like Gozer's (except minus the Stay Puft)? [[CallBack The Architect]].]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Subverted as the Ghostbusters were willing to end their lives by crossing the streams to destroy Gozer's gateway, but ultimately survive the entanglement and the resulting explosion. They lucked out on that "slim chance" Egon mentioned.]]

** Dean Yeager is unnecessarily caustic when kicking the future Ghostbusters out of their university, but he's right that they hadn't provided any confirmation of any of their theories, and we've already seen that Venkman's EstablishingCharacterMoment gives ample reason for the administrator to want the group off campus.

* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: We are supposed to assume this world is like our own, excepting there is an actual scientific, verifiable evidence of the paranormal ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement while the existence of such is a contentious issue in real-life]]). Such as the fact that Egon already had built/bought a PKE meter suggesting someone had detected the energy previously, however their world appears to have the same amount of belief and skepticism as here.

* PillarOfLight: Rises over the city when the ecto containment unit explodes, releasing all of the ghosts trapped.

** As Dana walks in to ask for help Ray is working on the Ecto-1, which is unpainted. She and Peter leave to check out her apartment. After that scene the three are eating Chinese with the last of the petty cash and speaking ''as if'' the Dana incident had only just happened and was a failure. Then they get their hotel call and the Ecto-1 is ready to roll - completely fixed and painted.
** Tully mentions before Dana's incident that he's having a party coming up in two weeks. He throws a party on the night Gozer arrives. In between, the Ghostbusters do a variety of jobs and become a major media sensation, seemingly spanning a few months at least. It's unclear if Tully's party is supposed to be the one he's talking about in the beginning of the film or a second one.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Dean Yeager tells Venkman off resoundingly as he evicts them from the university, calling he and his team frauds and shysters. It's clear he's been relishing the notion for some time.

** The drab jumpsuit-wearing Ghostbusters strike quite a contrasting figure with the fancy guests of the Segwick hotel. When the Ghostbusters emerge covered in sweat and bearing the smoking ghost trap, the surrounding hotel staff and guests are visibly horrified.

* SomethingElseAlsoRises: A subtle and easy-to-miss one. When possessed Dana and possessed Louis finally meet up, they share a passionate kiss before ascending to the rooftop; we later see the Ghostbusters arrive at the foot of the building, the sky darkens and they are nearly swallowed up by an earthquake; in other words, ''the earth moves''. Shortly afterwards, Dana and Louis are shown lying on a ceremonial table on the rooftop, looking exhausted and Louis' belt is ripped apart.

* TeamHandStack: The Ghostbusters do this just before entering the building to fight Gozer. They do another one when they think they've won, until Egon tells them that things are about to go FromBadToWorse.

* TooDumbToLive: Ray denies being a god when Gozer questions him, as a result he and his friends are almost killed.

* WritersCannotDoMath: Egon describes the paranormal activity in the New York area as "a twinkie 35 feet long, weighing approximately 600 pounds". A 600 pound twinkie would only be 6.4 feet long, and a 35 foot long Twinkie would weigh approximately ''50 tons''.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Ivo Shandor, worshiper of Gozer. Shandor was the architect for the building where Gozer first enters our world, and led a cult dedicated to him. Of course, Shandor himself has passed away by this point, but was significant enough to become an important mention while the Ghostbusters are locked up as the previously mentioned architect, since he was the one who had brought all the necessary elements for Gozer's return together while he was still alive. [[spoiler:Years later, when Shandor returns and releases Gozer only for the Sumerian god to come back in a weaker Stay Puft form (leading to his second defeat), the ghost of Shandor decides to [[AGodAmI become a god himself]] using an also-previously-established mandala spread throughout New York, as well as become [[TheManBehindTheMan the ghost behind the ghosts to most, if not all of the Ghostbusters's deadlier ghost enemies]] in [[VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame the 2009 Ghostbusters game]]. Oh, and the name he chooses for his Destructor form like Gozer's (except minus the Stay Puft)? [[CallBack The Architect]].]]