The trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the fourth movie in the franchise - counting that
non-canon 2016 one... is finally here. It features callbacks galore, but plenty of these
are so brief and subtle that they're easy to miss. But don't be afraid of no Ghostbusters
nostalgia. Be ready to believe us about these crucial details from the trailer.
Down-on-her-luck Callie has exhausted her employment opportunities and money in the
big city, so she packs up her teenage son Trevor and tween daughter Phoebe to make the
trip across the country to a dilapidated old Oklahoma farmhouse, the only thing left to
the family by their dear, deceased, conspicuously unnamed grandfather.
We learn from the wonderfully named summer school teacher Mr. Grooberson that the town
has become plagued by sudden and frequent earthquakes, despite its considerable distance
from tectonic plates and absence of loud music. During one of those tremors is a callback
to an early scene in the original Ghostbusters.
As the earth starts to shake around Trevor and his family, we see some books stacked
unnecessarily high in the background. You may recall that in the 1984 flick, one of
the team's first encounters with a malevolent spirit comes as they investigate weird occurrences
at the New York Public Library, where they find a bunch of books stacked in just such
a manner.
"Symmetrical book stacking, Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947."
Those ominously stacked books seem to be the herald of supernatural activity once again.
Paul Rudd, who plays Mr. Grooberson, gets a lot of face time in the trailer, and it
certainly looks like his character will serve a significant purpose. He's a die-hard Ghostbusters
fanboy, and he's got the background info to help our young heroes understand what the
heck is going on in their new town.
When Phoebe discovers one of the Ghostbusters' old traps hidden in the family farmhouse,
she brings it to school to puzzle over along with one of her classmates. Mr. Grooberson
proclaims it a, quote, "killer replica," and as he explains further, we hear a fluttery,
unobtrusive piano motif. It's the exact same motif that Ghostbusters injects into its score
as things start to get really creepy in the library.
We soon see the excitable teacher pulling up old video of the Ghostbusters to show to
the kids, as he explains,
"There hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years. New York in the '80s? It was like The
Walking Dead."
He pointedly asks Phoebe if her dad ever mentioned this, to which the girl replies that only
her mom is around. We then see Phoebe descending via fireman's pole to an underground chamber
in the farmhouse, analyzing the surroundings with a device that strongly resembles a PKE
meter, she explains,
"My grandfather died. My mom says we're just here to pick through the rubble of his life."
Grooberson examines the ghost trap as it begins to glow green, as he wonders just who Phoebe
really is. A quick look at her might offer...some clue.
Okay, we'll just say it: Phoebe bears a pretty strong resemblance to Egon Spengler, the only
original Ghostbuster whom we know for sure won't be making an appearance in this film,
since Harold Ramis, who played Egon, passed away in 2014. Could Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe
be the Spengler family? We don't have ESP or anything, but there are definitely some
clues.
As Phoebe picks through all of the stuff scattered about the house, we see a number of labeled
petri dishes sitting on a table. Examining them very closely, we can see that they contain
such things as "Cladosporin," "Microconidia," and "Aspergillus fumigatus." And Egon certainly
expressed an interest in that kind of stuff.
"Do you have any hobbies?"
"I collect spores, molds and fungus."
Phoebe also conveniently finds a rack in a closet where hang all of the Ghostbusters'
old uniforms. We can only make out the name tag on the first one, though: "Spengler."
Unless all of this is seriously hardcore misdirection, we're pretty sure that dear old grandad was
none other than Egon himself. It even makes sense that he would have bought this property
in the middle of nowhere, because as he would have been well aware, there have apparently
been strange goings-on here for a long time.
Later on in the trailer, Phoebe and her classmate approach the entrance to an old mine. They
probably should have paid closer attention to those "Road Closed" and "No Trespassing"
signs, but another sign in the distance is even more alarming to eagle-eyed fans.
It reads "Shandor Mining Co.," and if you love Ghostbusters, this name will set off
all sorts of alarms. As Egon explains when the Ghostbusters are jailed after their containment
unit was shut down, Ivo Shandor wasn't just a mining magnate he was an architect, the
very same one who designed the skyscraper in which Dana Barrett lived, the building
referred to by Stantz as "Spook Central."
Shandor actually wore a lot of different hats.
"He was also a doctor. Performed a lot of unnecessary surgery. And then in 1920, he
started a secret society."
That secret society worshiped Gozer the Gozerian, the ancient evil entity which was threatening
the Big Apple with utter destruction at that very moment. And, speaking of the Gozerian...
Before transforming into the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and wreaking terrible havoc on New York,
Gozer was first ushered into our plane of existence by Vinz Clortho, the Keymaster,
and Zuul, the Gatekeeper. These entities possessed Louis Tully and Dana, respectively, and caused
them both to mutate into giant, hideous supernatural creatures which the Ghostbusters fandom has
dubbed "Terror Dogs."
"Okay. So. She's a dog."
In one very quick shot in the trailer, we see Grooberson in his car at night, being
menaced by a creature. All we see is its giant, scaly paw, and it sure looks familiar. It
appears that the Terror Dogs and, therefore, Vinz and Zuul are back in business. And their
business is to facilitate the coming of Gozer, the Destructor.
It's also worth noting what the trailer didn't show us: the original surviving Ghostbusters,
whom we know will be taking part in the madness of Afterlife. As the spot concludes with Trevor,
Phoebe, and Phoebe's buddy, tearing around town in ECTO-1 letting loose with their proton
pack while pursuing what appears to be a "Class 5 full-roaming vapor," we know that these
kids have plenty of moxie. If Gozer the Gozerian is on its way back to Earth, though, they're
going to need all the help they can get. And when there's something strange in your neighborhood,
who ya gonna call?
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