Movies Like Ghostbusters

Frequently asked about Ghostbusters

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why does Gozer appear as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?▾

  Gozer instructs the Ghostbusters to choose the form of its destructor — whatever they think of will become the vessel for its physical manifestation on Earth. Ray, trying to think of something harmless, inadvertently fixates on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from his childhood, and Gozer immediately takes that form. The joke is that Ray's attempt to pick something benign backfired catastrophically, since even a 'harmless' figure becomes a city-crushing giant when inhabited by a Sumerian demigod.

• What is the significance of Dana Barrett being chosen by Zuul?▾

  Dana is singled out because she lives in 55 Central Park West, a building specifically designed by the architect Ivo Shandor as an antenna to summon Gozer. Zuul, the Gatekeeper, and Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster, need human hosts to merge and open the dimensional gate on the building's rooftop. Dana and her neighbor Louis Tully are chosen as the nearest available vessels to complete the ritual.

• How do the Ghostbusters actually defeat Gozer at the end?▾

  After being blasted off the roof by Gozer, the Ghostbusters return and Egon proposes 'crossing the streams' of their proton packs — something he had explicitly warned against earlier as potentially catastrophic. By directing all four streams into the dimensional gate simultaneously, they create a massive surge of energy that closes the portal and destroys Gozer's physical form. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is obliterated in the explosion, showering the crowd below in marshmallow residue.

• Why were the Ghostbusters fired from Columbia University at the start of the film?▾

  Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler are expelled after the university's funding committee deems their parapsychology research unscientific and a drain on resources. The dismissal also follows Peter's ethically dubious experiments — most obviously seen in the opening scene where he administers electric shocks to a male test subject while giving a free pass to an attractive female student. Losing their university positions and equipment is what forces them to go into business for themselves.

• What is Ivo Shandor's role in the plot, and who is he?▾

  Ivo Shandor was a physician and cult leader who, after World War I, concluded that society was too sick to survive and founded a secret society dedicated to bringing about the end of the world. He designed 55 Central Park West as a massive occult antenna — with unusual architectural features including cold riveted girders and a rooftop altar — specifically to channel spiritual energy and summon Gozer. Although Shandor never appears on screen, Egon uncovers his history in the Manhattan crossreferencing files, revealing that the building itself is the true villain engineering the paranormal crisis.