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 an man's old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a need to control ancient demons. |

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Tongue | Splatter | Ritual | Sunglasses

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
Brian Connolly	...	Ghoulie (voice)
Annie Stocking	...	Ghoulie (voice)
Craig Talmy	...	Ghoulie (voice)

Directed by
Luca Bercovici

Writing credits
Luca Bercovici		(written by) &
Jefery Levy		(written by)

Produced by
Charles Band	....	executive producer
Debra Dion	....	associate producer
Jefery Levy	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Band
Shirley Walker

Cinematography by
Mac Ahlberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ted Nicolaou

Casting by
Johanna Ray

Production Design by
Wayne Springfield

Costume Design by
Kathie Clark

Makeup Department
Tina Kline	....	contact lens technician
Donn Markel	....	assistant makeup artist
Ronnie Specter	....	hair stylist (as Ronnie Spector)
Ronnie Specter	....	makeup artist (as Ronnie Spector)
Judith Fiske Stockley	....	contact lens technician
Michael Deak	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Brad Arensman	....	executive in charge of post-production
Peter Manoogian	....	executive in charge of production
Hugh McCallum	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Betsy Magruder	....	first assistant director
William James Murray Jr.	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Richard Alsop	....	lead man
Sandy Corner	....	art office manager
Douglas Fox	....	property master (as Doug Fox)
Karen Kornbau	....	co-art director
Steve Meyer	....	construction supervisor
Ian Scheibel	....	assistant props
Cynthia Sowder	....	co-art director (as Cindi Sowder)

Sound Department
Douglas B. Arnold	....	sound mixer (as Doug Arnold)
Ken Beauchene	....	additional sound mixer
G.W. Brown	....	dialogue editor
Ed Callahan	....	dialogue editor
Gordon L. Day	....	sound re-recording mixer
Walter Gorey	....	additional boom operator
John Kwiatkowski	....	sound effects editor
Bob Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Debbie Pinthus	....	boom operator
Craig Talmy	....	special effects sound
Stan Wetzel	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lee Strosnider	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Howard Berger	....	additional ghoulie operator
R. Christopher Biggs	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies: Mechanical and Makeup Imageries (as Chris Biggs)
John Carl Buechler	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies designer
Lynn Buechler	....	additional ghoulie operator
Everett Burrell	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies: Mechanical and Makeup Imageries
Rob Cantrell	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies: Mechanical and Makeup Imageries
Mitch Devane	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies: Mechanical and Makeup Imageries (as Mitch De Vane)
Roger George	....	pyrotechnician
Cleve Hall	....	additional ghoulie operator
Kenneth J. Hall	....	additional ghoulie operator (as Ken Hall)
Roger Kelton	....	set special effects
John Vulich	....	special effects makeup and ghoulies: Mechanical and Makeup Imageries

Stunts
Rick Barker	....	stunts
Linda Lee Franklin	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Joey Alvarado	....	electrician
Danny Bilson	....	second assistant camera
David Boyd	....	first assistant camera
Kevin Brennan	....	gaffer
Dennis Clark	....	electrician
Stephen Crawford	....	additional electrician
Jerry Day	....	additional grip
Brian Dean	....	additional grip
Rick Faigh	....	additional electrician (as Rik Faigh)
Tony Friedkin	....	still photographer
Kevin Galbraith	....	electrician
Howard Herrington	....	additional electrician (as H. Herrington)
Ray Maichen	....	additional key grip
Ray Maichen	....	best boy
Ron McCausland	....	key grip
Tim McGinnis	....	best boy gaffer (as Tim McGinnes)
Michael Molnar	....	additional grip
Andrew Roach	....	additional electrician
Michael Stocks	....	grip
Wayne Stroud	....	additional grip
Vance Trussell	....	electrician
Michael Wilson	....	additional assistant camera

Casting Department
Anthony Barnao	....	assistant casting director

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jill M. Ohanneson	....	costumer (as Jill Ohanneson)

Editorial Department
Brad Arensman	....	executive in charge of post-production
Holly Austin	....	negative cutter
James Knight	....	additional assistant editor
Thomas Meshelski	....	assistant editor (as Tom Meshelski)
Lynda Rescia	....	apprentice editor
Tom Scurry	....	additional assistant editor
Juliet Avola	....	post-production (uncredited)

Music Department
Richard Band	....	composer: additional music
John Richards	....	scoring engineer
Tom Villano	....	music editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jeff Broadstreet	....	set production assistant
Bennah Burton-Burtt	....	assistant to executive producer (as Bennah Burton)
Sheri Callan	....	assistant production accountant
Robert Dawson	....	title designer
Duane Dell'Amico	....	security officer
Don Diers	....	production assistant
Jim Drewry	....	security officer
Vladimir Ferkelman	....	production assistant
Cathy Mickel Gibson	....	controller (as Cathy Mickel-Gibson)
Jeff Holder	....	craft service
Richard Kocik	....	office production assistant
Robert Lange	....	production counsel
Frank Rehwaldt	....	office production assistant
Sharron Reynolds	....	script supervisor (as Sharon Reynolds)
Jay Sedrish	....	production accountant
Debra Spidell	....	office production assistant
Aron Warner	....	production coordinator
George Escalera	....	craft service (uncredited)

Thanks
Marion Gibbons	....	special thanks: Hollywood Heritage Society

Production Companies

• Empire Pictures (presents)
• Ghoulies Productions (as Ghoulies Productions, Inc.) (copyright holder)

Distributors

• Empire Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Pan-Canadian Film Distributors (198?) (Canada) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Vestron Video International (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Italy) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Mechanical and Makeup Imageries (special effects makeup)
• Mechanical and Makeup Imageries (ghoulies creatures)

Other Companies

• Milton Kahn Associates  public relations (as Milton Kahn Associates, Inc.)
• Evergreen Recording Studios  music recorded at (as Evergreen Recording Studios, Los Angeles)
• TJV Productions  music editing services (as T.J.V. Productions, Inc.)
• Payments Plus  payroll service
• Crystal Blue Casting  extras casting
• Exotic Tropical Fish  animals by
• Glen Glenn Sound Company  post-production sound (as Glen Glenn)
• Movielab  color by
• Hollywood Heritage  special thanks: Marion Gibbons (as Hollywood Heritage Society)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Norway:15 (video premiere) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | West Germany:18 | Spain:18 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (1986)

Filming Locations:

Wattles Mansion - 1824 N. Curson Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Empire Pictures

Trivia:

Began life in 1983 as a project called "Beasties", which was to be directed by Charles Band, with creature FX by Stan Winston. The pair had previously collaborated on the monster movie Parasite (1982).

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: At the end of the scene where Jonathan summons a rainstorm in his basement a microphone pokes into view from the right side of the screen.

Quotes:

Dick:They call me Dick, but you can call me... Dick.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Ghoulies" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Surrender

80s cheese-fest, nothing more

"Ghoulies" is a classic example of prime 80s cheese.

**SPOILERS**

Having inherited a new house, Jonathan, (Peter Liapis) and Rebecca Graves, (Lisa Pelikan) decide to throw a party to celebrate the occasion, and invite friends Robin, (Charene Cathleen) Donna, (Mariska Hargitay) Dick, (Keith Joe Dick) and Mark, (Ralph Seymour) to do so. As the party goes on, they decide to start playing games and eventually find an old spell book that allows them to perform a Satanic ritual, but are cut off before they can complete it. As they spend more time together and she notices how different he's been acting since his interest in the Black Arts has escalated, she learns of his plot to unleash a swarm of demonic beings upon them, and when their guests become the victims of their vicious attacks, they try to find a way of dealing with the deadly creatures and their true master.

The Good News: There was some good stuff with this one. Perhaps one of the best parts is the fact that this one is so cheesy, it's hard to really feel bad for it. From the look of the creatures, which range from frog-like things to lizard-styled and several other rather cool-looking designs that are portrayed with really fake-looking puppetry just adds a charm to everything that makes it really hard to stay terribly negative for too long. Coupled with the overall feel and tone of the actions in here, this one just has a special 80s-esque cheesy charm about it that it makes for a fun time for those who enjoy those kinds of films. Another big plus is that there's some creepy images here and there to give it an atmosphere which is missing from the cheesier moments and makes for some fun times. The opening séance scene with the cult is really good, due to the actions they take and how they go about them, from targeting a mother and how they stalk her is really good. The resurrection of the creatures is also rather well-done, as they're done in a creepy basement and filled with all sorts of great images, from them coming to life and how they interact with the surroundings and each other is pretty nice. The creatures get one big rampage through the house as they knock off the guests, and that is perhaps the highlight since it's where they get into action and can actually do some damage, which makes them look better and makes for some creepy moments as they play around in the mansion. That's preceded by a nice graveyard segue into it makes it all the better and really interesting. That it's also the longest scene in the film is of no surprise, which makes it so good because it has a chance to let loose and really go, which doesn't happen often. Also quite creepy is a disappearing-doll-gag that, while clichéd, does what it needs and does it well. The last good plus is the finale, which is part cheese and part fun, as it's a magic battle that takes place, which allows for some pretty good action when it needs it. These here are the film's good parts.

The Bad News: This one here is pretty problematic and bereft of several flaws. One of the biggest here is the film's undeniable 80s-era look and feel, which is very beneficial towards calling it cheesy. The characters are all prime candidates for this, in look, appearance and overall behavior, and they're all a big part of this, but the reason why it comes here is due to the creatures. They are so obviously plastic puppets being manipulated by wires around the set since they look very haggardly, display no real awareness of being in the scene required, and then there's their overall look. From the designs chosen here, they look incredibly fake and quite obviously like puppets that there's nothing which sets them apart from dolls and other such figures out there, and it's quite disheartening to see them. Another issue with this one is the fact that this is incredibly short, barely lasting over an hour and not even cracking a hour and twenty minutes of running time. This is far too short to be of anything important, since it's over quite quickly and without much of anything to really get into before that point, and as such there's a real feeling of disappointment here since it's so early into the film that this one just sort of stops without warning, and it's really jagged and noticeable. Another really big flaw in here is that the film just takes so long to get to the titular creatures that it's nearly forever that we get to see them, since the beginning is filled up with the family's dinner party antics, which aren't in the least bit fun or exciting and just prolong the film out even more. This one is just as bad on the other end, as the finale hardly features them at all and takes a back-seat to the magic-based special effects. That is certainly fun, but they take away from the fact that it's a creature feature, and with the creatures appearing late into the film and then having nothing to do but witness the finale without participating, it's almost as though they were an afterthought in their own movie, and therefore it's hard to take them as real threats. That is the film's biggest flaw, and part of why this one falls.

The Final Verdict: As a true example of pure 80s cheese, this one is pretty good but as a horror film, it's not all that great because of the cheesy effects. Recommended viewing for those with a taste for these kinds of films, while those interested should check it out and the ones who aren't into it should heed caution.

Rated PG-13: Violence, some Language and a mild Sex Scene