Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Chapter 15)

Chapter 15 has the Ghostbusters, past and present, battling Garraka as the Death Chill takes hold of New York City.

Cast[]

Listed as they appear in film.

Entities[]

Equipment[]

Items[]

Vehicles[]

Ecto-1

Environmental[]

Death Chill

Places/Locations[]

Plot[]

Garraka sealed up the doorway in ice. The Containment Unit was punctured open by the Death Chill. Phoebe told Melody the truth was she had to move on herself and Garraka was not the solution she had been searching for. Peter pointed out they tried doing it the nice way but that didn't work. Everyone opened fire but the Proton Streams had no effect on Garraka like Lucky claimed. He froze the streams. Nadeem awkwardly came down a fire pole in his Dadi's Fire Master armor. He offered Garraka a chance for the both of them to call it even and go their separate ways. Garraka stated he was no Fire Master. Nadeem noted he gave him a chance but was unable to spark his lighter. Trevor realized he used up all the fluid practicing. No one had a spare lighter or matches. Ray stammered he quit smoking in the '90s. Peter reaffirmed he was still proud of him for quitting. Garraka plucked the lighter away, froze it, and blew the pieces away then proceeded to freeze everyone and summon the his ghost army from the Containment Unit. A column of energy shot out of the Containment Unit and Firehouse just like in 1984. Ghosts flew out of the floor into the city.

Phoebe regained consciousness and headed upstairs. She fired a green trifurcated Proton Stream and it had a noticeable effect on Garraka. The column of energy receded back into the Containment Unit. However, Garraka was still able to counter and froze Phoebe and her pack. Garraka proceeded to pull Phoebe's spirit out of her body but Melody lit her match. Nadeem took control of the flame and blasted Garraka. The fire spread and thawed everyone out. Phoebe resumed blasting Garraka. Callie, Gary, and Trevor helped stabilize Phoebe from the power of the stream. Podcast deployed the Drone Trap from Ecto-1 but Mini-Pufts stowing away in the car jumped him. Podcast swatted them away and opened the Trap but Garraka struck it out of the air. Peter remarked they were going to need a bigger Trap. Ray realized they had one: the Containment Unit. Peter implored him to pretend he didn't know what he was talking out. Ray, Peter, Winston, and Janine ran down to the basement. Ray tried to quickly explain that if he could neutralize the mass energy density to reduce criticality, it would then force the unit to re-prime itself and reverse the polarity of the entropy field but Peter cut him off and yelled to just do it. Ray pushed the three buttons in reverse order but struggled to pull the handle down. Everyone helped. Icicles shot out towards them. Ray and Winston both recalled "Golden years" from a prior conversation. The Containment Unit pulled Garraka in and the tear sealed up. The light above the unit turned green. Everyone celebrated. Peter commended the unit for having one more dance left in it. Nadeem cheered then broken down and cried over the ordeal. Phoebe walked over to Melody, who was moving on. Melody remarked she was right and would see her again in the fabric of the universe, handed her matchbook over, and dispersed. Phoebe ran into Callie's open arms. All of the effects of the Death Chill dissipated around the city, including Coney Island.

Trivia[]

The Firehouse ground floor scenes were filmed at Shinfield Studios in Reading, United Kingdom.
In order for Finn Wolfhard to slide down the fire pole wearing a Proton Pack, a slim rubber pack had to be made in order to fit through the hole.^[1]
Nadeem's armor was inspired by an etched metal decorative fan that costume designer Ruth Myers found in an antique mall by chance.^[2]
Nadeem's armor was constructed by Ruth Myers and a firm named Makinarium Ltd in Pinewood Studios.^[3]
Nadeem reveals he is from Queens.
Some inspiration for Garraka's design was also taken from children's book titled "Der Struwwelpeter" that Gil Kenan's German grandfather read to him in his childhood. It involved a boy who never cut his nails or hair and grew horrifically long fingernails.^[4]
Ray reveals he quit smoking in the 1990s.
Ray's line about quitting smoking in the 1990s was a nod to the amount of smoking seen in the first movie.^[5]
The Firehouse basement were two sets at both Shinfield and Winnersh Studios.^[6]
At the 1:32:24 mark, some of the Phoebe/Melody confrontation on the stairs was filmed at a set in Trilith Studios in Georgia during additional photography.^{[Note 1]}
The crack had to then be revealed again and prepared by the crew when filming of all the scenes before the crack appears was done. The last day of filming without the crack was on a Friday. Crews came in on a Saturday. The construction team chased out the concrete to reveal the wooden channel, plastered the sides of the box to look like earth, added plastic pipes to create holes for the SFX smoke to come up through, laid the brick sheet and positioned it, plaster was added to sides of box, loads of pea shingle was added for texture the brick sheet was secured in place with more plaster, the edges were cleaned up and painted in. This was done two hour ahead of the SFX crew who followed behind as the plaster and paint was drying as they started melting the wax, heat gunning the vac forms and positioning the ice spears. The job was completed within half a day's time.^[7]^[8]
The special effects department spent weeks making hundreds of ice spikes of various sizes. After some testing, the most effective version was done by vacuum forming cones in clear plastic. A clear resin was applied to the exterior of the cones. Cotton wool wadding was threaded through the middle. The spikes were mounted on timber boards and positioned. Each board was bedded in with a plastic sheet molded to the floor with hot air guns on top of melted wax. Loose wax shards with glitter were added to the spikes. For walls that are frozen in the movie, work was contracted out to a company named Snow Business.^[9]
To achieve the sparking effect of the upgraded Proton Pack, a some extra mechanics were added inside a Haslab Proton Pack. Sandpaper was laid around the drum and a sequencer connected to eight pneumatic cylinders installed behind the cyclotron pulsed them in a circle.^[10] When the trigger is pulled, an igniter, propane, air, and duct fan are activated all at the same time so the powder is ignited and shooting red sparks at the same time. The 4.2 volt duct fan keeps the barrel chamber cool to hold. Iron fillings will provide the red spark. The silver knob opposite the flashing white LED was modified to be a way to load powder in. A fitting at the end of the tube will disperse the sparks laterally.^[11]^[12]
Filming took place at Coney Island on June 5 to 6, 2023.^[13]^[14]^[15]
At the 1:41:01 mark, the scene of Ray, Winston, Peter, and Janine reversing the polarity of the Containment Unit was filmed at a set in Trilith Studios in Georgia during additional photography.^{[Note 1]}
During the filming of Garraka being trapped, the original cast broke out into a rendition of "She's a Brick House" led by Bill Murray.^[16]

Notes[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 According to a private email correspondence on July 10, 2025 between Ghostbusters Wiki administrator Mrmichaelt and Ghost Corps' Eric Reich, the scene with Ray, Podcast, and Nadeem in the Firehouse basement at the 1:10:58 mark, some of Phoebe and Melody talking at the basement stairs at the 1:32:24 mark, and reversing the polarity of the Containment Unit at the 1:41:01 mark of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was filmed at a Trilith Studios set.

References[]

↑ In Love with the Process Podcast "EP 296 | The Set Designer: Rebuilding the Ghostbusters Firehouse (w/ Luke Whitelock)" 1:12:08-1:12:53 3/5/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "We had to so the pole--the fire poles--the holes for the fire poles are three foot in diameter. The pole in the middle of it, that gives you one foot six. 18 inches of you grabbing it and sliding down. And they wanted to have one of the actors in the Proton Packs sliding down the pole. The problem is when you a Proton Pack on, you can't fit down the hole, so we had to do this cheat where we made a slimmer version of the Proton Packs. Like a rubber version so if it caught--so if it didn't catch the edge of the hole, it wouldn't hurt them."
↑ Spook Central "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Production Notes" 3/22/2024 Ruth Myers says: "By pure chance, I went into an antique mall where there was this very strange metal decorative fan with marvelous etching on it, which completely released me and gave me all the inspiration that I needed for how the armor should be engraved."
↑ Spook Central "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Production Notes" 3/22/2024 Line reads: "Myers teamed with a firm called Machinarium."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 1:33:53-1:34:17). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "As a kid, my grandfather, who was born and raised in Germany before the war, used to read me a children's book called Der Struwwelpeter. That was a German children's story to teach kids good hygiene, about a boy who never cut his nails or hair and had these horrific long fingernails."
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 1:36:01-1:36:19). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "And this line that, um, that Ray and Venkman are about to share...that is a nod to the incredibly over-the-top level of unnecessary smoking in the first Ghostbusters film."
↑ whitelock_design_limited instagram reply 4/26/2024 Luke Whitelock writes: "there were two sets of the basement one at Winnersh and one at shinfield."
↑ whitelock_design_limited instagram 5/13/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "What many people may not realise is that a filming schedule which is usually dictated by availability of actors plays a huge part in how we schedule the work for the movie, we knew that we could only film the crack once we had shot out the firehouse in its clean state, there’s no going back once you open the crack! This final day of clean filming had to land on a Friday so we could turn it around over the weekend. We knew we only had one Saturday for the construction team to come in and chase out the concrete, sculpt the sides of the trough and place and fix in position all the plaster sheet, we gave construction a two hour head start on our SFX crew who followed behind as the plaster and paint was drying as they started melting the wax, heat gunning the vac forms and positioning the ice spears. Like a production line it all has to run smoothly and be completed within half a day! Huge shout out to Matt Greens plaster team who really nailed it with the brick sheet. I really wanted to pay homage to GB84 where the sidewalk lifts up outside Dana’s apartment and I think they really managed to achieve that peeled back and upturned look that I was after."
↑ whitelock_design_limited instagram 5/13/2024 Text reads: "Step 1: Chase out the concrete and reveal Wooden channel. Step 2: Plaster the sides of the box to look like earth. Step 3: Add plastic pipes to create holes for SFX smoke to come up through. Step 4: layout the brick sheet and position it. Plaster added to sides of box, then chuck loads of pea shingle at it for texture. Once happy with position of brick sheet, secure in place with more plaster... Then tidy the edges and paint in to bed in."
↑ whitelock_design_limited instagram 5/14/2024 Luke Whitelock says: "I love getting to work with other departments and seeing how these things come together, it's always surprising to me how effective a low tech solution can be, our SFX department has their work cut out on this one by the sheer number of handmade Ice Spikes. They spent weeks making hundreds all at various sizes. After many tests the most effective ones were simple vac formed cones in clear plastic, which then had a clear resin applied to the outside to give it texture and threaded through the middle was cotton wool wadding to give that misted up appearance. All spikes were mounted on timber boards and positioned to camera, each "Spike island" was bedded in with plastic sheet moulded to the floor with hot air guns, on top of which we also melted some wax, added some loose wax shards with glitter for shine and once the crew had been walking all over it it bedded in very nicely. An easy solution to a conundrum that did baffle us in the first few weeks. We contract out the snow and ice dressing for the walls to a company called Snow Business, their team came in and as you can see using water to spritz the walls they then blow a fine paper with a CV little glitter onto all surfaces to create that frost look."
↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube " The Practical Special Effects of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire!" 8:13-8:57 3/19/2024 Andy Bunce says: "Okay, so we got the motor here. Belt driven. There's an abrasive paper on outside of this drum. This is the battery pack for it and ten there's pin cylinders all the way and under. Eight of them. This is the sequencer and that will pulse them. When they go faster, slower. That's your air tank."
↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube " The Practical Special Effects of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire!" 10:48-11:23 3/19/2024 Andy Bunce says: "There's a fan in there. A duct fan. There's an ignition system running on propane. Tiny solenoid in there. You've got air which will activate a little aperture that's going to suck from this hopper underneath here. This is the hopper. This is the filler."
↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube " The Practical Special Effects of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire!" 11:35-11:39 3/19/2024 Andy Bunce says: "So eventually it will run on iron fillings which will give a red spark."
↑ sunflwer1975 Tweet 5/31/2023
↑ ninatschen Tweet 6/5/2023
↑ youdidntgetem Tweet 6/6/2023
↑ Gil Kenan (2024). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Commentary (2024) (Blu-ray ts. 1:42:22-1:42:34). Sony Pictures. Gil Kenan says: "This moment...which I love so much, gave way on set to a natural performance of "She's a Brick House" by our original Ghostbusters, led by Bill."