Ghoulies (1985)

User Rating:

3.0/10   

Director:

Luca Bercovici

Writers:

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

Release Date:

2 March 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | 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 | Monster | Ritual | Black Magic | Toilet

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 (in alphabetical order)
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
Steven L. Meyer	....	construction supervisor (as Steve Meyer)
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 Charles Gorey	....	additional boom operator (as Walter Gorey)
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 to 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 DellAmico	....	security officer (as Duane Dell'Amico)
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

Distributors

• Empire Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Pan-Canadian Film Distributors (Canada)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Glen Glenn Sound  post-production sound

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:

Continuity: The triangle and circle drawn with chalk on the floor differs.

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 "Svengoolie: Ghoulies" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Dancing With A Monster

GHOULIES (Luca Bercovici, 1985) *1/2

This is another revisit from long ago but, instead of time having added to its luster a' la my recent screening of GORILLA AT LARGE (1954), it has only revealed it as the silly piece of junk it always has been. Sporting several of the same crew members who would later be reteamed for TROLL (1986; see my comments above), it deals with the Satanic goings-on in an abandoned Italian villa perpetrated by the long-lost son of a Cult leader (whose demise occurs at the film’s very start) to the eventual indifference of his goofy, pot-headed group of friends (including Mariska Hargitay, the daughter of Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield, who had escaped unscathed in the freak car accident which took the life of her actress mum).

Unfortunately, unlike the preceding Gremlins or the later Trolls, the titular creeps don’t have much of a personality; they are the handiwork of John Carl Buechler who later stepped behind the camera to inflict on an unsuspecting world such works of dubious artistry as TROLL (which, actually, wasn’t half-bad), Friday THE 13TH PART VII: THE NEW BLOOD (1988; which has already receded irretrievably into my subconscious) and even GHOULIES III: GHOULIES GO TO COLLEGE (1991)!!

Apart from a mercifully brief but equally embarrassing turn from David Lynch mascot Jack Nance at the start and end of the film, the cast is peopled by obnoxious characters – from the hero who turns green-eyed when in the throes of Satanic possession to the clumsy, lock-jawed Morrissey-lookalike hunk of the party. Not that it matters but, for some reason, the end of the film reverses most of the evil that had happened throughout, making this a singularly pointless venture in the annals of screen history (and its being followed by three sequels all the more baffling)!