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:

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: Reflected in bookcase.

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 Ghoulies IV (1994) (V)

Soundtrack:

Dancing With A Monster

Cheesy and bad but amusing.

Another movie of the 1980's to jump on the "Gremlins" bandwagon, this tells the story of Jonathan (Peter Liapis), who inherits the mansion his Satan-worshipping father Malcolm (rock singer Michael Des Barres) conducted rituals in. Jonathan's curiosity gets the better of him and when he starts conducting rituals of his own, a variety of tiny beasts and a pair of dwarves arrive on the scene.

"Ghoulies" is not exactly a quality horror / comedy, but it didn't suck badly enough for me to actively hate it. In fact, I thought that it was goofy enough to be amusing. The title creatures are a funny (if undeniably ugly) troupe of poorly manipulated puppets and unlike other films of its kind, "Ghoulies" does not go overboard in the gore department. Heck, the lead performances by Liapis and Lisa Pelikan, as his girlfriend, are actually better than I would have expected, and Des Barres' cameo is enjoyably (and not unbearably) hammy. It's also good to see Jack "Eraserhead" Nance in the film's other major cameo.

As long as you go in with low expectations, and do NOT take it seriously (then again, how could you?) it's possible to derive some entertainment out of it.

Followed by three sequels.

5/10