Behind the scenes of: Ghostbusters (1984)
Sigourney Weaver (who plays Dana Barrett) rehearsing the armchair scene in which demonic arms rip through and grab her. This is the last time we see Dana before she’s possessed by Zuul and re-appears as the “gatekeeper”.
The scene was performed by three puppeteers (just out of shot) wearing clawed, glove appliances.
One of them even cops a cheeky feel in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it boob grab shot. To be fair I can’t imagine he knew 100% where he was putting his hands from where he was positioned…or did he…?
Either way, this scene and the ghost in the library at the beginning of the movie used to scare the crap out of me as a kid!
Film Fact: The movie was very nearly called Ghostbreakers!
A 1970s TV series called The Ghost Busters had already claimed the name (albeit spelt as two words) years before and legal action was threatened if the movie went ahead under the title “Ghostbusters”.
While it was all being sorted out, many scenes in the film where “Ghostbusters” is used were also shot using the word “Ghostbreakers”.
Other titles considered were Ghostsmashers, Ghostblasters and Ghoststoppers…
Fortunately the whole thing worked out, thanks to a guy called Frank Price. Frank originally green-lit the project while he was head of Columbia Pictures. Before the film was finished he moved to Universal as head of that studio. Universal who made the TV show owned the rights to the title Ghostbusters but now with Price in charge, he allowed it to be used by director Ivan Reitman for his movie.
Thank god for that!
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