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167-459: Ghostbusters   II is a 1989 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis . The film stars Bill Murray , Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver , Ramis, Rick Moranis , Ernie Hudson , and Annie Potts . It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and the second film in the Ghostbusters franchise . Set five years after the events of

334-515: A 'k' to distinguish ceremonial or ritual magic from stage magic. In modern occultism and neopagan religions, many self-described magicians and witches regularly practice ritual magic. This view has been incorporated into chaos magic and the new religious movements of Thelema and Wicca . The English words magic , mage and magician come from the Latin term magus , through the Greek μάγος, which

501-406: A 1987 interview and said recasting had never been an option. Ghostbusters   II was to be the first sequel Reitman had directed, and he was worried about being able to surprise the audience without relying on elaborate special effects. He wanted to focus on character interaction, believing that was the original film's main draw. Ramis was apprehensive about returning to the franchise because of

668-527: A busy intersection. At the museum, a painting of Vigo the Carpathian, a 16th-century European tyrant and powerful magician , comes to life and enslaves Dana's boss, Janosz Poha. Vigo orders Janosz to bring him a child to possess, allowing him to escape the confines of his painting and live again to conquer the world. Because of his infatuation with Dana, Janosz chooses Oscar. Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters excavate

835-490: A category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques. The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret; whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible. One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maqlû , or "The Burning". The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of

1002-486: A celebrity restaurant in Beverly Hills, California . Concerns were raised such as whether the principals could still carry the sequel because Murray had been away from films for so long and Aykroyd had had a series of film failures. During the meeting, the group had fun and decided they could work together. Months of negotiations followed with Reitman, Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis to negotiate a minimal salary in exchange for

1169-504: A cure was not to be regarded superstitiously and there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk remedies ( segullot ) in Jewish societies across time and geography. Although magic was forbidden by Levitical law in the Hebrew Bible , it was widely practised in the late Second Temple period , and particularly well documented in the period following the destruction of

1336-408: A door that resembled the iron grill. The foam was spring-loaded so that when the wire passed through, the set sprang back into place quickly; the effect was hidden behind a composite of Nunzio. Full-scale cutouts of the ghosts were used during filming to aid the actors. Ghostbusters storyboard artist Thom Enriquez storyboarded the scene; he found the process difficult because the limited schedule meant

1503-474: A financial and critical failure, effectively dissuading Murray from participating in a third Ghostbusters film. Its soundtrack single, " On Our Own " by Bobby Brown , was a success, spending 20 weeks on the United States music charts. The film failed to replicate the cultural impact and following of Ghostbusters . Although some critics retrospectively praised it, Ghostbusters   II is generally seen as

1670-514: A form of early protective magic called incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle East, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria , what is now Iraq and Iran , and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries. The bowls were buried face down and were meant to capture demons . They were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of

1837-589: A hindrance in securing acting work. Eugene Levy was cast as Louis' cousin Sherman, an employee at the psychiatric ward where the Ghostbusters are imprisoned. The character was instrumental in their liberation but his scenes were cut. Reitman began working on Ghostbusters   II almost immediately after directing the 1988 comedy film Twins . Principal photography began in November 1988, in New York City. The budget

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2004-444: A horror film concept centered on an infant who possessed adult agility and focus. This inspired him to create the character Oscar. Initially, the child was the son of Peter Venkman and Dana, who would have maintained their relationship in the intervening years. The child would have become possessed as a focal point of the film; Murray felt this created an imbalance in the story, placing too much emphasis on his and Dana's relationship with

2171-416: A light at the height of MacNicol's head, while panning it from side-to-side. Several takes were done to cover MacNicol's gaze. Animators added the beams emanating from Janosz, including particulate matter to enhance the realism. The "ghost nanny" version of Janosz that snatches Oscar from Venkman's apartment went through many variations. During development, it was conceived of as a two-headed dragon—an idea that

2338-422: A man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her. The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic. When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments. Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an āšipu , an expert in the magical arts. The profession

2505-556: A mid-1989 release. Despite the five years it took to produce a sequel and its necessity for special effects, Ghostbusters   II had a shorter schedule than its predecessor's one-year turnaround. Michael C. Gross and producer Joe Medjuck returned for the sequel, each promoted to producer. Michael Chapman replaced László Kovács as cinematographer, and Bo Welch replaced John DeCuir as production designer. Aykroyd described his first draft as "really too far out...   too inaccessible". He wanted to avoid using New York City, set

2672-409: A minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations . These magical practices of Judaic folk religion which became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times. The Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice actually producing

2839-455: A non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist , defined " magick " as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding

3006-401: A particular society, such as foreigners, women, or the lower classes. In contrast to these negative associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and beneficial. This conflicted with the common Christian view that all activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad regardless of the intent of

3173-422: A percentage of the box office profits. The deal was reported to be 10% of the box office profits each; Reitman denied that the figure was that large but said, "it's a big one". This was to keep the budget low, aiming for approximately $ 30 million, whereas upfront salaries would have raised it closer to $ 50 million. After this, the film was rushed into production, with shooting scheduled for mid-1988 in anticipation of

3340-511: A person's soul could only survive in the afterlife for as long as his or her physical body survived here on earth. The last ceremony before a person's body was sealed away inside the tomb was known as the Opening of the Mouth . In this ritual, the priests would touch various magical instruments to various parts of the deceased's body, thereby giving the deceased the ability to see, hear, taste, and smell in

3507-505: A pneumatic jaw. Bobby Porter was hired to wear the Slimer costume until the character was removed from the film entirely. A few weeks later, Slimer was reinserted, but by this time, Porter was not available and was replaced by Robin Shelby. The Scoleri Brother ghosts, Tony and Nunzio, were inspired by a pair of brothers who robbed Ramis' father's store. Creature designer Tim Lawrence was influenced by

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3674-414: A poor follow-up to Ghostbusters and responsible for stalling the franchise for decades. The film spawned a series of merchandise including video games , board games, comic books , music, toys, and haunted houses . Despite the relative failure of Ghostbusters II , a second sequel was pursued through to the early 2010s. Following the mixed reviews and financial underperformance of the 2016 series reboot ,

3841-528: A positive symbol will rally the citizens and weaken the slime, the Ghostbusters use slime charged with positive emotions to animate and pilot the Statue of Liberty through the streets filled with cheering citizens. At the museum, the slime barrier partially recedes due to the positive emotions , and the Ghostbusters use the Statue's torch to break through the ceiling, stopping Vigo from possessing Oscar, then rappel through

4008-404: A psychiatric hospital to protect the mayor's political interests. A spirit appearing as Janosz kidnaps Oscar, and Dana pursues them into the museum, which is then covered with impenetrable slime. On New Year's Eve , the slime rises to the streets, causing widespread supernatural chaos. Discovering Hardemeyer's actions, the enraged mayor fires him and has the Ghostbusters released. Determining that

4175-402: A schoolchild, and director Ivan Reitman 's children Jason and Catherine portray, respectively, the rude child at the opening birthday party and a girl that is part of Egon's experiments. Reitman cameos as a pedestrian. Judy Ovitz, wife of talent agent Michael Ovitz , who represented many of the principal cast, appears as a woman in a restaurant who is slimed. Mary Ellen Trainor appears as

4342-444: A side job alongside Winston Zeddemore as unpopular children's entertainers; Egon Spengler works in a laboratory experimenting with human emotions; and Peter Venkman hosts a television talk show about psychics. Dana Barrett, Peter's ex-girlfriend, has an infant son named Oscar with her ex-husband and works at an art museum restoring artwork. She contacts the Ghostbusters after Oscar's baby stroller rolls, seemingly independently, into

4509-525: A soothsayer ( מְעוֹנֵ֥ן ) or a sorcerer ( וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף ) or one who conjures spells ( וְחֹבֵ֖ר חָ֑בֶר ) or one who calls up the dead ( וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים ) are specifically forbidden as abominations to the Lord. Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids divination and other forms of soothsaying, and the Talmud lists many persistent yet condemned divining practices. Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism

4676-543: A story about the characters' internal conflict and/or a dramatic conflict between the protagonist, human and/or supernatural world, society and between groups. The author of The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762–1800 states that the origins of supernatural fiction come from Britain in the second half of the 18th century. Accounts of the Cock Lane ghost were featured in the newspapers in 1762, and an interest in Spiritualism

4843-525: A substantial corpus of texts which are products of the Egyptian tradition. While the category magic has been contentious for modern Egyptology, there is clear support for its applicability from ancient terminology. The Coptic term hik is the descendant of the pharaonic term heka , which, unlike its Coptic counterpart, had no connotation of impiety or illegality, and is attested from the Old Kingdom through to

5010-416: A year, and had completed the screenplay by March 1988. In the years since the release of the more adult-oriented Ghostbusters , its animated spin-off television series The Real Ghostbusters had become popular with its target child audience. The team was tasked with balancing the needs of Ghostbusters fans and those of the cartoon's audience. According to Medjuck, the cartoon's success was influential in

5177-421: Is a Cannibal" by Elton John . The song "Flesh 'n Blood" by composer Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo was written for the film but Elfman said he was disappointed that only four musical bars of it were used. He thought the small usage was an excuse to be able to release it on the soundtrack and said if he had known he would have pulled the song. Randy Edelman was responsible for the film's original score . It

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5344-527: Is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from qlippothic realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy ( Q-D-Š ) and pure ( Biblical Hebrew : טומאה וטהרה , romanized:  tvmh vthrh ). The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained

5511-499: Is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture , magic has been linked to ideas of the Other , foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise,

5678-428: Is a film genre that encompasses themes related to gods, goddesses, ghosts, apparitions, spirits, miracles, and other extraordinary phenomena. These themes are often blended with other film genres, such as comedy , science fiction , fantasy , and horror . Historically, the primary goal of supernatural films was not to terrify audiences but to offer entertainment, often in whimsical or romantic contexts. The film genre

5845-534: Is a major component and supporting contribution to the belief and practice of spiritual, and in many cases, physical healing throughout the Middle Ages. Emanating from many modern interpretations lies a trail of misconceptions about magic, one of the largest revolving around wickedness or the existence of nefarious beings who practice it. These misinterpretations stem from numerous acts or rituals that have been performed throughout antiquity, and due to their exoticism from

6012-764: Is from the Old Persian maguš . (𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁|𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁, magician). The Old Persian magu- is derived from the Proto-Indo-European megʰ- *magh (be able). The Persian term may have led to the Old Sinitic *M ag (mage or shaman ). The Old Persian form seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Talmudic Hebrew magosh , the Aramaic amgusha (magician), and the Chaldean maghdim (wisdom and philosophy); from

6179-563: Is more complex, involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia. Low magic and natural magic are associated with peasants and folklore with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken spells. Low magic is also closely associated with sorcery and witchcraft . Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that "Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity. High magic

6346-424: Is no consensus as to what constitutes white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on who is doing the defining." Gray magic , also called "neutral magic", is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices. The historian Ronald Hutton notes

6513-562: Is often classed as a discrete genre defined by the elimination of "horror", "fantasy", and elements important to other genres. The one genre supernatural fiction appears to embrace in its entirety is the traditional ghost story . The fantasy and supernatural fiction genres would often overlap and may be confused for each other, though there exist some crucial differences between the two genres. Fantasy usually takes place in another world, where fantastical creatures or magic are normal. In supernatural fiction, though, magic and monsters are not

6680-473: Is part of several hybrid genres , including supernatural comedy films, supernatural horror films , supernatural religious films, and supernatural thriller films. Supernatural beings have also seen common uses in internet creepypastas and urban legends ; a well-known supernatural Internet character is the Slenderman , a tall faceless being associated with the forest. Another well-known internet urban legend

6847-488: Is the Backrooms , an endless liminal space of moist carpet, humming fluorescent lights and monotone yellow wallpaper. The Backrooms are commonly depicted as being inhabited by supernatural monsters known as Entities. Magic (supernatural) Magic , sometimes spelled magick , is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It

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7014-413: Is therefore a special gift from God , while the latter is achieved through help of Jinn and devils . Ibn al-Nadim held that exorcists gain their power by their obedience to God, while sorcerers please the devils by acts of disobedience and sacrifices and they in return do him a favor. According to Ibn Arabi , Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yusuf al-Shubarbuli was able to walk on water due to his piety. According to

7181-400: Is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often performed outdoors. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century. White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or evil purposes. Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the benevolent white magic. There

7348-457: The July 4th Independence Day holiday weekend but Reitman felt June 23 would work better. When they learned the superhero film Batman was also being released that day, they asked to move to the 16th. According to Gross, "Joe Medjuck and I were turning pale   ... it did not look possible   ... It was a real killer". Several new scenes were added to increase the sense of urgency and threat to

7515-585: The Middle Kingdom , commoners began inscribing similar writings on the sides of their own coffins, hoping that doing so would ensure their own survival in the afterlife. These writings are known as the Coffin Texts . After a person died, his or her corpse would be mummified and wrapped in linen bandages to ensure that the deceased's body would survive for as long as possible because the Egyptians believed that

7682-465: The Soviet Union . Other locations include the Statue of Liberty and Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 , the latter of which again served as the exterior of the Ghostbusters' headquarters. The updated Ghostbusters' business logo, which was gifted to the firehouse staff after filming, was hung on the outside of the building but eventually fell off. The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House served as

7849-652: The jinn —comparable entities in Islamic mythology —were perceived as more ambivalent figures by Muslims. The model of the magician in Christian thought was provided by Simon Magus , (Simon the Magician), a figure who opposed Saint Peter in both the Acts of the Apostles and the apocryphal yet influential Acts of Peter . The historian Michael D. Bailey stated that in medieval Europe, magic

8016-461: The Christmas comedy film Scrooged (1988). When Murray was finally ready, the script was not. As co-creators, Reitman, Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis all had control over the franchise, and their unanimous approval was required to proceed. In April 1987, Puttnam announced that Ghostbusters   II would go into production in November that year without having informed Reitman, who had not yet reviewed

8183-419: The Ghostbusters, including the underground ghost train sequence and the associated severed-heads scare. A scene showing the Ghostbusters' developed photographs of Vigo bursting into flames, threatening to immolate them, was also added. Reitman wanted these scenes added because he thought his previous cut of the film focused too much on the relationship between Murray's and Weaver's characters. The ghost train scene

8350-624: The Hellenistic period, when Hellenistic authors categorised a diverse range of practices—such as enchantment, witchcraft , incantations , divination , necromancy , and astrology —under the label "magic". The Latin language adopted this meaning of the term in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians associated magic with demons , and thus regarded it as against Christian religion. In early modern Europe , Protestants often claimed that Roman Catholicism

8517-550: The Middle Ages more powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner associated with the biblical verses of Deuteronomy 18:9–12. Despite the many negative connotations which surround the term magic, there exist many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light. The divine right of kings in England

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8684-522: The New Testament as well. Some commentators say that in the first century CE, early Christian authors absorbed the Greco-Roman concept of magic and incorporated it into their developing Christian theology , and that these Christians retained the already implied Greco-Roman negative stereotypes of the term and extended them by incorporating conceptual patterns borrowed from Jewish thought, in particular

8851-462: The New York setting would allow for continuity and would better fit the story he wanted to tell while allowing them to explore underground. As with Ghostbusters , Aykroyd partnered with Ramis to refine the script. Early on, they decided Ghostbusters   II should reflect the five-year passage of time between the two films. Ramis suggested the story focus on a baby because he had previously developed

9018-499: The Persian Empire. In this context, the term makes appearances in such surviving text as Sophocles ' Oedipus Rex , Hippocrates ' De morbo sacro , and Gorgias ' Encomium of Helen . In Sophocles' play, for example, the character Oedipus derogatorily refers to the seer Tiresius as a magos —in this context meaning something akin to quack or charlatan—reflecting how this epithet was no longer reserved only for Persians. In

9185-550: The Quran 2:102, magic was also taught to humans by devils and the angels Harut and Marut . The influence of Arab Islamic magic in medieval and Renaissance Europe was very notable. Some magic books such as Picatrix and Al Kindi 's De Radiis were the basis for much of medieval magic in Europe and for subsequent developments in the Renaissance. Another Arab Muslim author fundamental to the developments of medieval and Renaissance European magic

9352-456: The Roman era. heka was considered morally neutral and was applied to the practices and beliefs of both foreigners and Egyptians alike. The Instructions for Merikare informs us that heka was a beneficence gifted by the creator to humanity "in order to be weapons to ward off the blow of events". Magic was practiced by both the literate priestly hierarchy and by illiterate farmers and herdsmen, and

9519-424: The actors were expecting to elicit from them a genuine reaction of surprise. The upper body was modeled and filmed at night in a makeshift pool to show it emerging from the ocean. Fye also portrayed the ghost of a Central Park jogger. To portray the possessed Janosz illuminating a hallway with his eyes, MacNicol was filmed walking down a hallway, which was filmed again without lights and with Michael Chapman holding

9686-469: The afterlife. The use of amulets ( meket ) was widespread among both living and dead ancient Egyptians. They were used for protection and as a means of "reaffirming the fundamental fairness of the universe". The oldest amulets found are from the predynastic Badarian Period, and they persisted through to Roman times. In the Mosaic Law, practices such as witchcraft ( Biblical Hebrew : קְסָמִ֔ים ), being

9853-473: The ancient Greeks—and subsequently for the ancient Romans—"magic was not distinct from religion but rather an unwelcome, improper expression of it—the religion of the other". The historian Richard Gordon suggested that for the ancient Greeks, being accused of practicing magic was "a form of insult". This change in meaning was influenced by the military conflicts that the Greek city-states were then engaged in against

10020-410: The broader category of superstitio ( superstition ), another term borrowed from pre-Christian Roman culture. This Christian emphasis on the inherent immorality and wrongness of magic as something conflicting with good religion was far starker than the approach in the other large monotheistic religions of the period, Judaism and Islam. For instance, while Christians regarded demons as inherently evil,

10187-463: The camera. The theater ghost took three weeks to build and required four puppeteers. The Washington Square monster was animated in stop motion by Phil Tippett , who accepted the job on the condition that the effect was no longer than 160 frames, was built on an existing model, and could be done in one take. Tippett was seriously injured in a car accident during development but continued to work and finished his effect in time. The slime-possessed fur coat

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10354-485: The ceiling and neutralize Janosz with positive slime. Vigo takes on a physical form, immobilizes Dana and the Ghostbusters, and recaptures Oscar. The gathered crowds outside begin singing a chorus of " Auld Lang Syne ", and their positivity weakens Vigo, sending him back to the painting and freeing the Ghostbusters. Vigo possesses Ray, but the Ghostbusters use their weapons to free him and defeat Vigo, his painting being replaced by their likenesses surrounding Oscar. Afterwards,

10521-414: The child rather than the Ghostbusters and their character dynamics. Instead, they chose to have Peter's and Dana's relationship fail, allowing her to marry, have a child and be divorced by the events of Ghostbusters   II . Ramis wanted to show that the Ghostbusters had not remained heroes after their victory in the previous film; he felt that would have been a less original approach. The river of slime

10688-413: The choices which lay outside the range of cults did not just add additional options to the civic menu, but ... sometimes incorporated critiques of the civic cults and Panhellenic myths or were genuine alternatives to them. Katadesmoi ( Latin : defixiones ), curses inscribed on wax or lead tablets and buried underground, were frequently executed by all strata of Greek society, sometimes to protect

10855-405: The city lauds the Ghostbusters and the Statue of Liberty is returned to Liberty Island. As well as the main cast, Ghostbusters   II features Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo the Carpathian (voiced by Max von Sydow ). Several relatives of the cast and crew appear in the film; Murray's brother Brian Doyle-Murray plays the Ghostbusters' psychiatric doctor, Aykroyd's niece Karen Humber portrays

11022-492: The commoner's perspective, the rituals invoked uneasiness and an even stronger sense of dismissal. In the Medieval Jewish view, the separation of the mystical and magical elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Iyyunit ) with its meditative traditions, and theurgic practical Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Ma'asit ), had occurred by the beginning of the 14th century. One societal force in

11189-474: The courtroom was being built as he worked. He was also restricted by the budget, saying he "could use only fourteen chairs. I could also blow up four pillars and one wall of glass". The animated Statue of Liberty was conceived by Aykroyd, who liked the idea of taking a static image and making it move about, comparing it with seeing the Eiffel Tower moving or Victoria Falls flowing in reverse. The statue's role

11356-450: The critically acclaimed war film Hope and Glory (1987) and the comedy film Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) over big-budget blockbusters . He also greenlit several foreign-language films by European directors because he preferred making films for the "world market". Ghostbusters was part of former Columbia executive Frank Price 's legacy, and Puttnam had no interest in furthering that legacy while building his own. Reitman later said

11523-420: The delay in development was not Puttnam's fault; he said that executives above Puttnam at Columbia's New York branch had attempted to work around him, but could not get the production moving even after sidelining him. According to Reitman, the delay occurred because the main actors did not want to make a sequel for nearly three years; by the time they decided to go ahead, Murray was committed to his starring role in

11690-511: The dust added depth to the river while the oil created varying shapes on its surface. The river of slime in the Van Horne Pneumatic Transit station was a miniature model with a plexiglass trough 1 ft (0.30 m) wide and 10 ft (3.0 m) long. It operated in a gravity pump and was fed from a large tank 15 ft (4.6 m) above it. After reaching the end of the river, the slime fell into another tank, from which it

11857-407: The entire polis . Communal curses carried out in public declined after the Greek classical period, but private curses remained common throughout antiquity. They were distinguished as magical by their individualistic, instrumental and sinister qualities. These qualities, and their perceived deviation from inherently mutable cultural constructs of normality, most clearly delineate ancient magic from

12024-584: The exterior of the Manhattan Museum of Art, which housed the Vigo painting. The scene of Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson's characters emerging from a manhole covered in slime was filmed in front of the building. When he wrote the scene, Ramis expected the production to use a manhole, but the only available underground location was a telephone conduit. Space in the hole was limited, and the actors had to squeeze into it while covered in slime. Freezing temperatures combined with

12191-547: The film overseas, and provide a contrast to the first film's climax atop a skyscraper by including a subterranean threat. This draft followed Dana Barrett, who is kidnapped and taken to Scotland, where she discovers a fairy ring —a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms sometimes linked in folklore to fairies or witches—and an underground civilization. The Ghostbusters would have had to travel through an underground pneumatic tube over 2,000 miles long that would have taken three days to traverse. He eventually decided that retaining

12358-400: The film. Reitman said that upon watching the test version he realized the final 25 minutes of the film "just died a horrible death", so he spent four days filming a new 25-minute ending to replace it. The test screenings identified that audiences liked the film but felt Vigo did not present a real challenge to the Ghostbusters and that their victory was too easy. Test audiences also thought Vigo,

12525-528: The first century BCE onwards, Syrian magusai gained notoriety as magicians and soothsayers. During the late-sixth and early-fifth centuries BCE, the term goetia found its way into ancient Greek , where it was used with negative connotations to apply to rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and dangerous; in particular they dedicate themselves to the evocation and invocation of daimons (lesser divinities or spirits) to control and acquire powers. This concept remained pervasive throughout

12692-493: The first century BCE, the Greek concept of the magos was adopted into Latin and used by a number of ancient Roman writers as magus and magia . The earliest known Latin use of the term was in Virgil 's Eclogue , written around 40 BCE, which makes reference to magicis ... sacris (magic rites). The Romans already had other terms for the negative use of supernatural powers, such as veneficus and saga . The Roman use of

12859-498: The first film, the Ghostbusters have been sued and put out of business after the destruction caused during their battle with the deity Gozer the Gozerian. When a new paranormal threat emerges, the Ghostbusters reunite to combat it and save the world. After the success of Ghostbusters , Columbia Pictures wanted a sequel but struggled to overcome objections from the cast and crew. As with the first film, Aykroyd and Ramis collaborated on

13026-544: The flight of birds and astrology. He also mentioned enchantment and ligatures (the medical use of magical objects bound to the patient) as being magical. Medieval Europe also saw magic come to be associated with the Old Testament figure of Solomon ; various grimoires , or books outlining magical practices, were written that claimed to have been written by Solomon, most notably the Key of Solomon . In early medieval Europe, magia

13193-418: The following centuries. Since the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed the term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in reference to different things. One approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor (1832–1917) and James G. Frazer (1854–1941), uses the term to describe beliefs in hidden sympathies between objects that allow one to influence

13360-421: The ghosts being squeezed were created using completed effect shots that were rephotographed through mylar material that could be warped to affect the underlying image. For the scene in which Nunzio carries the prosecutor upside-down from the courtroom, a stuntwoman was hung upside down on a rail. Reitman wanted her to pass through the doorway while seeing above it. Gaspar's team created a passage made of foam above

13527-536: The gods, snnw ntr (images of the god), the same power to use words creatively that the gods have is shared by humans. The interior walls of the pyramid of Unas, the final pharaoh of the Egyptian Fifth Dynasty, are covered in hundreds of magical spells and inscriptions, running from floor to ceiling in vertical columns. These inscriptions are known as the Pyramid Texts and they contain spells needed by

13694-524: The guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool. The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed. A whole genre of love spells existed. Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable. Other spells were used to reconcile

13861-405: The homes of the recently deceased and in cemeteries . A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices. In ancient Egypt ( Kemet in the Egyptian language), Magic (personified as the god heka ) was an integral part of religion and culture which is known to us through

14028-544: The host of a children's party, Cheech Marin plays a dock supervisor, and Philip Baker Hall portrays the city police chief. Bobby Brown (credited as Bobby Baresford Brown), who contributed to the film's soundtrack, cameos as a doorman. Ben Stein plays a public works official for the mayor, and Louise Troy appears as a woman wearing a possessed mink fur coat. Kevin Dunn and Chloe Webb appear as, respectively, Milton Angland and Elaine, guests on Venkman's television show. After

14195-471: The interior of the Ghostbusters' headquarters. Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills was used for the scene in which the Ghostbusters visit the mayor at Gracie Mansion . The scene in which the Ghostbusters dig a hole to find the river of slime was filmed in downtown Los Angeles. The scene in which a fur coat comes to life and runs away was filmed on a Los Angeles street; it was written for the original film but

14362-416: The intersection where Oscar's stroller stopped and discover a river of slime running through the abandoned Beach Pneumatic Transit system. Ray obtains a sample but is attacked by the slime and accidentally breaks a pipe that falls onto a power line, causing a citywide blackout. The Ghostbusters are arrested and taken to court for the damage and for investigating the supernatural. Upon presentation as evidence,

14529-506: The label drew arbitrary lines between similar beliefs and practices that were alternatively considered religious, and that it constituted ethnocentric to apply the connotations of magic—rooted in Western and Christian history—to other cultures. Historians and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic . High magic, also known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic,

14696-477: The last decade of the century, however, recognising the ubiquity and respectability of acts such as katadesmoi ( binding spells ), described as magic by modern and ancient observers alike, scholars have been compelled to abandon this viewpoint. The Greek word mageuo (practice magic) itself derives from the word Magos , originally simply the Greek name for a Persian tribe known for practicing religion. Non-civic mystery cults have been similarly re-evaluated:

14863-405: The liquid slime made the actors uncomfortable. The following day, they learned the cameras had been recording at the wrong speed and they would have to film the scene again. The scene of the Ghostbusters scanning the intersection where Oscar's possessed baby carriage is taken was filmed on First Avenue . Filming had moved to Los Angeles by late December 1988. Fire Station No. 23 again served as

15030-547: The magician Osthanes , who accompanied the military campaigns of the Persian King Xerxes . Ancient Greek scholarship of the 20th century, almost certainly influenced by Christianising preconceptions of the meanings of magic and religion , and the wish to establish Greek culture as the foundation of Western rationality, developed a theory of ancient Greek magic as primitive and insignificant, and thereby essentially separate from Homeric , communal ( polis ) religion. Since

15197-545: The magician, because all magical actions relied on the aid of demons. There could be conflicting attitudes regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from contact with demons, whereas a local community might value and respect these individuals because their skills and services were deemed beneficial. In Western societies,

15364-424: The masks to lip-sync dialog. Alongside early concepts of the ghosts walking and creating explosive ruptures with each step, most of these features were abandoned in the final film. Lawrence later said without those features the same effect could have been created with a one-third-scale puppet. The brothers' electric chairs were miniatures composited into footage of the seated, costumed actors. Distortion effects such as

15531-450: The menace and "dark nature of the evil Carpathian". As with his work on Ghostbusters , Reitman had little interest in the technical side of his film. For the sequel, he employed special effects studio Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), giving them a rough outline of the plot and the freedom to do as they wanted. Columbia had previously helped Richard Edlund found special effects company Boss Film Studios for Ghostbusters , but Reitman

15698-470: The minor details were lost in the wide shot. A scale model of the museum was created because Reitman wanted to be able to show the slime oozing from cracks and seams. Several last-minute effect shots were added due to the hectic schedule. The ghost train was intended to be a subway car, but there was no time to find a suitable model, so an antique train was used. The severed heads were sourced from multiple places; poorer quality heads were placed further away from

15865-499: The modern Pagan religion of Wicca ; or as a symbol of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female authority. Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view . Those regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other members of their society. This is particularly the case if these perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already considered morally suspect in

16032-491: The musical comedy film The Blues Brothers (1980), which starred Aykroyd and featured two brothers, one of whom was tall and thin (Tony) and the other short and fat (Nunzio). The brothers were given a cartoonish design to counter the film's scary moments. Lawrence aimed to represent the characters' evil rather than their pre-death appearances. Camilla Henneman created most of Nunzio using spandex pouches filled with gelatinous materials to make him appear impossibly fat. The costume

16199-416: The natural surroundings in which the novel takes place and the eerie mood it evokes is cited as one of the first instances of supernatural horror's being evoked in literature. In the 20th century, supernatural fiction became associated with psychological fiction . In this association, descriptions of events that occur are not explainable through the lenses of the natural world, leading to the conclusion that

16366-472: The norm and the mystery of such things is usually closely intertwined in the plot. The supernatural genre highlights supernatural creatures or happenings within the real world. Moreover, supernatural fiction also tends to focus on suspense and mystery and less on action and adventure. Occult detective fiction combines the tropes of supernatural fiction with those of detective fiction . Supernatural fiction and drama has supernatural elements blended into

16533-552: The opposition of magic and miracle . Some early Christian authors followed the Greek-Roman thinking by ascribing the origin of magic to the human realm, mainly to Zoroaster and Osthanes . The Christian view was that magic was a product of the Babylonians, Persians, or Egyptians. The Christians shared with earlier classical culture the idea that magic was something distinct from proper religion, although drew their distinction between

16700-448: The other. Defined in this way, magic is portrayed as the opposite to science. An alternative approach, associated with the sociologist Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) and his uncle Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), employs the term to describe private rites and ceremonies and contrasts it with religion, which it defines as a communal and organised activity. By the 1990s many scholars were rejecting the term's utility for scholarship. They argued that

16867-421: The overwhelming success of Ghostbusters . Murray was also hesitant; he had left acting for four years following the release of the previous film. He described Ghostbusters ' success as a phenomenon that would forever be his biggest accomplishment and felt "radioactive" after the failure of his personal project The Razor's Edge (1984). He chose to avoid making films until he returned for Scrooged . Murray

17034-615: The painting to confront the Ghostbusters changed completely. One of the cut scenes included a subplot in which the Ray Stantz character is possessed by Vigo following his inspection of the Vigo painting. Ray erratically drives the Ectomobile until he is freed of Vigo's control by Winston. This explained Ray's possession in the finale. Some of this footage was repurposed into a montage. There were also scenes of Louis Tully attempting to capture Slimer, which test audiences found intrusive, and Slimer

17201-502: The people a magician ... should be apprehended in my retinue, or in that of the Caesar, he shall not escape punishment and torture by the protection of his rank. Magic practices such as divination, interpretation of omens, sorcery, and use of charms had been specifically forbidden in Mosaic Law and condemned in Biblical histories of the kings. Many of these practices were spoken against in

17368-424: The performances of Peter MacNicol and Rick Moranis were repeatedly singled out for praise. As the sequel to the then-highest-grossing comedy film of all time, Ghostbusters   II was expected to dominate the box office. Instead, the film earned $ 215.4 million during its theatrical run compared with the original's $ 282.2 million, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of the year . Columbia Pictures deemed it

17535-432: The person the emotion is directed towards. He felt this made the film more grounded compared with dealings with gods. He said: "Cities everywhere are dangerous. Life has become cheap. You can go to   ... see a movie and get machine-gunned on the street". The story evolved far from Ramis' and Aykroyd's efforts but retained the core notion of emotions and their impact. By May 1987, Aykroyd and Ramis had been working for over

17702-466: The pharaoh in order to survive in the afterlife . The Pyramid Texts were strictly for royalty only; the spells were kept secret from commoners and were written only inside royal tombs. During the chaos and unrest of the First Intermediate Period , however, tomb robbers broke into the pyramids and saw the magical inscriptions. Commoners began learning the spells and, by the beginning of

17869-450: The practice of magic, especially when harmful, was usually associated with women. For instance, during the witch trials of the early modern period, around three quarters of those executed as witches were female, to only a quarter who were men. That women were more likely to be accused and convicted of witchcraft in this period might have been because their position was more legally vulnerable, with women having little or no legal standing that

18036-531: The presence of four distinct meanings of the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the most widespread and frequent" understanding of the term. Moreover, Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent; for practitioners of

18203-413: The principle of heka underlay all ritual activity, both in the temples and in private settings. The main principle of heka is centered on the power of words to bring things into being. Karenga explains the pivotal power of words and their vital ontological role as the primary tool used by the creator to bring the manifest world into being. Because humans were understood to share a divine nature with

18370-679: The reader a sense of the presence of "holy" things. The author does then go on to trace this influence further into the future with the Gothic literature movement. The famous horror writer H. P. Lovecraft cites man's fear of the unknown as the origin of supernatural fiction in his essay " Supernatural Horror in Literature " (1927). He also goes on to describe the literary genre's roots in Gothic literature. The description in Wuthering Heights (1847) of

18537-460: The religious rituals of which they form a part. A large number of magical papyri , in Greek , Coptic , and Demotic , have been recovered and translated. They contain early instances of: The practice of magic was banned in the late Roman world, and the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD) states: If any wizard therefore or person imbued with magical contamination who is called by custom of

18704-421: The return of Slimer for the sequel, and they aimed to avoid contradicting the cartoon where possible; he said although the Ghostbusters have been out of work for five years, they had to act as though the cartoon's events took place after the film. According to early reports, Puttnam intended to replace the principal cast with lower-salaried actors, in part because of his disdain for Murray. Puttnam denied this in

18871-415: The role could be played by anyone so he opted to give Poha a backstory in which he is Carpathian . He developed the accent from his Czech friend and from observations at a Romanian tourist agency. MacNicol wanted to wear a black Beatles wig but the idea was rejected because many of the cast had dark hair. The character's accent was inspired by that of Meryl Streep in the film Sophie's Choice (1982). In

19038-402: The schedule tightened, ILM had nine teams working every day for four weeks to complete the expanded 180 shots, and had to outsource some of the extra work to Visual Concept Engineering, Available Light, Character Shop, and the uncredited Tippett Studio . Apogee Productions handled many of the effects for the reshoots. Methocel , a vegetable-based gel, was used to create the slime. Food coloring

19205-415: The script, Poha is not described as having an accent but MacNicol impressed Reitman with it at his audition. Max von Sydow provided the voice of Vigo; he completed his recordings in a single day. Von Homburg reportedly only learned his voice had been dubbed with von Sydow's while watching the premiere and stormed out shortly afterward. He later said his slurred voice, which was caused by a split lip, had been

19372-428: The script, which went through many variations. The pair wanted to convey a message about the consequences of negative human emotions in large cities. They settled on the idea of negative feelings creating a mass of supernatural slime beneath New York City that empowers malevolent spirits. With a budget of $ 30–40 million, filming took place between November 1988 and March 1989 in New York City and Los Angeles . Production

19539-411: The series returned to the original films with Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). Five years after saving New York City from destruction by the shapeshifting god Gozer , the Ghostbusters have been sued for the property damage incurred and barred from investigating the supernatural, forcing them out of business. Ray Stantz now owns an occult bookstore and works

19706-474: The slime reacts to emotions and suspect it has amassed from the negative emotions of New Yorkers. Determining Vigo and the slime are connected, Egon, Ray, and Winston investigate the river of slime, but they are pulled in. They emerge at the museum and begin fighting each other until Egon realizes the slime's negative energy is influencing them. The Ghostbusters tell the mayor of their discoveries but are dismissed; his assistant Jack Hardemeyer has them committed to

19873-518: The slime sample responds physically to the judge's tirade against the Ghostbusters and then explodes, manifesting the ghosts of the Scoleri brothers, whom he had sentenced to death. The Ghostbusters capture the ghosts in exchange for a dismissal of the charges and the right to resume their business. One night, the slime invades Dana's apartment, attacking her and Oscar. She seeks refuge with Peter, and they rekindle their relationship. The Ghostbusters discover

20040-402: The slime to be the monster. A silicone bath that could be easily bent was used; from below, Tom Floutz puppeteered a tentacle made of dielectric gel and reinforced with spandex and china silk, which was covered in slime. A fiberglass maw was inserted in front of a vacuum tube that sucked the material backward when activated, revealing a mouth. An animated tongue was added later. The RMS Titanic

20207-469: The slime's current was filmed against a blue screen so he would appear in the river; his motion in the river had to be animated by hand against the river's natural movements. The returning Slimer ghost was redeveloped to be more child-friendly like his popular The Real Ghostbusters incarnation. His face, which was controlled with wires and cables in Ghostbusters , was now controlled by servo motors and had

20374-461: The slime, and the associated ghosts were not sufficiently connected. According to Gross, the audiences were not aware that the slime in the film could be charged by negative or positive emotions, so scenes were added to better explain this. Extensive re-shoots were conducted throughout March and April 1989, only two months before the film's release; these included on-location filming in New York. Ghostbusters   II had been scheduled for release on

20541-413: The slime, which explained how they learned to manipulate it to control the Statue of Liberty. A ghost was also removed from the sequence in which the slime causes ghosts to rise across New York because Reitman felt it was not creepy enough. Ray Parker Jr. helped develop an updated version of his hit song " Ghostbusters ", which was co-written and performed by hip hop group Run-DMC . Aiming to replicate

20708-412: The sorcerer and put it on trial at night. Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them. The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly. One such ritual was known as the Šurpu , or "Burning", in which the caster of the spell would transfer

20875-460: The spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them. If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone. The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them. Black magic as

21042-492: The success of Ghostbusters , a sequel was considered inevitable even though the film had been developed as a stand-alone project. The development of Ghostbusters   II was arduous, and the behind-the-scenes conflicts were given as much coverage in the press as the film. When David Puttnam became chairman of Columbia Pictures in June 1986, he was not interested in developing an expensive sequel, and favored smaller films such as

21209-506: The success of the original soundtrack, producer Peter Afterman wanted to hire Bobby Brown who had a recent succession of hit songs. To secure Brown's involvement, Afterman offered Brown's music label, MCA Records , the rights to the Ghostbusters II soundtrack . Brown agreed in exchange for a role in the film. Filming had nearly concluded at that time, but Reitman wrote Brown a cameo as the mayor's doorman. The resulting song, " On Our Own ",

21376-503: The supernatural is the only possible explanation for what has been described. A classic example of this would be The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James , which offers both a supernatural and a psychological interpretation of the events described. In this example, ambiguity adds to the effects of both the supernatural and the psychological. A similar example is Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's story " The Yellow Wallpaper ". Supernatural film

21543-487: The temple into the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries CE. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, the Persian maguš was Graecicized and introduced into the ancient Greek language as μάγος and μαγεία . In doing so it transformed meaning, gaining negative connotations, with the magos being regarded as a charlatan whose ritual practices were fraudulent, strange, unconventional, and dangerous. As noted by Davies, for

21710-508: The tentacle would appear to be grabbing at Aykroyd. The Van Horne scene combined the miniature river, matte paintings of the station, and a practical set for stairs leading to a tunnel. The scene in which Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson fall into the river was considered one of the most difficult effects to achieve; the actors were filmed falling from the Van Horne set, which was composited with the miniature river. Hudson's character being dragged away by

21877-645: The term maleficium applied to forms of magic that were conducted with the intention of causing harm. The later Middle Ages saw words for these practitioners of harmful magical acts appear in various European languages: sorcière in French, Hexe in German, strega in Italian, and bruja in Spanish. The English term for malevolent practitioners of magic, witch, derived from the earlier Old English term wicce . Ars Magica or magic

22044-681: The term was similar to that of the Greeks, but placed greater emphasis on the judicial application of it. Within the Roman Empire , laws would be introduced criminalising things regarded as magic. In ancient Roman society, magic was associated with societies to the east of the empire; the first century CE writer Pliny the Elder for instance claimed that magic had been created by the Iranian philosopher Zoroaster , and that it had then been brought west into Greece by

22211-476: The time, Murray reportedly wanted $ 10 million to star in the sequel and his co-stars demanded an equal amount. The main obstacle was the disputes between the principal cast and crew that had arisen since Ghostbusters . Ramis later said "there was a little air to clear" before they could work together. In March 1988, Ovitz arranged a private lunch for himself, Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, Reitman, and Ovitz's colleague, CAA head of business affairs Ray Kurtzman, at Jimmy's,

22378-433: The two in different ways. For early Christian writers like Augustine of Hippo , magic did not merely constitute fraudulent and unsanctioned ritual practices, but was the very opposite of religion because it relied upon cooperation from demons , the henchmen of Satan . In this, Christian ideas of magic were closely linked to the Christian category of paganism , and both magic and paganism were regarded as belonging under

22545-507: The unfinished script. Puttnam was removed from his job in September. This was in part because he had alienated Murray and his talent agent Michael Ovitz. Puttnam had publicly criticized Murray as "an actor who makes millions of dollars from Hollywood without giving back to his art. He's a taker". He also attacked expensive talent agency packages that provided scripts, directors, and stars; Ovitz also represented Aykroyd, Ramis, and Reitman. Puttnam

22712-435: Was a "relatively broad and encompassing category". Christian theologians believed that there were multiple different forms of magic, the majority of which were types of divination , for instance, Isidore of Seville produced a catalogue of things he regarded as magic in which he listed divination by the four elements i.e. geomancy , hydromancy , aeromancy , and pyromancy , as well as by observation of natural phenomena e.g.

22879-590: Was a term of condemnation. In medieval Europe, Christians often suspected Muslims and Jews of engaging in magical practices; in certain cases, these perceived magical rites—including the alleged Jewish sacrifice of Christian children —resulted in Christians massacring these religious minorities. Christian groups often also accused other, rival Christian groups such as the Hussites —which they regarded as heretical —of engaging in magical activities. Medieval Europe also saw

23046-447: Was achieved using four coats with parts controlled with servo motors. ILM considered using live animals for the segment but abandoned the idea. The concept for the physical form of the central villain Vigo went through many changes, including a plan to transform him into a large monstrosity. There was difficulty determining how Vigo would interact outside his painting. Vigo was intended to have heavier creature makeup, but after Von Homburg

23213-415: Was added; the colors included green (to match Slimer) and blue. Physical effects supervisor Chuck Gaspar mocked up differently colored batches, and Reitman settled on pink. The film required approximately 100,000 U.S. gallons (380,000 liters) of slime. Four cement mixers were kept on-site to mix fresh batches daily because it deteriorated quickly. Mica dust and mineral oil were added for the river of slime;

23380-545: Was also currently prevalent. There was a need for people to see real ghosts and experience them vicariously through the writings of fiction. S. L. Varnado argues in Haunted Presence: The Numinous in Gothic Fiction that the beginning of an interest in the supernatural comes from humanity's craving for the experience of the divine , so that even the old mythological tales of the knights of King Arthur give

23547-430: Was also dismissive of sequels in general, believing they exist only for "greed" or "business" reasons, the latter of which he said should carry a death sentence. He said he returned for the sequel because "working on the first Ghostbusters was the most fun any of us had". The character of Janosz Poha, portrayed by Peter MacNicol, was originally called Jason and serves as a straight man to the Ghostbusters. MacNicol said

23714-440: Was cast, his distinctive look meant the extra makeup was largely unnecessary. Supernatural fiction In its broadest definition, supernatural fiction overlaps with examples of weird fiction , horror fiction , vampire literature , ghost story , and fantasy . Elements of supernatural fiction can be found in writing from the genre of science fiction . Amongst academics, readers and collectors, however, supernatural fiction

23881-713: Was conceived early in their collaboration. Ramis wanted the slime beneath New York to present a moral issue caused by the buildup of negative human emotions in large cities; he considered it a metaphor for urban decay and a call to deliver a human solution, though he said this was buried deeply in the script. The pair wanted negative emotions to have consequences and found humor in New York City having to be nice or face destruction, though at this point they did not know what form that destruction would take. Ramis said: "Comedically, it suggested, what if everyone in New York City had to be nice for forty-eight hours?" Aykroyd said they wanted to show negativity has to go somewhere, potentially into

24048-671: Was devised, taught, and worked by demons would have seemed reasonable to anyone who read the Greek magical papyri or the Sefer-ha-Razim and found that healing magic appeared alongside rituals for killing people, gaining wealth, or personal advantage, and coercing women into sexual submission. Archaeology is contributing to a fuller understanding of ritual practices performed in the home, on the body and in monastic and church settings. The Islamic reaction towards magic did not condemn magic in general and distinguished between magic which can heal sickness and possession , and sorcery. The former

24215-448: Was dismissed as unoriginal—billboard figures, animated gargoyles, a phantom taxi, and Santa Claus . A possessed item in the apartment was also considered; this idea inspired the possessed bathtub. MacNicol wore drag as the nanny for closeups and a puppet was used for wide shots. The ghost's extending arm was made from stretchable plastic tubing covered in fabric. Welch built the exterior walls and ledge of Venkman's apartment to scale; it

24382-539: Was done in Washington Square Park , which was used for the monster moving under the Washington Square Arch . The popularity of the film was evident at that time when thousands of people arrived after hearing Ghostbusters   II was being filmed there. They took part in filming, screaming on cue and running to escape the monster. The film's final battle with Vigo was reshot, and the way that Vigo left

24549-417: Was fed back to the upper tank. Air injectors and puppeteered baffles were used to create bubbles and manipulate the slime to flow as though something was moving beneath the surface. Small slime tentacles were created using vinyl-covered sticks operated from below. The large tentacle was plastic and was filmed against a blue screen as it fell away from a stand-in's boot. The footage was then played in reverse so

24716-484: Was filmed at the Tunnel night club in New York. It was added to create a sense of an unseen force trying to keep the Ghostbusters away. Medjuck noted that the added scenes did not require extensive special effects. Cheech Marin's cameo as a dock supervisor was also added in this period. The additional content replaced some scenes and subplots that were far into completion and contained finished special effects. Further shooting

24883-457: Was generally passed down from generation to generation and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders. An āšipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar. The Sumerian god Enki , who was later syncretized with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations; he

25050-436: Was independent of their male relatives. The conceptual link between women and magic in Western culture may be because many of the activities regarded as magical—from rites to encourage fertility to potions to induce abortions —were associated with the female sphere. It might also be connected to the fact that many cultures portrayed women as being inferior to men on an intellectual, moral, spiritual, and physical level. Magic

25217-524: Was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia ( asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons , ghosts , and evil sorcerers. To defend themselves against

25384-408: Was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of natural magic . Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over

25551-404: Was not used and repurposed for Ghostbusters   II . Filming concluded on March 7, 1989. Medjuck noted that characters are often seen smoking in Ghostbusters but a societal change in the intervening years meant this was no longer acceptable; Ghostbusters   II depicts fewer scenes including smoking. Following test screenings , the principal crew realized there were numerous issues with

25718-403: Was one of Edelman's first experiences working with a large scale orchestra. Although familiar with Ghostbusters , he chose not to re-watch it for inspiration so the sequel would have a unique sound. Edelman believed the distinct personalities of the existing characters meant they rarely needed a musical accompaniment, and instead focused on scoring the supernatural and action setpieces to represent

25885-609: Was one of the first shots ILM completed; they wanted a powerful image for the scene and considered using the Hindenburg airship complete with flaming passengers and luggage, a subway train carrying rotting passengers, and a graveyard with exploding headstones. A miniature model of the Titanic with slightly modified aspects was used instead; the position of the ship's name was altered to make it clearly identifiable. Extras were filmed wearing period costume, seaweed, and dripping water but many of

26052-547: Was originally hired to provide 110 effects shots but this grew to 180. ILM was also working on special effects for other 1989 releases; Back to the Future Part II , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , and The Abyss , but had the most difficulty with Ghostbusters   II because designs and concepts were constantly changing and new scenes were being added. ILM eventually refused to accept any further alterations. As

26219-432: Was originally written as a weapon for Vigo but this idea did not progress the narrative. The effect was a combination of a costume worn by Fye, miniatures, and larger-than-life-size elements like the statue's crown— which in reality was too small to let the Ghostbusters peer out. The crown was mounted on a gimbal , allowing it to be pivoted as though its wearer was walking. Reitman ordered the crown be tilted down further than

26386-403: Was positioned 10 ft (3.0 m) in the air. The ledge was superimposed over a matte painting of the full building. The infant actor was secured in a rig that helped him to stand up before his abduction. The possessed bathtub started as a bubble-bath monster that would appear to have thousands of eyes in each bubble; it is destroyed when Dana drops her hairdryer into the bath. Reitman preferred

26553-524: Was reduced to two appearances. Gross said they retained some Slimer scenes for children but that audiences generally had no reaction to the character, which was not what they had expected. Because the sequence in which Tully's cousin frees the Ghostbusters from the psychiatric hospital was removed, a scene showing a paranormal eclipse from the Mayor's office was added to explain the Mayor securing their release. Other removed scenes showed Ray and Egon experimenting with

26720-407: Was replaced as Columbia president by Dawn Steel . When she took the job, her corporate bosses made it clear that getting the sequel into production was a priority. Columbia had experienced a long series of box-office failures since Ghostbusters , and Ghostbusters   II was seen as the best way to reverse their fortunes. By November, filming was scheduled to begin in summer the following year. At

26887-405: Was reported to be between $ 30 million and $ 40 million. Filming in New York lasted approximately two weeks and consisted mostly of exterior shoots. The city authorities were supportive of the project and even granted the crew permission to film on Manhattan 's Second Avenue during a period in which access for forty city blocks was restricted because of the visit of Mikhail Gorbachev , leader of

27054-412: Was reported to be unhappy with their work. Edlund's former ILM co-worker Dennis Muren served as the visual effects supervisor. Despite the film's intentionally rushed schedule, Muren wanted to work on the film because it would let him design new creatures. Muren admitted that his designs would not be as original as Ghostbusters ' , and instead wanted to make them more flexible and "ghostly". The team

27221-468: Was rushed and large sections of the film were scrapped after poorly received test screenings. New scenes were written and filmed during re-shoots between March and April 1989, only two months before its release. Ghostbusters   II was released on June 16, 1989, to generally negative reviews. Critics responded unfavorably to what they perceived as largely a copy of the original and a softening of its cynical, dark humor to be more family-friendly, although

27388-402: Was the patron god of the bārȗ and the ašipū and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge. The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens , which could come when solicited or unsolicited. Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness. A common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to avert it are found in

27555-421: Was thought to be able to give them " sacred magic" power to heal thousands of their subjects from sicknesses. Diversified instruments or rituals used in medieval magic include, but are not limited to: various amulets, talismans, potions, as well as specific chants, dances, and prayers . Along with these rituals are the adversely imbued notions of demonic participation which influence of them. The idea that magic

27722-493: Was worn by Lawrence. The impossibly thin Tony was designed as a life-size puppet but Muren thought this approach would impact the filming schedule. Tony was reworked as a costume that was worn by actor Jim Fye; it was given elongated appendages to appear unnaturally thin. The ghosts' faces were articulated with motors and pneumatics created by mechanical animator Al Coulter and his team. Lawrence also developed an animation system to allow

27889-430: Was written by L.A. Reid , Babyface , and Daryl Simmons . The music video features appearances by Iman , Jane Curtin , Doug E. Fresh , Christopher Reeve , Malcolm Forbes , Rick Moranis, Donald Trump , and Marky and Joey Ramone . Brown also worked alone to write and produce "We're Back". Other songs on the soundtrack include "Flip City" by Glenn Frey , "Spirit" by Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew, and "Love

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