Ghoulies (1985)

Director:

Luca Bercovici

Writers:

Luca Bercovici (written by)
Jefery Levy (written by)

Release Date:

2 March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

They'll get you in the end.

Plot:

A young man and his girlfriend move into thre man's old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a need to control ancient demons. |

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Occult | Ghoul | Boy Strangling | Supernatural

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Nov. 25

6:00 AM

MAX

Cast

Peter Liapis	...	Jonathan Graves
Lisa Pelikan	...	Rebecca
Michael Des Barres	...	Malcolm Graves
Jack Nance	...	Wolfgang
Peter Risch	...	Grizzel
Tamara De Treaux	...	Greedigut
Scott Thomson	...	Mike
Ralph Seymour	...	Mark (Toad Boy)
Mariska Hargitay	...	Donna
Keith Joe Dick	...	Dick
David Dayan	...	Eddie
Victoria Catlin	...	Anastasia
Charene Cathleen	...	Robin
Bobbie Bresee	...	Temptress
Jamie Bronow	...	Jonathan Graves, as a child

Also Known As:

Beasties (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Norway:15 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | West Germany:18 | Spain:18

Company:

Empire Pictures

Trivia:

Mariska Hargitay's film debut.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the final scene in the basement, there are supposed to be six people under the white sheets, but there are only five. And in the next scene when all the characters are fleeing the house, the one who was missing in the basement is now there.

Quotes:

[Mike falls over while trying to breakdance]
Mike: I think I broke my head.
Eddie: [standing over Mike] Oh, thank God. I thought that you actually hurt yourself.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shock Cinema Vol. 1 (1991) (V)

Soundtrack:

Dancing With A Monster

Not a "Gremlins" ripoff--and pretty awful

A young couple (Peter Liapis and Lisa Pelikan) inherit a huge old house from his family. It's deserted and falling apart so naturally they move in. It seems his dad was a witch and had a coven that sacrificed people. After they move in he starts practicing black magic and doing rituals--just like dear old dad. It seems dad is eager to come back from the dead and start the coven again...

As you can see this has nothing to do with gremlins or such--it's a humans vs. witchcraft movie--and a bad one. I started realizing I was in trouble with opening credits "Empire Pictures presents A Charles Band Production". Empire made dreadful no budget horror films and Charles Band produced all of them. That should have been enough for me to grab the remote and change channels--but I kept watching.

The acting is pretty terrible--Pelikan and Liapis are bad but top honors go to Scott Thomson as their incredibly annoying friend Mike. The direction is lousy--there's not even an establishing shot of the house until 15 minutes in! The script is dull and drags along. As for the "ghoulies"---they look pretty silly and have absolutely no reason to be in the movie. They were probably added in because "Gremlins" was such a hit the year before.

There's next to no blood, no gore and the attack scenes looks pretty silly (except for one somewhat creepy one involving a killer clown). It all ends up in a silly battle between a good witch and a bad witch with sub-par special effects. Even an appearance by Jack Nance can't save this.

This was inexplicably a HUGE hit in 1985 (mostly with kids) and led to 2 sequels (which I refuse to see). This can't even be enjoyed on a bad/good level or as camp--it's too boring! Avoid.