Cleanin' up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters review: A love letter that lands.
- lrchandley
- Feb 14, 2020
- 3 min read
Ghostbusters is one of the best-loved movies of the 80s. It’s arguably one of the most well-loved films of all time. It brought about a genuine change in the intentions of Hollywood executives and producers - comedy, could, hit big. With an ensemble cast of comedy heroes, and director that had been involved in such comedy classics as Stripes, Animal House and Meatballs, here was the chance to create a classic. And that chance was taken.
Cleanin’ up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters is a documentary film that is dedicated to the writing and making of the first Ghostbusters movie. In 1984 it was a hit, so 12 years ago, directors and producer siblings Anthony and Claire Bueno decided to start the DIY challenge of a lifetime - to trace the story of the movie across the world and make a movie remembering Ghostbusters.
I’m a big Ghostbusters fan. Huge, actually. I watched it when I was younger and it stuck. So my fear going into this documentary was that it wouldn’t be enough. This is a huge movie and there’s so many subplots. What I watched was a movie that covered all areas and aspects. Almost.
The fact that Bill Murray and Rick Moranis were missing from the movie, and barely discussed during it, was a disappointment. But, as the creators of the movie stated afterwards, these people are human and if you can’t get hold of them or they don’t want to be involved, there’s little you can do but continue. It was nice to hear an honest answer about the need to tell a story regardless of a big name not playing ball.
The best that can be said about the point above is that there’s so much more that keeps your attention in the film, whether it be Earnie Hudson discussing his toned-down role in the movie, to the numerous and extensive interviews with the tech teams behind the mammoth effects. There’s a lot here to get your teeth into, even if you’re not that into Ghostbusters (WHO ARE YOU?!).

The best part of the movie, by far, is hearing from Dan Akroyd and, more so, Harold Ramis, who passed away in 2014. The pair are true legends of comedy and it’s exciting and interesting hearing their thoughts about the making of the movie and the clear love they feel/felt for it.
Like with all subject-based documentaries, this was created for - and by - the fans. If you’re a lover of the movie, you will bask in the stories, interviews and mythos of the film. If you aren’t, you may not get as much out of it, but it is still worth watching.
As is commonplace after movies at Picturehouse FACT (where we caught the movie) there was a Q&A session with the creators of the film, the Bueno siblings. The audience engaged well and interesting questions were answered about the missing Murray and Moranis, the creation of the film and interesting details about how packaging, distribution and negotiations take place for a self-made movie. The pair of creators came across as genuine and excitable, proper fans of a proper movie. The hard work they put into this film is clear from the way they talk about it and that’s an inspiration. Just like that making of the original film itself. There’s much more to see in the extended DVD edition of the movie, something I’ll be looking at getting my hands on sooner rather than later.
A shout out must go towards Picturehouse for hosting the movie. Cinemas that are willing to support smaller projects are few and far between, but FACT and Picturehouse are always supportive of independent and niche movies, and to support these showings is to support filmmakers across the land who will be developing pictures in the future. Blockbusters are the bread and butter of cinema, but smaller projects are the soul of the industry. So whenever you can, take a trip to your local small cinema.
And as for the movie, try and see it. It’s great fun.
76 popcorns out of 100.
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