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Tenth Level of Hell is the twenty-first chapter on the DVD of Ghostbusters II. In this chapter, paranormal activity escalates in the city as the River of Slime makes its move.

Cast[]

Environmental[]

Equipment[]

Vehicles[]

Locations[]

Plot[]

"Flip City" began to play. The River of Slime flowed upwards to the streets of New York City.

A ghost chased people out of a Movieland Theatre in Times Square where there was a special New Years Midnite showing of "Cannibal Girls," starring Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. Slime dripped off the sign.

Slime pulsed out of a ground vent. A woman with a mink coat stepped on Psychomagnotheric ectoplasm on the sidewalk. The mink coat became animated, screeched, and lunged at her. She threw it off. The coat scurried down the sidewalk.

A huge manifestation walked under the Washington Square Arch and bellowed at the people running away in terror.

The Midtown Central Police Station was abuzz with phone calls and officers scrambling. Police Detective #1 listened to his caller. Police Detective #2 asked his caller if the dinosaur was a big one or a little one. The caller clarified it was the skeleton of a dinosaur. The detective asked which way it was headed. Police Detective #3 told his caller to wait and repeat what was chasing them in the park. The caller repeated a park bench was chasing them. A Police Sergeant told his caller to wait. He got the nearby Police Lieutenant's attention and believed he needed to take over his phone call. The sergeant stood with the phone still in his hand. The lieutenant told him he was busy. The sergeant explained the caller was a dock supervisor from Pier 34. The lieutenant asked what the problem was. The sergeant revealed the supervisor told him the Titanic just arrived.

A ghostly version of the Titanic was docked at Pier 34. Ghosts in period clothing walked out onto the dock. A dock supervisor and assistant watched from the Port Authority office in shock. The dock supervisor finally commented, "better late than never."

A conference room in City Hall was filled with various officials and department heads. The Fire Commissioner exclaimed Battery Park was swamped and the fire department got more than three thousand calls since midnight last night. The Police Commissioner told an official the police department had every man in uniform on the streets and he was still short-handed. He added there were even meter maids chasing ghosts all over Midtown Manhattan. The Public Works official handed Jack Hardemeyer a file and stated there was a shell around the Manhattan Museum of Art and they could not make a dent in it. Jack asked if he tried dynamite yet. The Public Works Official stated they tried everything. Mayor Lenny entered the room, passing by a mob of reporters. After the doors closed, he asked everyone what the hell was going on. He exclaimed it was pandemonium out there. Jack assured him they were working on it. Mayor Lenny was not placated by the response and predicted he was going down in history as the mayor who let New York get sucked down into the tenth level of hell. He admitted they had no choice and it was time to call the Ghostbusters. Jack believed there had to be another way. Mayor Lenny revealed he spent an hour last night in his bedroom talking to Fiorello La Guardia and he had been dead for 40 years. He asked where the Ghostbusters were. Jack told him they were not available. Mayor Lenny asked for clarification for "they're not available." Jack finally admitted he had them committed to the psychiatric ward at Parkview Hospital. Mayor Lenny was not pleased. Jack claimed to be protecting his interests because they were threatening to go to the press. Mayor Lenny followed Jack around the chairs. Jack cowered in fear. Mayor Lenny told him he could stop protecting his interests and gave him three minutes to clear out of City Hall because he was fired. Jack brought up the upcoming election. Mayor Lenny turned to Harry and ordered him to remove Jack from City Hall and ordered someone to get him the Ghostbusters. Harry stood up and ushered Jack out. The reporters were still outside the door. Jack pleaded with Harry. A Mayor's Aide beckoned Mayor Lenny to the window. He walked over to the window. The aide had idea what he was looking at and asked the Mayor if he ever saw something like that before. The sky swirled and changed before their eyes into an eclipse and a supernaturally induced darkness blanketed the city. The Mayor repeated his order to get the Ghostbusters.

The Ghostbusters suited up in their flightsuits as they walked through a hall in Parkview Psychiatric Hospital while Louis Tully briefed them on what happened since they were incarcerated. Louis recounted Janosz took Oscar, put him into a carriage, and levitated away. Peter asked where Dana was. Louis only knew she said she was going to the museum then added there was an eclipse, the whole town went nuts, and everybody went nuts. Ray saw all the connections fit. He concluded Vigo was going to use Oscar as a human host then take over the world. Winston presumed they were the only ones who could do anything about it.

Ecto-1a turned west on East 14th Street to the Lincoln Tunnel. "On Our Own" played.

The Manhattan Museum of Art was encased in a hard shell of the Psychomagnotheric ectoplasm. Police officers and fire fighters had the area blocked off. Crowds still gathered to see what was going on. Ecto-1a arrived. The people cheered.The Ghostbusters got out and stared at the slime shell. Ray likened the shell to a giant Jell-O mold. Winston remarked he hated Jell-O. Peter cited the tagline, "There's always room for Jell-O." Egon stared at the shell.

In the Restoration room, Janosz tried to convince Dana to join Vigo's side. He suggested she make the best of their relationship. Dana bluntly stated they had no relationship. Janosz exclaimed he knew that. He told her to marry him and they would raise Vigo as their son. He tried to illustrate the perks of being the mother to a living god like a magnificent apartment, a car, and free parking. Janosz opened the gate and allowed her back into the main space. He mused many marriages started with a certain amount of distance and suggested they could maybe learn to love each other. Dana played along and agreed. She slowly stepped out.

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters II Trivia[]

  • In the September 29, 1988 draft, the montage of supernatural activity happens earlier in the movie as there is no part when the Ghostbusters go to Gracie Mansion then get put into Parkview Psychiatric Hospital.
    • On page 80, a public fountain at 59th and Fifth spouts slime. St. Mark's Playhouse is host to an All Night New Year's Eve 3-D Horror Show. Moviegoers mistake the ghosts for being part of the movie and applaud.
      • In the movie, these events are omitted. St. Mark's Playhouse was a discarded idea from drafts of the first movie. Movieland Theatre takes its place.
    • On page 81, a drain pipe drips Psychomagnotheric slime into the Hudson River near the Cunard Line docks. The New Year's countdown reaches zero. Peter and Lane kiss.
      • In the movie, the events are omitted. Peter and Dana kiss during their not-date at Armand's. New Years takes place at the end.
  • In the November 27, 1988 draft, on page 100, a drain pipe drips Psychomagnotheric slime into the Hudson River near the Cunard Line docks. In the Central Park Zoo, a zookeeper hoses a concrete floor and slime starts coming out the hose. A public fountain at 59th and 5th spouts slime. The zookeeper later sees a pterodactyl. It screams at him and flies off.
  • In the February 27, 1989 draft, the Central Zoo scene is discarded.
  • "Flip City" plays during the montage.
  • Colossal Pictures did the shot involving the Psychomagnotheric Slime rising through 40 feet of New York sediment-through layers of broken pipes, antiques, and the like then bubble through the cracks of a sidewalk. A set was built upside down and the slime was poured down then the crew flipped the shot. It ran for 20 seconds.[1]
  • The Theatre ghost scene was filmed in Times Square at Movieland Theater at 1567 Broadway in New York City.
  • The Movieland Theatre closed in March 1989.
  • The theater marquee advertises "Cannibal Girls" starring Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. This early 1973 film, was also directed by Ivan Reitman.
  • In entrance area, the movie posters for the 1975 film "They Came from Within" and 1977 film "Rabid" are posted. Both are two David Cronenberg horror movies produced by Ivan Reitman early in his career.[2]
  • The Theatre Ghost was created by Rick Lazzarini of The Creature Shop in Van Nuys based on a drawing by Henry Mayo. The head was human-size and sculpted by John Blake and the body was made by Dan Frye. Since the ghost was added late into production, the crew had three weeks to make the puppet. Lazzarini employed the 'Facial Waldo' interactive device, a cap and vest system worn by an external operator. When the operator moved his brow, cheek, lips and jaw, sensors would send signals to the servos inside the puppet and mimic the movement done. If the operator moved his brow, all six on the ghost would move. The operator was free to puppeteer the wings. Three additional puppeteers operated the tail and four arms. The puppet was shot against black so the puppeteers all wore black beekeeper-like suits and mesh face screens. The real difficulty was operating the puppet at 48 frames a second in order to portray smooth movements.[3][4][5][6][7]
  • The Mink Coat originates in the August 5, 1983 draft of the first movie. It manifested during a fashion show after the Containment Unit was shut down.[8]
  • In the September 29, 1988 Draft, on page 82, the Woman with Fur Coat is bit by her coat. The doorman yanks the coat off.
    • In the movie, the woman throws the mink coat off.
  • In the November 27, 1988 Draft, on page 101, (and February 27, 1989 Draft, on page 105) the Woman with Fur Coat thinks they should have stayed in Palm Beach. She is bit by her coat. The doorman yanks the coat off.
  • The Mink coat scene was filmed outside Biltmore Hotel.[9]
  • Tim Lawrence and his crew developed four different coats that actuated by radio controlled servos, hand puppeteering and cable-pull mechanisms. A white fur was envisioned and was the basis for the coat, heads, and legs. After everything was sculpted and cast in foam latex, mechanics finished, actor fitted, and harness was finished, a film test was sent to Ivan Reitman 10 days before the shoot. Reitman was fine with the test but asked why the coat was white. The crew scrambled and redid the coat with darker fur in time for the shoot.[10][11][12] The master coat was the version where all the heads could react. Close-up heads were shot as inserts.[13]
  • Phil Tippett, a master stop-motion animator, was sought out to create the Washington Square Ghost. Luckily, Tippett was friends with ILM and knew Pam Easley on the crew from "The Golden Child." Tippett agreed it as long as the ghost was only 160 frames long, it could be built based on an existing armature, and it would be done in one take. Tippett built the ghost with Randy Dutra, shot it, and delivered it a day early despite being injured in a car accident with his wife who was hospitalized. Tippett didn't want to be credited on account he was just doing one shot. The puppet was animated by Harry Walton, who also shared the camera work with Peter Kozachik.[14][15][16][17][18]
  • The last day of filming was March 30, 1989 in New York City with extras running from Washington Square Park.[19]
  • The number of extras at the Washington Square shoot kept growing after each take. Initially, there was a call put out for 300 extras. At the shoot at 5 am, about 750 people had shown up in anticipation of being on Ghostbusters II. For the second take, the extras increased to 1200. By the third take, there were 2000 to 3000 people. Crew set up a Vistavision camera in the middle of scene and had the extras come out from three different streets and the Washington Square Arch screaming. Some started climbing over cabs and running into the crew. Crew had to block extras from running right into the camera.[20][21]
  • An extra from the Washington Square Park scene named Jody Oliver filed a lawsuit in 1991 over being trampled during filming. The suit was dismissed in 1998.[22]
  • In the shot of people fleeing from Washington Square on the far left, one of the then teenage extras present would later become the co-director of the Ghostbusters (Untitled Animated Movie), Chris Prynoski.[23]
  • At the 1:19:36 mark of "Mars Attack," people are scrambling as the Martians attack. The shot right before ships attack Big Ben and Parliament is stock footage of a crowd running at Washington Square Park filmed for Ghostbusters II.
  • At the start of "Against the Dark," the Washington Square citizens running away is also reused.
  • Harold Ramis and co. began thinking of big manifestations to add to the movie. The idea was that because of all the psychic activity under the city, all the dead would start returning to New York City. Several ideas were considered - the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying flaming luggage, a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters, and a cemetery scene where gravestones start taking off like rockets. Eventually, the idea of the Titanic came to Ramis.[24]
  • In the August 5, 1988 draft, on page 76, a Sergeant Flaherty at the Manhattan Central Police Precinct receives a call about the Titanic. On page 78, the Hindenburg lands at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Its passengers, all on fire, casually disembark.
  • In the September 29, 1988 Draft:
    • On page 83, the Manhattan Central Police Precinct is swamped with calls. A sergeant gets a call he has to tell the lieutenant about.
      • In later drafts, the precinct becomes the Midtown Central Police Precinct.
    • On page 84, the Dock Supervisor and his assistant at Pier 34 stare at the Titanic.
      • In the movie, the Supervisor retorts "Better late than never."
  • In the November 27, 1988 Draft:
    • On page 102, a cop gets a call about dead people in a cemetery asking for directions. A sergeant gets a call from the Dock Supervisor and his assistant at Pier 34. They stare at the Titanic.
    • On page 103, Oscar is kidnapped. In the movie, Oscar is kidnapped before the montage.
  • The Titanic was a miniature model filmed at ILM. The ghost passengers were filmed separately at ILM.
  • John Goodson and Jeff Olson of the ILM model shop used photographs and videotape of the Titanic to build a replica of the ship in plywood and urethane. The rusted hull was created by coating the outer surface with glue and sprinkled with iron powder then spraying it with an oxidizing acid. The crew had to make two changes to the design. The smokestacks were added to the wreck since they were recognizable but given a skeletal appearance. Ivan Reitman wanted the hole in the bow to be much bigger than it was and the name to be moved so it was legible. The model was actually broken in half to represent the real life wreck but Reitman wanted the ship in just one shot rather than add any leading shots of it rising from the ocean. At one point, there was concept art done for the ghosts. One male ghost would walk up the camera wondering where he was while behind him there would be distorted ghosts and two walking through each other. The concepts were not used.[25] [26][27] Extras dressed in period clothing and were photographed against black then inserted optically into the miniature plate material.[28]
  • The look of the Titanic differs from the real-world version:
    • The ghost ship appears to have a giant, gaping hole in its bow when docked, when in fact the actual vessel suffered several dozen small impacts along much of the starboard body.
    • The funnels and stern section appearing intact, when in reality, both were torn apart during the sinking.
  • The Dock Supervisor was portrayed by Cheech Marin.
  • The dock scene was filmed on April 27, 1989.[29][30]
  • The Fire Commissioner mentions Battery Park.
  • The Public Works official who tells Jack about the slime shell was portrayed by Ben Stein.
  • Mayor Lenny was in a scene that involved ghosts "bleeding" through walls. David Margulies filmed outside the U.S. Customs House in New York with 400 to 500 extras and the ILM crew on set.[31]
  • Four weeks before Ghostbusters II was released in theaters, ILM was unable to complete the scene involving ghosts pouring out of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. As a replacement for this scene, a new scene was shot - Mayor Lenny tells his staff about a discussion he had with the ghost of Fiorello La Guardia.[32]
  • The conference room scene was filmed on April 27, 1989.[33][34]
  • In the deleted scene Peter's Concern, Ray has the "tenth level of hell" line instead of Mayor Lenny.
  • Mayor Lenny mentions Fiorello La Guardia, the 99th Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1934 to December 31, 1945. He passed away on September 20, 1947, 42 years, 3 months, and 11 days prior to the City Hall scene.
  • Jack confesses to admitting the Ghostbusters for the insinuation they were going to the press back in Chapter 19: Scaring the Straights.
  • Best seen in the 30th anniversary 4k Blu-Ray edition of the movie, when the Mayor and his staff look out the window, the building on the far right during the eclipse shot is the Essex House at 160 Central Park South.
  • In the November 27, 1988 Draft:
    • On page 99, the slime eclipse was observed by Egon, Ray, and Winston from the windows of the Bellevue Hospital lounge.
    • On page 104, the woman with the fur coat is admitted to Bellevue. The zookeeper, Dock Supervisor and his assistant are already admitted.
    • On page 105, a patient in the room tells them his Labrador Retriever told him the world ends in 1997. Peter thinks Labradors are habitual liars. Egon points out the year 2000 is fiction based on a completely arbitrary calendar and people's willingness to believe predictions is what gives them power.
    • In the movie, this is omitted.
    • On page 106, Egon lays out Vigo's plan to inhabit a living human and Dana's psychic vulnerability to hostile entities was passed onto her baby. He thinks Janosz is the human link between Vigo and Dana. A patient claims he saw Hitler hanging around the Port Authority.
      • In the movie, while Louis is briefing the Ghostbusters as they leave Parkview, Ray lays it out that Vigo needs a living human to inhabit. The rest is omitted.
    • On page 107 to 108, Louis waits in the Bellevue lobby for the Ghostbusters. Louis tells Peter he had a tough time getting them released. Peter is shocked it was hard convincing them they're not crazy. Louis admits he just convinced them they're not dangerous. Louis then goes on about filling Ecto-2 with Super Unleaded for a better performance and they can either reimburse him or he can take it out of petty cash. They drive off. Louis says he'll meet them there.
  • In the February 27, 1989 Draft:
    • On page 107, Sherman Tully reminds Louis he was promised a ride in the car for helping get the Ghostbusters released. Sherman starts a story about seeing his grandfather at the foot of his bed but the Ghostbusters drive away from Parkview leaving Louis and Sherman. Louis claims he lets them handle the little stuff.
  • The interiors of the Ghostbusters and Louis leaving Parkview were shot at a side door service entrance at the Biltmore Hotel.[35]
  • "On Our Own" plays on the drive to the Manhattan Museum of Art.
  • While on the way to Manhattan Museum of Art Ecto-1a turns west on East 14th Street to the Lincoln Tunnel.[36]
  • The exterior of the Manhattan Museum of Art was filmed at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green in New York City.
  • Ray likens the slime shell to a Jell-O mold.
  • Winston hates Jell-O.
  • The restoration room was filmed at Burbank Studios.
  • In the Chapter 28: World is Safe Again, Winston adjusting an elbow pad at the rear of Ecto-1a in the Parkview parking lot accompanies the Ernie Hudson credit. It follows the scene of Louis briefing the Ghostbusters in the hall.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Trivia[]

  • The Napier Theatre advertises a screening of Cannibal Girls.

IDW Comics Trivia[]

  • In Ghostbusters Volume 1 #6:
    • On Page 1, to the left of Ray is the Mink Coat from Ghostbusters II.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 1 #7:
    • On Page 7, the Mink Coat from Ghostbusters II appears again as Winston leads the hostages out.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 1 #9:
    • On Page 10, when Ray approaches Fort Wayne, he first talks to two ghosts posted as guards. The ghosts are based on Eugene Levy and Ben Stein who both had minor roles in Ghostbusters II.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #5:
    • On Page 14, Jack Hardemeyer gets fired for getting carried away once again.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #10:
    • On Page 19, the officer is based on Ralph Monaco who played a police sergeant in Ghostbusters II. The surname on his badge is even Monaco.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #12:
    • On Page 9, in the right side of the Times Tower, there is an ad for Armand's Restaurant and a Special New Years Midnite Showing, a nod to the Movieland Theater when the Theatre Ghost scares patrons outside.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #17:
    • On Page 11, near Hart Island is the Titanic, seen in Ghostbusters II.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #18:
    • On Page 11, the Dock Supervisor and his co-worker from the second movie walk outside the cafe
    • On Page 12, the Dock Supervisor is wearing a Pier 34 hat, a nod to where they were in the second movie when they saw the Titanic and Statue of Liberty arrive.
  • In Ghostbusters: Get Real #2:
    • On Page 7, on the chalkboard, above Kylie Griffin's head is a reference to the Ivan Reitman film, "Cannibal Girls," featuring Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin which was during the second montage, at the movie theater.
  • In Ghostbusters International #8:
    • On the Regular Cover, in the lower right corner is a reference to former New York City Mayor La Guardia.
  • In Ghostbusters 101 Issue #5:
    • On Page 7, Patty Tolan mentions Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
  • In Ghostbusters 101 Issue #6:
    • On Page 1, the issue opens at Washington Square Arch, a location briefly seen during the second montage.
    • On Page 11, on the right, under Pequod's is the Movieland Theater, seen in the second montage.

Quotes[]

Mayor: Somebody get me the Ghostbusters.
Ray: It looks like a giant Jell-O mold.

Winston: I hate Jell-O.
Peter: Ah, come on, there's always room for Jell-O.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 177. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Ned Gorman says: "In the opening you were going to see slime rising through forty feet of New York sediment-through layers of broken pipes and antiques and stuff-and then bubble through the cracks of the sidewalk. I think it was Colossal Pictures that did this shot, and it ran about twenty seconds. They basically built the set upside down and poured the slime in, and then flipped the shot."
  2. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "The film being shown -- Cannibal Girls -- was the second feature directed by Ivan Reitman, and the posters in the foyer acknowledge two David Cronenberg horror pictures produced by Reitman early in his career."
  3. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "More elaborate means were used to produce two monsters--one observed coming out of a movie theater and a second terrorizing people in Washington Square. The first--photographed at Apogee--was created by Rick Lazzarini of The Creature Shop in Van Nuys."
  4. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Rick Lazzarini says: "The theater ghost was based on a drawing by Henry Mayo. It had six eyes, four arms, two wings and a forked tail. The head was nearly human-size and sculpted by John Blake, while the body was made by Dan Frye. I worked on the mechanics. Since the theater ghost was added late to the film, we had only three weeks to build and shoot the puppet."
  5. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Rick Lazzarini says: "The Facial Waldo is a cop and vest system worn by an external operator. Sensors are attached to the operator's face--on the brows, cheeks, lips and jaw--and these sensors link up to Ziff cards in the vest. Ziff cards were invented by Stuart Ziff to enable radio control-type servos to be operated by direct wire--thus eliminating a noisy radio link. In effect, they fool the serco into thinking it is getting a command from a radio receiver. On Ghostbusters II, the Ziff cards received information from the sensors on my face and head and then sent signals to servos inside the creature. When I moved my eyebrow or any part of my face, the theater ghost did the same thing; and if I moved my head left or right, the puppet did likewise. Since the theater ghost had six eyes, it therefore had six eyebrows so that when I moved my brow, all six moved on the creature. This kept my hands free to puppeteer the wings, and it also allows for a much more natural performance."
  6. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Three additional puppeteers wore black beekeeper-style suits with black mesh face screens so they could see without being visible on film. In a single shot, the creature flies out of the theater, leers at the fleeing crowd on the street and then rushes at the camera. Even with the Facial Waldo, puppeteering the creature was still very difficult because of the number of appendages involved and the short length of the shot."
  7. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Sam Nicholson says: "The real difficulty came after we had rehearsed everything at half-speed to get the moves down and then realized that forty-eight frames per second was necessary to make the movements look smooth. This meant that the puppeteers had to do the moves two or three times faster--and all within about two-and-a-half seconds. Also, to finish with the creature's mouth just about covering the camera, we had to shoot the whole thing in reverse. That put a real strain on both the camera crew and the puppeteers." To create a glowing effect, the creature's eyes were coated with front-projection material. "We put a ring light on the lens and then dialed up the intensity as we got closer to the creature so it would really look like he was coming at us. Having the eyes lit not only helped increase the illusion of depth, but it also made the creature seem more alive."
  8. Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1983). Ghostbusters (First Draft August 5, 1983) (Script p. 102). Paragraph reads : "She starts down the runway in a very exotic furcoat. She reaches the end of the runway and pirouettes for the customers. Suddenly a yapping mink head pops out of the shoulder of the coat, then another and another until the whole coat is a mess of writhing, yapping rodents. The model screams and throws the coat off.""
  9. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 151. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Line reads: "Four different coats, all outfitted with a variety of practical effects, were used in a late-night location shoot on an LA street outside the Biltmore Hotel, which doubled as the Sedgewick Hotel in the original film."
  10. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Filmed at night on a street location in Los Angeles, the illusion was accomplished using four different coats actuated variously by radio-controlled servos, hand puppeteering and cable-pull mechanisms. Tim Lawrence and his creature crew developed the specialty garments."
  11. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Tim Lawrence says: "When this gag first surfaced, many concepts were discussed and drawn. Some included using live animals--but for obvious reasons, those were discarded early on. What was finally chosen was the approach seen in the film--with one exception. From the very beginning we conceived of the coat as being made from a nonspecific white fur. All of the prototyping and patterns had been generated with a white coat in mind and synthetic fur had been ordered in bulk. The heads and legs--which were sculpted and cast in foam latex--had been hand-laid in a white crepe fur and all that remained was to finish the mechanics, fit the actress with the support harness and complete the assembly. About ten days before we were due to shoot, we sent a film test down to Ivan showing how the coat might photograph in either daytime or nighttime lighting and a test of the 'runway' gag. He thought the look and the gag were fine--but he wanted to know why the coat was white. Michael was as surprised as we were. It had never occurred to us that it might be anything else. Fortunately, we were able to scramble around and redo the coat with darker fur in time for the shoot."
  12. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 151. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Line reads: "Four different coats, all outfitted with a variety of practical effects, were used in a late-night location shoot on an LA street outside the Biltmore Hotel, which doubled as the Sedgewick Hotel in the original film."
  13. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 168-169. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Ned Gorman says: "There was a master coat that the lady was wearing, which had all the heads react and do stuff. And there were close-up heads which were shot as inserts, where they were being [manipulated] from behind."
  14. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Like the theater ghost, the Washington Square monster was a late entry designed to add scale to the sequence. With virtually no time to spare, the production sought out master stop-motion animator Phil Tippett to create the creature."
  15. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30, 33. Cinefex, USA. Michael Gross says: "The people at ILM were good friends with Phil and Pam Easley in our department knew him from The Golden Child. So all of us approached him and said, 'Phil, you've got to do this shot.' He agreed to do it, but only if we accepted certain limitations. Given the time factor, he said he could do it if the shot was only a hundred and sixty frames long and if he could build the creature based on an existing armature. Also, he would only be able to do one take--in camera--because there would be no time for an optical composite. Since it was a see-through ghost, we figured it would be okay--and that's literally what Phil did. He and his people built the creature, shot it and delivered it to us one day early. Right in the middle of all of this, Phil and his wife were in an automobile accident. Both are fine now, but his wife had to be hospitalized and he too was injured--but he kept working on our shot and he delivered. His name is not on the film because he did not want us to list him for just one shot--but all of us are very grateful to him."
  16. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 32 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Phil Tippett and Randy Dutra work on existing armature for Washington Square ghost, John Reed prepares completed sculpture for molding."
  17. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Both the theater ghost and the Washington Square ghost featured background material shot by Apogee while they were in New York to film the ghost train plates. Like the ILM crew that had shot plates earlier in production, the Apogee team encountered the incredible street-level popularity of the Ghostbusters."
  18. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "For the last-minute addition of a giant ghost monster striding through the arch in Washington Square, stop-motion animator Phil Tippett was persuaded to accept the assignment even though there was time to execute only a single in-camera take. Working over an existing armature, Tippett and Randy Dutra sculpted the limbering creature in clay. Crew member John Reed prepares the completed sculpture for molding. The finished puppet was animated by Harry Walton who also shared the camera work with Peter Kozachik."
  19. Greene, James, Jr., (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 125. Lyons Press, Essex, CT USA, ISBN 9781493048243. Line reads: "Peter Giuliano will never forget the final day of New York City location shooting on March 30 because it was almost literally an entire day; the crew worked for twenty- two hours straight. They were also almost trampled by out-of-control extras."
  20. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Both the theater ghost and the Washington Square ghost featured background material shot by Apogee while they were in New York to film the ghost train plates. Like the ILM crew that had shot plates earlier in production, the Apogee team encountered the incredible street-level popularity of the Ghostbusters."
  21. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Peter Donen says: "We shot late at night, and while the call had gone our for about three hundred extras, somehow word got out that Ghostbusters was shooting and tow to three thousand people showed up. It was five in the morning in Washington Square and it was just pandemonium. The first take had about seven hundred and fifty people, the second had twelve hundred, and by the time we got to the third take there were thousands! Our Vistavision camera was set up in the middle of the scene and we had people flooding in from three different streets and underneath the arch. On cue, they all started screaming. Some climbed over cabs and others ran through traffic--and all of them ran right at us! At one point we had to jump in front of the camera to block them. It was like a riot. It was exactly as if King Kong were running rampant through New York and thousands of people were fleeing in terror."
  22. Greene, James, Jr., (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 140-141. Lyons Press, Essex, CT USA, ISBN 9781493048243. Line reads: "Columbia Pictures was met with another Ghostbusters II lawsuit in 1991 when an extra from the movie named Jody Oliver demanded a $1 million judgment over injuries sustained when she was trampled during the crowd scenes filmed at Washington Square Park. Oliver explained that "careless, reckless and negligent" behavior on the part of the filmmakers led to "riotous and unruly conditions" that left her "incapacitated from her employment and incapacitated from the normal pursuits of life." Among the injuries Oliver claimed were multiple body contusions, a sprained cervical spine, and a host of joint and ligament maladies. Columbia denied any wrongdoing and said Oliver "knew the hazards … and inherent risks" of appearing as an extra; "such risks were assumed and accepted by her in performing and engaging in said activities." The case dragged on for years until it was finally dismissed in 1998."
  23. chrisprynoski Tweet 6/11/2022 Chris Prynoski says: "I was in Ghostbusters 2 when I was a teenager. I was hanging out in Washington Square Park in NY & they asked us if we wanted to be extras. They didn't have to ask twice. When I interviewed to direct on the Ghostbusters animated feature, the deck I presented included this image."
  24. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Harold Ramis says: "The idea came up while we were thinking about what big manifestations could happen when all hell's breaking loose. The idea we were shooting for was that because of all this psychic activity beneath the city, all the dead were returning to New York. We considered several ideas. One had the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying luggage that was also on fire. Another featured a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters. That was the precursor to the ghost train that is now in the film. We also had a cemetery scene where the gravestones were taking off like rockets. Then the idea for the Titanic hit me one day and that seemed to offer the most powerful images."
  25. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Using photographs and videotape of the sunken luxury liner as reference, members of the ILM model shop created a replica of the ship in plywood and urethane that was accurate in nearly every aspect. Modelmaker John Goodson adds on-set detail to the rusted hull – accomplished authentically by coating the outer surface with iron powder and then spraying it with an oxidizing acid."
  26. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "To create the shot, modelmakers John Goodson and Jeff Olson constructed a Titanic out of plywood and urethane, and also constructed several model buildings for the background. "We tried to be as accurate as we could using books, magazine articles and videotape of the wreck," said Bill George, "but we still had to make changes in two areas. One had to do with the fact that the smokestacks were torn off when the ship went down--but the ship without the smokestacks is less recognizable. So we built the smokestacks, making them very skeletal to kind of split the difference. The second change was because the director wanted the hole in the bow to be much larger than it actually was, and he also wanted the name on the ship moved so you could read it." Despite these alterations, the model was essentially accurate--right down to its fractured hull. "Although it's very difficult to tell in the angle it was filmed at, our model was broken in half because the real ship split into two sections when it went down. Early on we were thinking that it would be great to have the bow section come up and then have the aft section follow. There were also thoughts of seeing the ship floating above the water or rising up out of the water. But the director wanted the audience to be able to see once shot and get the whole joke. He did not want a sequence or any lead-in shots." Since the real Titanic had been at the bottom of the ocean for more than seventy years, the model had to be aged accordingly. Normally, such aging would be stimulated with applications of paint, but George decided to try something different. "We had reference photographs of this stuff that has been growing on the Titanic's hull for years. The real ship looks like it's dripping with moss, but the 'drips' are actually rust deposits. So rather than paint the model, we sprayed glue on the boat and sprinkled iron powder onto it. Then we sprayed the iron with an acid so it would oxidize. When it oxidized, it also kind of bonded together. As a result, we did not have to paint or mix colors--it just got genuinely rusty." In addition to the Titanic herself, the scene also featured a parade of ghost passengers walking away from the docked vessel. To create these ghosts, extras dressed appropriately to the period were photographed against black and then added to the model ship footage in optical."
  27. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Dennis Muren says: "It would have been nice to cut in for a couple of shots of the people because they were drippig with water and carrying seaweed-covered luggage. We had the details there, but in the long shot you cannot see them. We also thought about having a male ghost come up close to the camera and wonder where he is, while behind him you would see distorted people and two ghosts walking through each other. The shot is really a pretty minor one in the film, we did a lot of concept art on it and though of a lot of different details and ideas that we could add."
  28. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Extras dressed appropriately to the period were photographed against black and inserted optically into the miniature plate material."
  29. Spook Central "Ghostbusters II Call Sheets" retrieved 5/16/2023
  30. Ghostbusters HQ "Unsung Heroes: Ghostbusters II's Pastrami Sandwich Guy" 5/16/2023
  31. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 169. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. David Margulies says: "Right outside the old Customs House in New York, they had maybe four hundred, five hundred extras. It was a tremendous number, and what was happening was that supposedly ghosts were bleeding through the walls. They had all the industrial Light & Magic people-all of whom looked like young painters out of art school-and everyone was doing specifications. The scene really filmed well, it was a terrific, big scene."
  32. Cross the Streams Episode 40, 30:40 to 32:56, 5/20/14 David Margulies says: "And then once the filming started, there was a big shot when they started filming, of what is now the Museum of the American Indian. It was the old Custom House. It's just below Bowling Green in Manhattan. It's a fantastic building and all of the George Lucas people were around, whatever they were called. Industrial... Light & Magic. Right. All of them looked like painters. They were all college graduates who were art students. So they looked like Paris in the 20s. They were planning that people were going to go--ghosts were going to come through the building. Which was one of those massive stone buildings built in the 19th century, I mean amazing, you couldn't bring it down, you know, and I arrived there in this wonderful, cozy limo and, you know, they had maybe a thousand extras. It was an amazing scene. But then four weeks before it was released, it was being released to the summer, uh, it was a summer blockbuster, um, they found that Industrial Light & Magic could not make the ghosts convincingly go through the walls of the building. They were a month away so I got a call and we went out and shot a scene that was a substitute where I had a-I was talking to Fiorello La Guardia or something but it was by that time on Ghostbusters II, it was clear the atmosphere had soured."
  33. Spook Central "Ghostbusters II Call Sheets" retrieved 5/16/2023
  34. Ghostbusters HQ "Unsung Heroes: Ghostbusters II's Pastrami Sandwich Guy" 5/16/2023
  35. Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 151. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Tom Duffield says: "The interiors were set at the VA Medical Center in Brentwood. When they're coming out of the mental hospital in their ghostbusters uniforms, that was shot at a side door service entrance of the Biltmore Hotel."
  36. Spook Central "Revenge of Shot on Site Summer - Ghostbusters II Locations, Part 6" 8/25/2019

Gallery[]

Selected Screengrabs[]

Discarded Material[]

Storyboards of Final Version[]

Storyboards of Previous Drafts[]

Behind the Scenes Images[]

 
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