10 Best Ghostbusters Moments
8. Buying the Fire Station
The Ghostbusters need a headquarters, and the huge, abandoned fire station just off Central Park is perfect for their equipment (and egos).
This scene, like number nine on this list, is a succinct way that director Ivan Reitman helps us to get to know his characters. Excitable Ray runs around like a puppy, sliding down the fireman’s pole with childlike glee. ‘I’ll get my stuff!’ Realistic Egon is the much-needed straight man. And it’s almost all too much for the sardonic Venkman.
This moment is warmer and less slapstick than the one presented in the previous entry as we’re already invested in the characters. It is testament to the skill of the writing, direction and acting, that signing a lease can be a high point in a movie.
7. “Is this true?” / “Yes, this man has no dick.”
As if an underworld overflowing with ghouls wasn’t enough, the Ghostbusters have another antagonist in the form of Walter Peck (William Atherton) from the Environmental Protection Agency. He is not a fan.
Peck is certain that the Ghostbusters are frauds and wants the mayor to throw them in prison. As the pressure builds, and the Ghostbusters have to prove to the mayor, the EPA, and the police force that they are the only people for the job, Venkman delivers one of the funniest lines of the whole film.
Ray, perhaps unwisely, says “everything was fine until the power was shut off by dickless here.”
“They caused an explosion!” Peck counters.
“Is this true?” The mayor asks earnestly.
“Yes, this man has no dick.”
If you hadn’t pegged Murray as the star of this film by this point, this scene will probably be what does it.
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6. Zuul’s in the Fridge
Dana (Sigourney Weaver) lives in the apartment building where all Hell is about to break loose. Weaver might have faced the Xenomorph in Alien a few years prior, but nothing can prepare her for what’s living in the back of the fridge.
As Dana’s eggs explode on her worktop she hears a noise coming from her refrigerator. Her penthouse suite has been chosen to host the destructive god, Gozer, whose two terror dog minions, Zuul and Vinz Clortho, have been charged with finding humans to possess.
The beautiful artwork for Gozer’s temple, just north of the vegetable crisper, is impressive and unexpected. It is just the correct level of ridiculous. The beauty of Ghostbusters is that while it doesn’t take itself too seriously, the acting welly on screen is delivered with all seriousness. The force Weaver puts behind that scream as Zuul the terror dog leaps out towards her is worthy of any horror flick.
