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Ghostbusters was released when I was about five years old, and it was a big media event. Clever marketing meant that the movie was seen as family-friendly, the protagonists as heroes who were "here to save the world", and I don't even know where to start with all the model proton pack, Ecto-1 hearse, Ghostbuster costume and other spin-off memorabilia. There was even a cartoon TV series called The Real Ghostbusters (not to be confused with Filmation's Ghostbusters, which many of us had done, but that's another story).

And that theme...! It was genius. Even kids with no singing talent whatsoever had no problem joining in. "If there's something strange, In the neighbourhood, Who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!" It's now a karaoke classic for much the same reason.

And so, in the days before Internet, and with parents that had a strong aversion to video shops, for a full three years, this movie had a sort of mythological status to five-year-old me. Advertisements and merchandise for it were everywhere, some other kids had seen it and said it was good, and yet it remained stubbornly out of my reach. I even remember buying a few old magazines from a jumble sale simply because they had articles featuring Ghostbusters. I was actually obsessed with this movie before I ever got to see it. Which is sort of weird in retrospect.

And then, three years later, I believe Christmas 1987, the movie was finally shown on TV. The two week countdown from when my parents brought home the Christmas TV Times magazine which told me Ghostbusters would be shown at 8:00pm on Christmas Eve was the most agonising wait of my young life. But finally, the Betamax was geared up and set to record and Ghostbusters was mine to enjoy forever.

And enjoy it I did. I cannot count how many times I rewatched this movie. I watched it so much I could recite it from beginning to end. I drove my family to the point of madness by quite literally always having it on, and in the days where families only had one TV and no earphones, the very fact that they allowed me to do that might tell you something about the movie's quality.

A few years worth of Mr. Stay Puft, aiming for the flat-top and crossing the streams and you might have thought I'd have had my fill. But oooooh you'd be dead wrong there. For this version of Ghostbusters, recorded on Betamax, was actually a TV version.

These versions of movies were often very different from the original cinema versions and somehow I managed to acquire an ex-rental Ghostbusters videotape about that time. Obviously I'd opted to be a complete geek from a very young age because the differences between the two versions fascinated the hell out of me. I guessed they'd cut the swearing for the TV version because they knew all of us potentially potty-mouthed tots might try to imitate our heroes but my naive young self was baffled by that whole scene with the ghostly woman hovering over Ray's genital area. Why was that cut? (I understand why now, don't write in!)

And, this being the days of 4:3 TVs, the two versions had many 'pan and scan' differences too. Thus, I took to watching each version on rotation long into the night, shouting "Ghostbusters!" enthusiastically at random silent intervals and telling anyone who would listen that "this is the version where he says 'It's pissing me off!" until my father finally did go insane and smash the Betamax to pieces. But it was of course too late, as with every scene and every last line of dialogue now permanently inscribed upon my brain, I opted to announce to my parents that 'Dave The Human Radio Play' would tonight be another recital of... Ghostbusters. After a few days of this I was adopted by another family and never saw either of them again.

Ahem.

Well obviously that last bit didn't actually happen. But you get the point. My review of Ghostbusters The Movie might be ever so teensily touched by nostalgia. It's almost impossible for me to review it objectively, its script is still etched on what passes for my mind to this day. But by no means am I alone in this. Ghostbusters is a cult movie. It has billions of fans. It has aged well. It's still funny. Hell, it even has a slew of God-awful modern day woke sequels that are largely unwatchable; a sure-fire sign that the original was so good that Hollywood needed to flog the franchise to death.

So what exactly happens? Well, it all starts with a haunting at The New York Public Library. Books flying off shelves and strange ectoplasm on surfaces lead to one of its curators contacting three students at a nearby University. The three students, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman, show up to investigate with a few tools and some enthusiasm. What occurs next is one of the most hilarious scenes in cinema history and ultimately leads to them being expelled and starting their own business, taglined 'professional paranormal investigations and eliminations'. Further escapades follow, involving things that go bump in the night, a lot of wanton destruction and a whole lot of shouting.

At the same time, storm clouds are gathering around a certain high rise in central Manhattan where Dana Barrett, and her awkward neighbour Louis Tully, are also experiencing a few strange encounters. In Dana's case there appears to be a vision of hell itself in her fridge. And in Louis's case, well he just wants to get with Dana, his sexy neighbour and indulges in constant rambling to try to keep her attention.

The movie cannot seem to make up its mind whether all of these hauntings are actually all connected, but as the "ghostbusters" become famous for, apparently, smashing things up and "busting" the ghosts out of the residences they haunt (Yes, I know it's sounding stupid now but just go with it), they come up against the city's authorities. In the form of one Walter Peck, who not only makes it clear that he believes they aren't really doing anything apart from turn up and produce "a fake electronic lightshow", but who also gets a Court Order to force them to shut down the machine where they've trapped all the ghosts they've previously busted.

Needless to say, this doesn't work out too well and ends up with New York City now teeming with ghosts causing chaos. At the same time, Dana and Lewis are both possessed by 'terrordogs', and three floors of their apartment are blown to pieces to reveal a shrine to a demigod. The city's authorities, who go from being sceptical to believers after a few minutes of carnage, now realise the Ghostbusters are their only hope to defeat whatever 'this' onslaught is. As Venkman states, 'this' is "real wrath of God-type stuff, thirty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, rivers and seas boiling, the dead rising from the grave, cats and dogs living together... mass-hysteria!"

With that brief synopsis, a Big Boss fight like nothing you've ever seen before, and a finale that results in Walter Peck having a ton of marshmallow dumped on his head, it's time to sing your way through the end credits. I mean, there are many other iconic moments that I could mention and the soundtrack includes some pretty epic scores during the battling and some creepy plink-plonk in the library. And there's the fact that the humour is very cleverly done, through the sometimes fraught relationships between all the characters (rather than through constant visual gags).

Overall then, well, if you haven't seen it then it will make for a great movie night. You probably don't need to watch it over 500 times like I've done, especially now you can enjoy it in 4K HD widescreen in your own home, but, like Back To The Future, it may well demand at least one repeat viewing per year.