Ghostbusters (1984) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on Ghostbusters

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 11 November 2026 · The Pros 81 · The Punters 87 · Spore Score 82 · How we write our takes

The Pros and The Punters on Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters sits in the sweet spot where a comedy is both well liked and well regarded. The Punters give it 87, The Pros 81, and the Spore Score is 82. The 6-point gap is the normal one for a big-hearted studio comedy: audiences love it a little more than critics, who note that the plot is mostly an excuse for jokes.

What it does well

Three parapsychologists at Columbia University, Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), lose their funding and set up a ghost-catching business in an old New York firehouse. Business is slow until a supernatural wave hits Manhattan, centred on the apartment of cellist Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), and they hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).

The secret is that everyone plays it straight except Murray, whose deadpan sarcasm floats above the chaos. The effects are part of the fun rather than the point: Slimer in the hotel, the librarian ghost and, best of all, the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man stomping down a Manhattan street. Ivan Reitman directs with a light touch, and Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song did the rest.

Where people push back

The story is loose and the finale is more spectacle than comedy. Some of the humour, particularly Venkman's behaviour towards Dana, plays differently today. The Environmental Protection Agency subplot is thin.

Who it is for

Families with children who like a mild scare, and anyone who grew up quoting it. It is one of the best films to show someone who thinks they don't like old comedies.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Must-see, Spore Score 82. The Pros and The Punters broadly agree, and we do too. It is a funny, inventive and very New York film, and the template every supernatural comedy since has tried to copy.