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Ghostbusters References (Movies)

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This page is a collection of Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References that have appeared in various movies in the years since the release of Ghostbusters (from 1984 to the present). The items that appear below, while significant, do not warrant their own articles, hence why they appear here. This collection is but one of many here at the Ghostbusters Wiki. Please consult the main Ghostbusters Tributes, Spoofs, & References page for the full index of articles.

A concerted effort has been made to present the information in chronological order. Dates come from the Internet Movie Database and are assumed to be correct.

All data that has been verified will include images and/or a video clip link. If you wish to add a reference to this article, please provide an image or video (cued up to the reference, or with a timestamp notation) to back it up. An image uploaded to the Wiki is preferred due to the likelihood of video takedowns (especially on YouTube). Any reference without an image or video to verify may be removed from this article in the future. Items in need of an image, video, or some kind of reference have the "Citation Needed" notation.

General References[]

  • Jagged Edge (1985) - A No Ghost Logo poster hangs on the wall of the kid's bedroom.
  • School Spirit (1985) - Horny student Billy Batson (Tom Nolan) is killed in a car crash and becomes a ghost who can make himself invisible or corporeal at will. With the help of his perverted ghost guide, old uncle Pinky (John Finnegan), he goes on sexual escapades, takes on the principal, and finds true love. The tagline on the movie poster - "This is one ghost who should be busted." - is a clear reference to Ghostbusters.
  • Critters (1986) - Brad Brown's father Jay is seen wearing a bowling shirt with a parody of the No-Ghost Sign that replaces the ghost with an anthropomorphic bowling pin. (At the 1hr 28min 24sec mark)
  • Critters 2: The Main Course (1988) - Megan (Liane Curtis) suggests they get help to fight the Critters. Brad (Scott Grimes) responds, "Who we gonna call? Critterbusters?!?" The clip of this exchange can be seen about a minute into the theatrical trailer. (Watch Theatrical Trailer)
  • Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988) - This Looney Tunes compilation film parodies the concept of Ghostbusters. In the opening sequence, the "Q" in the film's title card is made by Daffy Duck applying hedge-clippers to a "No" sign that appeared in his way. (Watch Video Clip of Opening Title Sequence)
  • Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988) - Richard (Michael T. Weiss) chastises his wife Marie (Romy Windsor) for running around with her friend "like a couple of Ghostbusters" instead of getting some rest. (Watch Video Clip)
  • The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989) - The movie opens with Toxie fighting some bad guys in a video store. Shortly after he uses the Bulk Video Tape Eraser to erase one guy's face, another thug calls to him to get his attention. On the wall behind the lowlife is a Ghostbusters VHS tape. It's out of focus in the background, but the No Ghost logo on the cover is easy to recognize.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) - Early into the movie, during a news report, April O'Neil says, "Crimes without criminals, and a invisible gang at work; Who we gonna call?" In the Chinese VCD version, the subtitle translation of the line is less overt reading, "Without the help of Ghostbusters and Masked Riders."
  • Zombie '90: Extreme Pestilence (1991) - A zombie can be seen wearing a white shirt with the no ghost logo. (At 42-43 minutes, and again at 1 hour 48 minutes)
  • Double Dragon (1994) - In this movie, based on the popular video game, a tough guy character named Shuko is experimented on and plumped up to several times his normal size. He is rescued by the good guys, lead by Marian Delario (played by Alyssa Milano). Upon seeing what he's become, she remarks: He's as big as a house. Shuko did some sort of experiment on him. He looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. Alyssa would later go on to see the real Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, in a manner of speaking, as her character Ilyssa Selwyn in Ghostbusters: The Video Game. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Expect No Mercy (1995) - Damian (Anthony De Longis) and a thug visit a government official in an effort to coerce him into revealing the whereabouts of accountant Albert Goldberg (Sam Moses). One of Damian's coercion techniques involves slamming the official's fingers with a gavel. His screams are music to Damian's ears, prompting him to remark, "What a lovely singing voice you must have." This is the same comment that Peter Venkman made to the possessed Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters. (Watch Video Clip)
  • The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) - Near the end of the movie, a secret agent dressed as a waiter is about to make a move on Bill Murray's character. He is given the go-ahead by another secret agent via his earpiece: "All right, Venkman ... now." The closed captioning says "drinkman", but he's clearly saying "Venkman". (Watch Video Clip)
  • The Mummy Returns (2001) - Rick O'Connell (Brendan Frasier) says, "Nice shooting, Tex". (At 1:32.17; chapter 14 on DVD) (Watch Video Clip)
  • Coffee and Cigarettes (2004) - The movie is a collection of vignettes filmed over many years of people talking about coffee and cigarettes. Bill Murray plays himself in the vignette entitled "Delirium" which also contains a Ghostbusters reference. (The reference is seen at the beginning of the film's trailer.)
  • Without A Paddle (2004) - Three friends, whose lives have been drifting apart, reunite for the funeral of a fourth childhood friend. Their friend was attempting a quest to find some missing money, and they decide to continue his journey. At the start of the movie, under the credits, we see footage of the friends when they were children doing the various things that children in the 1980s did - like pretending to be Indiana Jones or dressing up as the Ghostbusters for Halloween. Later on, one of them finds the cell phone that he previously lost, prompting one of the other friends to ask, "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters?" (Watch Video Clip)
  • Under The Mistletoe (2006) (TV Movie) - Kevin Harrison (Michael Shanks) and Susan Chandler (Jaime Ray Newman) are haunted by her ex-husband's ghost. Kevin fell asleep reading a book entitled "Spirits and Apparitions of Christmas", and is woken up by Susan. She asks him if he's gathered any tips from reading the book, such as if they should call a medium or Ghostbusters. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Superbad (2007) - Seth (Jonah Hill) has a secret: when he was younger, he compulsively drew pictures of male genitals. To his eternal embarrassment, his teacher discovers Seth's archive of self-made porn, stashed in his The Real Ghostbusters lunchbox. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Be Kind Rewind (2008) - The main characters make a very cheap and poor remake of the movie Ghostbusters. Sigourney Weaver even made an appearance in the film playing a Walter Peck-like role in wanting to destroy the "Sweded" version of Ghostbusters along with all other "Sweded" movies. For more details, see the Be Kind Rewind page.
  • Role Models (2008) - Danny (Paul Rudd) is trying to get back with his girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) and he's using movie quotes to do it! First it's "you complete me" and "you had me at hello" from Jerry McGuire, followed by the "just a girl" line from Notting Hill, and then he ends with Ghostbusters' "Who you gonna call?" (Watch Video Clip)
  • Logorama (2009) - The "No Ghost" logo appears as a Stop sign in this short film, which tells a story using famous real and fictional logos and merchandising characters. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 2010 Academy Awards. (Watch the Entire Short Film)
  • Bad Teacher (2011) - The film opens with the faculty of John Adams Middle School (JAMS) celebrating the end of the school year. Principal Wally Snur (John Michael Higgins) gives a speech recapping the highlights of previous school year, which includes "Mr. Pinkus' Haunted Classroom" - presumably something the teacher did at Halloween. Sandy Pinkus (Dave Gruber Allen) replies, "I ain't afraid of no ghost." (Watch Video Clip)
  • Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) - The Hobo (Rutger Hauer) stumbles across some hookers standing next to a wall with "Slimer" graffiti on it.
  • Detention of the Dead (2012) - Ash says "Mother Pussbucket" when he realizes that the air vent is going to give way. This is a fictional curse word that was introduced in Ghostbusters, where it is said by Peter Venkman (Bill Murray). (Watch Video Clip)
  • Think Like A Man (2012) - A Ghostbusters poster appears on a bedroom wall.
  • Ex Machina (2015) - After the first power outage, Caleb goes to the living room and considers using the phone. Nathan, his boss, was sitting the whole time near him and drunkenly quotes the "Who You Gonna Call?" line then stated it was from the movie Ghostbusters. He then mentioned Dan Aykroyd got a blowjob from a ghost.
  • Ghosthunters: On Icy Trails (2015) - Hetty (Anke Engelke) name-checks "Venkman" and "Stantz" when trying to lie her way out of a situation. This German film is also known as Gespensterjäger. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015) - When Giganta (voiced by April Winchell) goes to topple the Daily Planet building, she comments that "print is dead". This is the same thing said by Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) in the original Ghostbusters film. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Ted 2 (2015) - In the Unrated Cut, when John (Mark Wahlberg) rattles off movie character surnames, the list includes Venkman, Spengler, and Stantz.
  • Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016) (TV Movie) - Aston Reynolds (Tommy Davidson) warns Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) that he's no longer the Sharknado hero he used to be. In doing so, he quotes the Ghostbusters' tagline, "Who you gonna call?" (Watch Video Clip)
  • Happy Death Day (2017) - At the end of the movie, Carter (Israel Broussard) tells Tree (Jessica Rothe) that her little time loop scenario reminds him of Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. When she asks who Bill Murray is, he mentions Ghostbusters. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018) - Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) gives a speech in front of Slimer and Stay Puft plush toys. (The scene occurs at 22:07 during chapter 5 on the Blu-ray and DVD.)
  • This Changes Everything (2018) - A brief interview clip of Paul Feig is used in this documentary about sexism and the lack of female representation in the motion picture industry. There are Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) toys sitting on his desk; namely an Ecto-1 to the left of his nameplate and small figures of the four Ghostbusters to the right.
  • Playmobil: The Movie (2019) - When minifigure Marla chases her brother Charlie on a horse through a forest, she clears the forest and reaches a highway. Playmobil's rendition of the Ecto-1 can be seen quickly driving by, complete with lights and siren howling. Playmobil released an official Ecto-1 toy in 2017. The shot appears at the 22:43 mark (chapter 5 on the U.S. DVD). (Watch Video Clip)
  • Extra Ordinary (2019) - Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins) is a driving school instructor/owner with the ability to communicate with ghosts. She meets Martin Martin (Barry Ward), after his daughter Sarah Martin (Emma Coleman) encouraged him to contact her for help in dealing with the ghost of their wife/mother, who has been haunting their house since her death.
    • 1. At 8:46 - Martin Martin and his daughter are speaking about their late wife/mother who's haunting their house. The daughter tells him that he has to do something about it. He says to her, "Who you gonna call?" She mentions the psychic who runs a local driving school (Watch Video Clip of Reference #1)
    • 2. At 32:43 - Rose explains what ectoplasm is. Martin says, "Like in Ghostbusters?" Rose replies, "Oh, I haven't read that." (Watch Video Clip of Reference #2)
  • Critters Attack! (2019) - Aunt Dee (Dee Wallace) uses a device that looks similar to a P.K.E. Meter to track Krites
  • Hubie Halloween (2020) - A little over a quarter into the movie, Hubie Dubois, portrayed by Adam Sandler, calls into the local radio station, WTCH, requesting "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. and hanging on the wall of WTCH is a copy of Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher" record album. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - Early into the movie, around the 19:17 mark, when Diana tries to hail a taxi near a movie theater, one of the film posters on display is a European variant of the Icon Ghost "Ghostbusters" poster.
  • Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop (2021) - When Miss Willoughby (Nathalie Cox) and Robert Windsor (Kelsey Grammer) visit an old friend, they learn that she has been experiencing supernatural activity at her family's bookstore. Willoughby and Windsor agree to help her, prompting Windsor to comment, "So, we're in the business of ghostbusting now?" (Watch Video Clip)
  • The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) - Half way into the movie, Katie, voiced by Abbi Jacobson, tries to motivate her father by saying "What if the Ghostbusters said, 'You know what? Let's hide underground. Eat some dog. Let the ghosts destroy New York.'" (Watch Video Clip)
  • Tick, Tick... BOOM! (2021) - Jonathan Larson, portrayed by Andrew Garfield, answers the phone in the Moondance Diner where he works by saying, "Moondance Diner, whaddya want?! ...that was a Ghostbusters reference!"
  • Scream (2022) - Ghostbusters is used by film expert Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) as an example of a franchise with a "requel" in it; that being Ghostbusters: Afterlife. As she describes it, "You got to build something new. But not too new, or the Internet goes bug-fucking nuts. It's got to be part of an ongoing storyline, even if the story shouldn't have been ongoing in the first place. New main characters, yes, but supported by and related to legacy characters. Not quite a reboot, not quite a sequel. Like the new Halloween, Saw, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters... fuck, even Star Wars! It always, always goes back to the original!" (The Corner Penthouse Review with Video Clip)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) - When Dr. Robotnik, portrayed by Jim Carrey, gets the Master Emerald, he forms a giant robot of himself. Upon seeing the robot, Wade, portrayed by Adam Pally, feels validated about a previous thought he had and says, "I knew it! Just like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man!"
  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022) - At the 1:02:44 mark, when Chip ‘n Dale are stopped by a crowd of fans for photographs, a girl is wearing a black shirt with the classic No-Ghost logo on the front.
  • Bandit (2022) - In the movie, based on a true story that took place in the 1980s, at the 19:17 mark, a theatre marquee shows one of the movies currently playing is Ghostbusters.
  • Prom Pact (2023) - In the Disney Channel (and Disney+) original movie, Ghostbusters is used as the catalyst for the film's heavy-handed dose of nostalgia. After the dance's theme ("The '80s") is announced, four flight-suited, Proton Pack-wearing students come out to a parody of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" to perform a "prom-posal" to one of the cheerleaders. Two scenes later, Ben Plunkett (Milo Manheim) and Mandy Yang (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) are having lunch with their friends when he notices other students taking selfies with the "Ghostbusters" students, prompting Ben to comment, "People seem to like the whole Ghostbusters thing." Even later, after Mandy and Graham Lansing (Blake Draper) witness a Breakfast Club-theme prom-posal in the school library, she wonders if the guys doing the prom-posals are considering the interests of the girls that they're prom-posing to when coming up with the movie theme for the prom-posal. She wonders out loud, "Does Jodi even like the Ghostbusters?" (Watch Video Clip)
  • Air (2023) - Only shown for a quick second at the 1:58 mark, a clip of the Ghostbusters entering the Sedgewick Hotel from the first movie is played with the Chris Messina credit over it. At 52 minutes, there is a black bumper sticker stuck to a desk with the words "Ecto Mobile" in white text with the No Ghost logo on both sides. At 53:34 (best seen at 54:45), there is a Medrad Mark IV Angiographic Injector in the basement of Nike. The device appeared in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Ghosters Phantom Patrol (2023) - This low-budget family-friendly ghost film contains several Ghostbusters references. The title is presented much like Ghostbusters. A characters refers to "dogs and cats" and "mass hysteria" when describing the ghost situation in New York. A scene with the Mayor follows the structure of the same scene in Ghostbusters. A new reporter is named "Bill Murney". A painting of Gainsborough's Blue Boy is possessed, just like Vigo. A giant Poseidon statue walks down the streets, and wades in the water by the Statue of Liberty. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal (2024) - This Peacock documentary presents the life story of wrestler Windham Rotunda, best known for portraying the character Bray Wyatt in WWE. At 7:15, his parents Stephanie and Mike Rotunda tell viewers that Windham used to watch and emulate Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice when he was a kid. A photo is shown of young Windham wearing a Kenner Proton Pack and Ghost Trap toy, while the Ghostbusters movie poster image is displayed on the other side of the screen. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Glowzies (2024) - Chef (portrayed by Antuone Torbert) uses the Giga Meter.
  • The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) - This Netflix documentary provides a fly-on-the-wall look at the recording of the charity song "We Are the World" on January 28, 1985 at the A&M Studios in Hollywood, California - coincidentally, where Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" music video was filmed the year before. Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd was one of the participants, and when the documentary discusses casting, a photo of him as Ray Stantz from the final scene of Ghostbusters (1984) is shown. Later on, when there is phantom feedback in Dionne Warwick's microphone, someone jokes that it might be ghosts. This prompts another person to remark, "Who you gonna call?", to which Warwick replies, "Ghostbusters!" One of the engineers then states that they have Aykroyd in the echo chamber. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024) - Gary's (Jemaine Clement) line, "There is no Gary, only G'Garaur" echoes the line, "There is no Dana, only Zuul," spoken by Dana/Zuul (Sigourney Weaver) in Ghostbusters. (Watch Video Clip)
  • Venom: The Last Dance (2024) - Near the beginning of the movie, Area 51's mailbox has a Ray's Occult Books sticker on it.
  • The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) - Early in the film, in a scene set in 1986, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are giving a lecture on a college campus. One student, having seen the film Ghostbusters released two years earlier, asks if what they do is anything like the film. Ed says "No", but Lorraine admits that they have seen the movie. Another student remarks, "So, you never got slimed?" That same student, on his way out of the lecture hall, shouts out, "Who Ya Gonna Call?" This use of the song lyric is the reason why there is a song credit for the Ray Parker Jr. tune at the end of the film. (Watch Official Movie Clip)

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