GhostBusters II (1989)

When a 16th-century tyrant and a river of angry pink ooze threaten New York City, who ya gonna call? (It’s a rhetorical question.)

Ghostbusters II brought back Drs. Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and the rest, but life hadn’t been kind in the five years – both in real-time and movie time – since the original Ghostbusters film.

At the start of Ghostbusters II, the Ghostbusters have been banned from all spirit chasing by a court order. Ray and Winston are working kids’ birthday parties, Egon is conducting experiments on the human psyche and the environment, and Peter is hosting The World of the Psychic on local cable.

Cool beauty Dana broke up with Peter, married another man, had a baby named Oscar, got divorced and is now working as a museum art restorer.

That’s where things first start to get nasty, as Dana begins restoring a portrait of the malevolent Vigo the Carpathian.

Vigo wants to return to this world to reign in terror, but he needs a host form to make the jump. He finds one in little baby Oscar, and with the help of Dana’s boss Janosz Poha, the Carpathian begins making his move.

Peter and the boys reunite to help Dana out, but they’re soon placed under arrest for violating their court order, and hapless Louis Tully is their only legal representation.

Together again, the Ghostbusters realise that New York is on course for another supernatural meltdown, courtesy of a river of oozing pink ectoplasm beneath the city streets. The slimy goo is fuelled by the collective rage of New York’s notoriously hard-nosed citizens, and unless Peter and the gang can harness a little love power, Vigo and his minions will usher in a global apocalypse.

All the elements that made the original Ghostbusters such a success were back – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudon, Annie Potts and other supporting players acting in another Aykroyd/Ramis script directed by Ivan Reitman.

The soundtrack was another R&B-influenced hit, with Bobby Brown’s single On Our Own hitting #2 on the American charts.

The mix worked again, as Ghostbusters II scored another blockbuster hit in a crowded summer that included Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, Back to the Future Part II, Lethal Weapon 2 and fellow Rick Moranis film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Dr Peter Venkman
Bill Murray
Dr Raymond Stantz
Dan Aykroyd
Dana Barrett
Sigourney Weaver
Dr Egon Spengler
Harold Ramis
Louis Tully
Rick Moranis
Winston Zeddemore
Ernie Hudson
Janine Melnitz
Annie Potts
Janosz Poha
Peter MacNicol
The Judge
Harris Yulin
Mayor
David Margulies
Hardemeyer
Kurt Fuller
The Prosecutor
Janet Margolin
Vigo
Wilhelm von Homburg
Baby Oscar
Will Deutschendorf
Baby Oscar
Hank Deutschendorf

Director
Ivan Reitman