This movie can be considered as the most successful comedy ever made. The story about the three young parapsychologists Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz and Egon Spengler who go out to set up a successful ghost removal service was extremely popular with the audience of the time and it did not loose any of its freshness and charm during the past 21 years. The movie can be described as a clever genre-mix of science-fiction and horror-trash elements combined with a huge portion of humour and coolness, a great cast and breathtaking special effects. The soundtrack was a huge hit as well, mostly due to the catchy title song by Ray Parker Jr. while the success of this song overshadowed the brilliance of the actual underscore composed by Elmer Bernstein. Wherever you start with "There is something strange... In the Neighbourhood... WHO ya gonna call?" you can be assured that most people will immediately join you and answer your weird question with a loud "GHOSTBUSTERS!".

(NOTE: The score has been released by Varese Sarabande and my new review with an updated rating can be found here)

The score:

Unfortunately, many people will hardly remember that a legendary Hollywood composer was responsible for the excellent underscore of the movie. Ghostbusters is not only Elmer Bernstein's most thematic score but also his most experimental. A huge portion of his work including his original Ghostbusters theme was replaced in the film with various songs which seems to be a rather economical decision to produce a nice album. The original soundtrack only featured 2 score tracks which is really not enough to give an overall impression of this score. A bootleg version was floating around the black market since 1998 so Elmer Bernstein enthusiasts as well as score fans had a chance to enjoy the score as the composer intended it for the film.

The score consists of many different elements. There is experimental music creating a spooky atmosphere especially for the library and hotel-haunting scene which features the most creative usage of the Ondes Martendot in an Elmer Bernstein score. While it is sometimes out of place in other scores by the composer, the otherworldly sound of this instrument adds a lot to the spooky feeling here and it is used to the highest possible effect in the film to describe the floating of the ghosts and other creepy things. The first track "At The Beginning/The Library" opens with a first solo of the instrument which goes into a short statement of the evil 'Gozer' theme. What a huge, grim and evil theme this is. Elmer Bernstein is making perfect use of it throughout the score. It is only hinted during the first half, most notably in the track "We'll take it/Dana Barrett" which is introducing the apartment house (or the 'ghost-center'). Later on there are many full statements of the theme when Gozer's power is unleashed. In "The Ground Moves" it is threatened as a love theme which is the most clever variation on a villain theme I have ever heard in a score. The piece is perfectly orchestrated with organ and brass creating a gothic feeling and elevates the score to an epic level. I can't think of a villain theme which sounds as grim and terrorising as this one.

The more subtle moments of the score are entertaining as well. Elmer Bernstein composed a funny piano theme for the parapsychologists which can be heard in "Testing the Girl" and other cues throughout the score. The theme adds to the characters and urban feeling of the film without being intrusive at all. The score is not only a cross between experimental and classical music but contains elements of contemporary popular music as well. The actual main theme of the film, a hip fanfare composition accompanied by synth drums, was completely replaced by songs in the film. This piece is a good evidence that Elmer Bernstein's score works on many different musical levels. Statements of this theme can be found in "Up To The Hotel", "Hard Work" and other tracks.

Elmer Bernstein also composed a beautiful romantic theme for Dana Barrett which can be heard in "We'll Take It/Dana Barrett" and "Welcome On Board" while the latter goes into a fanfare typical for an Elmer Bernstein score. This romantic theme is similar to 'Tarna's Theme' from Bernstein's score for Heavy Metal (1981). The finale cue "Dana is Back" features a beautiful variation of the theme performed by the Ondes Martendot.

It is amazing how perfectly this score is responding to the visuals of the film. Especially the moments with a more experimental approach feature excellent ideas. The second half of "Dana Disappears" consists of haunting and creepy music for the Ondes while the orchestra is creating scratching and creaking sounds merging into each other as Gozer's Hellhound is kidnapping Dana Barrett. In the scene when Peter is entering Dana's apartment afterwards, we see the kitchen's door covered with slime and the score is responding directly to the image with a disgusting synth sound. These moments are evidence that the film's more atmospheric moments would fail to amaze the audience without the score which is the reason for the good rating in this category. Due to the edits and cuts in the film it can not get any better though because the score can only reveal its brilliance on CD. If you listen to the score separated from the visuals, some of these atmospheric passages can be quite lengthy but nevertheless interesting enough to listen to them because of a rather unusual orchestration.

 

RATING:

See new Review!

 

The presentation:

This Bootleg version gives a good presentation of the important parts of the score. The cues are edited into sometimes lengthy tracks, resulting in an order which differs from the usage of the cues in the film. Unfortunately, the sound quality of this CD is not very good but the sound of the actual recording is compressed anyways. If there would ever be an official release the cues should be cleaned up.

Presentation by the Label: Bootleg

 

Summary:

Ghostbusters is a very good score by the master Elmer Bernstein. However, if you have little experience with Elmer's music scores, Ghostbusters might not reveal its charm during the first listen. It is one of those gems that will get better the more you hear it, not to mention the nice memories of the film's scenes that you will have when you listen to it. You will be rewarded with some excellent music that reveals its brilliance within each new track. The bad sound quality is a pity but given the immense popularity of the film, the score might have a good chance to see the light of the day on a official release with improved sound. As it seems, everything depends on Arista Records which is obviously the rights owner of the Ghostbusters music.

Review by Andreas Creutzburg

 

                            Tracklisting:

01.  At the Beginning - The Library (02:23)
02.  Testing the Girl (01:49)
03.  We found one (02:49)
04.  Up to the Hotel (02:20)
05.  We'll take it - Dana Barrett (01:11)
06.  In Business (01:30)
07.  First Customer / Checking the Apartment (04:58)
08.  Hard Work (06:25)
09.  Welcome on Board (01:35)
10.  The Statue moves (01:09)
11.  Dana disappears (01:35)
12.  Chased by a Bear! / Somebody let me in (03:42)
13.  Peter arrives / I am Zuul / Myth (09:26)
14.  I.P.A Man / Keymaster meets Gatekeeper (02:17)
15.  The Ground moves (01:47)
16.  The Stairs (01:22)
17.  "Gozer" (04:01)
18.  The big Marshmallow (02:02)
19.  In Reverse (01:33)
20.  Dana is back (02:15)
21.  This is the Sign (01:09)
22.  End Title (02:28)