Return of the Ghostbusters

Return of the Ghostbusters is a fan film of the Ghostbusters franchise, and is directed by Hank Braxtan, released on October 31, 2007. The film serves as a sequel to Braxtan's 2004 fan film Freddy vs. Ghostbusters
, and continues the story of the Ghostbusters franchise based out of Denver, Colorado. The fim is noteworthy for a feature-length running time (85 minutes), being a sequel to a fan film, the acquisition of funding and production by numerous Ghosbusters fans from around the world, as well as the tremendously increased production values from the previous film.Return of the Ghostbusters features CGI visual effects that technologically surpass the quality of effects used in the source films, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II thanks to the talents of Ryan P. Wilson & Justin Rader. The film also features an Original Score by Composer Jon Vandergriff.

Plot
The mile high city is rocked when an ancient Egyptian menace comes to town, and the Denver Ghostbusters must return to save the universe once more. In this sequel to the internet cult hit Freddy VS Ghostbusters, the boys in gray find themselves up to their eyeballs in spooks, as a greater threat looms on the horizon...

Cast
*J. Michael Weiss as Neil Anderson
*Tim Johnson as Ed Spengler
*Joel Hanson as Pavel Karnov
*Ron Vischer as Klaus Konstantin
*Arielle Brachfeld as April Hunter
*Donte Essien as Levar Gordon
*Lisa Wegener as Annie
*Heath C. Heine as Gallagher Jablan

Releases
A premiere event was held on October 25, 2007 at the Mayan Theater in Denver, CO. The premiere was attended by the cast and crew of the film, as well as over 400 fans, family members, and members of the Braxtanfilm Message Boards.

The film was released for free distribution on the internet on October 31, 2007. The first day of the film's availability was exclusively as a streaming video on iFilm, and has since been released in versions which are downloadable for Zune and iPod devices. A downloadable high resolution Torrent has also been released. All versions are available on the official Return of the Ghostbusters website.

Cultural References
While Return of the Ghostbusters is rife with references and homages to the original Ghostbusters films, there are many other pop culture references throughout the film:
*News reporter April Hunter could have gotten her first name from the news reporter character April O'Neil, of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fame.
*Ed is a fan of American Idol, and his cell phone ringtone is the Legend of Zelda theme.
*Neil mentions plans to spend all day watching Quantum Leap reruns.
*Ed's television persona is "Ed Spengler, the Science Nerd," a nod to scientist Bill Nye's persona (and television show) Bill Nye the Science Guy. During taping for the show, Ed paraphrases Gary Coleman's famous line from Diff'rent Strokes, asking "wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Pavel?"
*The bar fight sequence features the famous Wilhelm scream sound effect, used in many films and video games.
*Ed's producer refers to Levar, Ed's hosting replacement, as "a black Doogie Howser." Levar had also claimed to write a New York Times bestseller, to which Ed retorts "Dr. Phil is on that list for a diet book! A diet book!"
*Scenes filmed outside of the Mayan Theater feature posters for Lucky Number Slevin in the background.
*Neil refers to Ed as MacGyver on his way to take April out for dinner.
*Agents J and K are a reference to Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones' characters in the Men in Black films. The detectives also end up getting into a discussion about Batman & Robin.
*Ed compares the potential growth of the ghost infestation to the franchising of Starbucks.
*There is a cameo appearance by the Angry Video Game Nerd, watching the final battle via news broadcast.

Prequel Comic

A web comic entitled Ghostbusters: The Denver Chronicles was released on the Return of the Ghostbusters website one day prior to the film's release. Co-written by Hank Braxtan & "The Sandman," the comic bridges the gap between the years between Freddy vs. Ghostbusters and Return of the Ghostbusters. The comic explains several changes that occur between the two films, primarily the loss of Ghostbuster Eugene O'Fitzpatrick (portrayed by Jason Cook in Freddy vs. Ghostbusters).

The comic finds Neil Anderson alone in Denver busting ghosts, and dealing with a few vandals who damaged the original Ecto truck from Freddy vs. Ghostbusters. Ed Spengler & Eugene O'Fitzpatrick are in London at the British Museum to answer a call that the "New York Chapter" (the original four Ghostbusters from the feature films) was too busy to handle. There, Eugene discovers a map inside an artifact to the lost city of Cynopolis. Janosz Poha, a character from Ghostbusters II (who has since moved to England to "get away from you guys"), takes this map to the sole financier of the Ancient Egypt exhibit Klaus Konstantin (and his assistant, Pavel Karnov). Twenty-eight days ater, Ed and Eugene are invited to the archaeological site they helped Konstantin discover. They drive through the desert in an undecorated white automobile, presumably the future Ectomobile featured in Return of the Ghostbusters. Unfortunately they arrive to discover a cave-in where several crew members are injured, and Konstantin is crippled, explaining his paralysis in the film. The two Ghostbusters run to the rescue, only to have Ed incapacitated by a group of ressurected mummies, leaving Eugene to fight against them by himself. During the confrontation of Eugene and the last mummy, there's another cave-in and Eugene is killed. Ed survives.

The comic's final panel features brief appearances by the four original Ghostbusters (Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore), and their secretary Janine Melnitz, attending Eugene's funeral along with the surviving Denver Ghostbusters. Also in attendance are Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Bros. video games, bearing the likenesses of "Captain" Lou Albano and Danny Wells from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

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See Also

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