In the first film — now a modern-day classic in 80s big hair/big scare comedy — Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson star as a quirky quartet of Manhattan-based paranormal investigators who run into more than they bargained for when an ancient Babylonian demon possesses a beautiful woman (Sigourney Weaver) who embarks on a potentially fatal hunt for an entity called The Keymaster and instead finds “marshmallow man”.

Frightening seldom strikes twice, so its stands to reason the second movie hasn’t attained the status of the first — but it’s still a fun, if flimsy, follow-up. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis don their proton packs once more to battle the forces of evil. After successfully waging war on ‘slime’ New York City, the Ghostbusters team find themselves blamed for all the costly damage, and effectively out of business — until an ancient spirit called Viggo the Carpathenian is caught preparing a return to the Earthly plane through his own portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Art.

Both films were directed by Ivan Reitman with a lot of je ne se quas and the characters are all very likeable —  Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd are the hilarious standouts of course, but they’re nicely supported by the rest of the cast. The ghosts, done before the days of CGI, are well-done, memorable, and funny. The making-of featurette does an excellent job of showing the now-primitive process of special effects, and while they may look cheesy to today’s modern eye, that is part of their charm.

Both films are being released on this 2-disc set with remastered image and sound, and ton of “extras”:

Audio Commentary with Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, and producer Joe Medjuck

Animated Ghostbusters episodes (two)

Collectible scrapbook

Deleted Scenes

Featurettes (three)

Multi-Angle features

Storyboards

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson