What on Earth does Robert De Niro have to do with the Ghostbusters? And what's with all the branded
snacks? "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is an Easter egg lover's dream — here are some of the best.
We learn in "Afterlife" that before he died, Dr. Egon Spengler lived in a dilapidated old
farm house in Summerville, Oklahoma, the locals mockingly called him "the dirt farmer," and
he died deeply in debt. He also seems to have been obsessed with Revelation 6:12,
as he has excerpts and references to the bible verse spray painted around the grounds.
Further tying the old friends together, when Phoebe calls Ray Stantz, you may have
noticed the former Ghostbuster is sporting a new tattoo on his arm. That tattoo on Ray
reads ... you guessed it ... Revelation 6:12. In the King James bible, that verse goes like this:
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake.
And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."
In most movies, this could be called "foreshadowing." But if there's such
a thing as "backwards-shadowing," this might qualify, because the verse clearly calls back
to the day of judgment on Stantz's mind in the original "Ghostbusters" film when Peter
Venkman told the mayor that New York was headed towards a disaster of biblical proportions.
"What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God-type stuff.
Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!"
Fun fact: In the original "Ghostbusters," there is a scene where Ray recites the bible
verse to Winston — but he mistakenly cites it as Revelation 7:12 instead of Chapter 6.
As we observe the home that Egon died in recently, the dilapidated residence screams a few things:
eccentric genius, ghost hunter and dude who lived alone, most significantly. But, like anyone of
retiree age, there are lots of references to his old job — and an unwillingness to let it go.
The equipment is most obvious. Egon’s grandkids find a ghost trap buried in the floor,
a P.K.E. meter in the main home, and a proton pack and the old Ecto-1 vehicle
also on the grounds. Beyond that, we see odd stacks of books arranged similar to what the
Ghostbusters found when they had their first ghost encounter at New York City Public Library.
"No human being would stack books like this."
In Egon’s lab, there are also numerous references to his ‘80s NYC heyday. To enter, for instance,
you have to slide down a fireman’s pole much like the one Ray once treasured. Under some lights,
we see what looks to be the “spores, molds and fungus” collection that Egon told Janine about,
and then we see a closet filled with old Ghostbusters uniforms.
When the kids put on the uniforms, we know they scribble their own names
where the nametag typically goes. When the kids explore the pockets,
they also find evidence that Egon hasn’t emptied them in some time.
In addition to a pair of his old glasses, they find a Nestle Crunch wrapper — referencing a
long-discussed product placement moment at the beginning of the original “Ghostbusters”
"Egon, I'm going to take back some of the things I've said about you."
"You’ve … you've earned it."
The kids later discover a very old looking Twinkie in the glovebox of the Etco-1. This
is undoubtedly a reference to Egon’s “Big Twinkie” speech from the original film. It’s not the same
Twinkie — it’s unwrapped in the old movie, and we see Egon take a bite — but that’s an old Twinkie.
Although “Afterlife” concerns itself with three generations and plenty of characters,
certain matters of the heart seem to be conveniently omitted,
while others are only alluded to. Most noticeable, perhaps,
is the super-sweet Egon/Janine relationship we all loved from the original film.
It's reasonable to assume that their relationship fizzled out sometime in the early ‘90s,
as the Ghostbusters business did the same. It’s also reasonable to assume that when
Egon and Janine began flirting with each other, his daughter Callie was already born.
So, while none of this is canon, one could draw the conclusion that Egon had
already been married and divorced before the events of the original “Ghostbusters” film,
which provides some interesting new shading to the character.
Callie doesn’t discuss her mother, and actress Carrie Coon could reasonably pass for someone a
few years younger than her actual age of 40. Could it be that in an “Afterlife” sequel,
Janine would reveal that she is Callie’s birth mother?
Probably not, but if so, remember that you heard it here first.
On much more firm footing, the mid-credits scene delightfully comes after the credits
list Sigourney Weaver, who had not yet appeared in the film.
When the screen lights up, we see the “Aliens” series star sitting at a table opposite Venkman,
playing the old psychic card game test that Peter once employed to hit on college co-eds.
The pair seem extremely playful, and extremely comfortable with each other — it’s the sort of
movie chemistry that only works when you put two personalities together and they click,
and it’s a key element Weaver and Murray brought to the first two “Ghostbusters” films.
It's also, perhaps, the dynamic you might expect from an old married couple.
Although it isn’t clearly stated, the scene would seem to indicate that Peter Venkman
eventually settled down and put a ring on the cello-plucking finger of Dana Barrett.
Now, that would have been a fun wedding reception to attend.
The name “Ivo Shandor” might not mean much to some most heading into “Afterlife,” but
by the end of the film it will. As briefly discussed in the original “Ghostbusters” film,
Shandor was a cultist who designed the 550 Central Park West building
that eventually became ground zero for the Gozer invasion.
"The architect's name was Ivo Shandor. I found it in Tobin's Spirit Guide."
By employing certain materials in the building’s construction, he made it conducive to spectral
inhabitation — and in the years since Ivan Reitman’s films, Shandor’s backstory has
been significantly expanded upon by media like 2009’s “Ghostbusters: The Video Game."
References in “Afterlife” begin with the name of the new ground zero in Summerville.
In the first scene of the film, you can see Egon’s car crashing through gates that read
“Shandor Mining Co., Est. 1927,” an entrance that can be seen several other times as well.
When the new generation of Ghostbusters begins exploring the mine, one of the things they find
down there is the corpse of Ivo Shandor, played by J.K. Simmons, lying in state in a glass coffin.
Podcast finds this endlessly creepy — but even more so when it becomes
clear that Shandor is being resurrected alongside his beloved Gozer the Gozerian.
When it becomes apparent that Phoebe and Trevor have some research to do on the grandfather
they never met and his old life, they go precisely where any modern teenager would:
the card catalog at their local library. Just kidding — of course, it’s YouTube.
For starters, teacher/seismologist Mr. Grooberson shows them clips of the so-called “Manhattan ghost
stories” he explains to them when he first sees the ghost trap. Later, Phoebe goes on YouTube
again to watch the old Ghostbusters commercial. While all that footage is glimpsed in the 1984
“Ghostbusters” movie, the film cleverly re-purposes it as a historical artifact.
This is particularly effective because the climactic street scenes at the end
of the original “Ghostbusters” effectively captured the chaos of the gathering crowd,
as well as a shoot that feels unplanned; looking back now, it seems like news footage.
The commercial, meanwhile, was particularly funny because Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis are acting like
inexperienced public speakers conveying the awkward line readings and none-too-subtle
attempts to hit their marks that you might have seen in an ’80s low-budget commercial. Oh,
and the phone number in that old commercial? In “Afterlife,” Phoebe calls it and gets Ray Stantz.
In one of the film’s more random comments, when Ray Stantz is running through the events
of the last thirty years to catch up Egon's granddaughter, he references a movie star
as having contributed to the downfall of the Ghostbusters. When he drops the line,
you can imagine Robert De Niro innocently sitting in the theater,
getting all offended and screaming at the screen: “You talkin’ about me?”
During the exposition dump, Stantz remarks that, quote,
“Some actor bought up most of Tribeca, and we lost the firehouse.”
This most certainly refers to De Niro, who founded TriBeCa productions in 1989
(just when things would have begun going south for the Ghostbusters) with partner Jane Rosenthal.
Together, they have since organized the annual Tribeca film Festival,
and De Niro also opened the restaurant Tribeca Grill in 1990. The “Taxi Driver”
legend has also at various points had a stake in Tribeca’s Greenwich Hotel, the Tribeca Cinemas,
and as of 2018 his “business empire” was worth an estimated $1 billion dollars.
Although Aykroyd and De Niro have never appeared in a film together,
the line feels like an ad-lib lovingly teasing De Niro’s good fortune in business — and how much
that firehouse property would likely be worth today if the Ghostbusters had held onto it.
The "Gary Grooberson goes to Walmart" scene is a plethora of Easter eggs and callbacks,
many referencing the adventures of Louis Tully. While the somewhat-retired Rick Moranis
is pretty much the only “Ghostbusters” star to not come back for “Afterlife,”
the film essentially turns Paul Rudd’s character into a modern-day equivalent.
In Walmart, Grooberson has a normal scene in public turn into a horrifying moment
of isolation — reminiscent of Tully’s experience at the Tavern on the Green.
First he spots tiny marshmallow men coming to life (the so-called “Mini-Pufts”),
adorable at first and then turning into Gremlins-like creatures who take pleasure
in turning each other into s’mores. Then he stumbles upon Vinz Clortho, the demigod Tully
thought was a dog — appropriately enough, with its head buried in a bag of dog food.
Like Louis Tully, Grooberson is cornered and transformed into the Keymaster.
Another great touch is in the scenes where Grooberson is possessed — and Rudd is
undoubtedly running with the same unmistakable gait that Moranis employed in the original film.
As much fun as it is to watch the new generation busting ghosts,
let’s be honest: The film’s money moment is seeing the original four Ghostbusters (okay,
three and a CG-powered recreation of Harold Ramis as a ghost) once again battling Gozer.
The entire scene is packed with references to the classic showdown on the rooftop of
550 Central Park West, and some Easter eggs are easier to spot than others.
Perhaps the funniest is after Ray tries once again to make Gozer vacate
the premises by identifying himself as a representative of local law enforcement.
The Gozerian replies: “Are you a god?”
Of course, in the original film, Ray answers “no,” resulting in the group
nearly being killed by a blast from its fingertips.
"Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!"
In “Afterlife,” Ray wisely looks to his partners for help with the question.
The final big Easter eggs in "Afterlife" might be planting seeds to pay off in other "Ghostbusters"
movies, rather than this one. By the end of the film, it becomes clear that Callie and the
kids are going to relocate to NYC and continue their ghostbusting efforts where it all began.
Their efforts will be funded by none other than Winston Zeddemore,
who the franchise seems to be setting up as a Bruce Wayne-like benefactor who will gladly
throw an endless amount of money behind re-establishing the Ghostbusters. He says,
"I want to be an example of what's possible. I may be a businessman,
but I will always be a ghostbuster."
We see Winston re-purchasing the old firehouse, and even get a glimpse of the blinking red light
on the dusty old containment unit. Worth noting: the red status light traditionally indicates that
there's a ghost in the unit. Could Slimer be in there? We'll have to wait and see.
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