The reboot Ghostbusters: Afterlife hopes to win fans back of the 80s series, but the horror-comedy needs horror way more than comedy for this outing to succeed. Released in 1984, the original Ghostbusters was a massive sleeper hit that won over critics and audiences alike with its charming combination of character comedy and surprisingly effective scares. The movie in the franchise would do well to this balance.
Following the (mis-)fortunes of the titular ghoul exterminators, Ivan Reitman’s original Ghostbusters mined humor from how comically out of their depth Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd’s central quartet of everymen were. The ghosts were real (and real scary), and the gags came from how ill-equipped these lovable losers were to deal with them.
When the significantly less critically-adored sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife needs to ensure there’s some scariness to proceedings more than it needs a deluge of punchlines.
The original Ghostbusters, despite becoming a beloved comedy classic in the decades since its release, was not a laugh-a-minute riot in of tone. The movie’s comedy was situational rather than the story being gag-led, with the central characters mostly playing it straight (particularly the stone-faced deadpan scientist Egon). Venkman is ittedly an exception to this rule, with Murray’s character cracking wise because he's the team cynic and his character is intended to be a funny presence in-universe. However, outside of Slimer’s first appearance, there's limited slapstick in the original movie, with the goofball tone allowing the comedy to come from ill-fitting characters being thrown into exceptional circumstances.
In many pivotal moments, the original Ghostbusters reboot was a Venkman-esque comic relief character and the movie featured precious little horror and tension to balance it out. Ghostbusters: Afterlife could reignite interest in the uneven franchise for a new generation of fans, but doing so will require the franchise to drop its recent focus on comedy and return to its horror roots.
