Ghoulies (1984)

A young man and his girlfriend move into an old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a desire to control ancient demons.

Director:

Luca Bercovici

Writers:

Luca Bercovici, Jefery Levy

Stars:

Peter Liapis, Lisa Pelikan, Michael Des Barres

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A young man and his girlfriend move into an old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a desire to control ancient demons.

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Plot Keywords:

supernatural power | strangulation | sunglasses | levitation | first part | 

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Taglines:

They'll get you in the end!

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beasties

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$35,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Empire Pictures,Ghoulies Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The poster for the film featuring a Ghoulie popping out of a toilet reportedly cause several angry mothers to write letters to the studio saying that their kids were too scared to use the bathroom after seeing the poster.

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Goofs

During the levitation scene you can see a puppeteer's finger in one of the ghoulie's mouths when they are all screaming.

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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.

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Alternate Versions

12 seconds of footage were removed from the American release of Ghoulies in order to achieve a PG-13 rating.

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma 3: 80s Horrorthon (2017)

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Soundtracks

Dancing With A Monster
Written and Performed by Fela Johnson
Subliminal Music 1982

User Reviews

A must-see for fans of campy, cheesy horror

As an infant, Jonathan Graves is absconded from his father, Malcolm (Michael Des Barres), the leader of a black magic cult, when Malcolm almost sacrifices Jonathan in a ritual. 25 years later, Jonathan (Peter Liapis) learns that his father has passed away and he has inherited his estate, including a large home that is now in disrepair. He moves there with Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan), and soon after begins acting strangely, instinctively following his father's footsteps.

If you're a fan of campy, cheesy horror films, as I am, Ghoulies is a must see. Everyone else should probably avoid this film. This is a Charles Band production. Charles Band means Empire/Full Moon, and Empire/Full Moon is almost a guarantee of some campiness/cheesiness. Not many of Band's films, however, approach the sublime ridiculousness of Ghoulies. We're almost in Troma territory here, but Ghoulies is played much more seriously than the typical Troma production, and in this case, it works to increase the entertainment value.

Since Ghoulies was made in 1984, it features most of the mid-80s horror film clichés. Shortly after moving in, Graves throws a party, so we get big hair, tight miniskirts, skinny ties, recreational drug use, and so on. We also get our eventual fodder for our body count, although in this case, it is worth noting that writer/director Luca Bercovici introduces a "twist" near the end that significantly decreases the body count.

Liapis is the focus of the film, though, and without him, Ghoulies might be more boring than campy. His absurd overacting, often in solo scenes, takes up a majority of screen time. Still, just the brief presence of two demonic minions, Grizzel and Greedigut, would alone make Ghoulies a must see, especially given how everyone continues their attempt to play the film seriously when they appear. And I haven't even mentioned the other ridiculous minions, which are obviously puppets and "dead props" (Band seems to love puppets), and were the beginning of a horror industry attempt to cash in on the success of Gremlins (also seen later in such films as the Critters series and Munchies). We also get zombies, a Star Wars-like battle of wizards, sunglasses as a major plot device, an evil doll, an attack with a 5 foot long tongue, and some probably unintentional homoerotic subtext. Who could pass all of that up? The film gets a 7 out of 10 from me--an 8 out of 10 would have been in order, except for the inexplicable absence of gratuitous nudity.

Note that while Ghoulies is tagged "comedy/horror", it's very unlikely that it was intended to be a comedy in any way. Even if Band applied the label to the film prior to release, it was probably because even he realized how ludicrous the film turned out. At any rate, it would be misguided to watch it expecting intentional humor.