Ghostbusters director reveals creepy legend that inspired new villain

There must be something strange in the neighborhood, because the Ghostbusters are back for a new adventure courtesy of director Gil Kenan.

Tiled Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, this comedy-horror movie sees Ghostbusters new and old team up to take on Garraka, an ancient ghoul who plans on using his icy powers to take over the world. Can the Ghostbusters stop him? Well, you’ll have to watch to find out, but trust us, it’s worth a watch (read our Frozen Empire review here).

Anyway, to celebrate the film’s release, we sat down with co-writer and director Gil Kenan to discuss the pressures of continuing the franchise without Ivan Reitman, creating a terrifying new villain, and what might be next for New York’s finest paranormal exterminators.

Following the success of Afterlife, how much pressure did you feel to get the next chapter in the Ghostbusters franchise right?

Gil Kenan: No pressure whatsoever! [Laughs] It was literally a cakewalk, the easiest job I’ve ever had. No, all the pressure of the entire universe collapsed into a few square inches on my shoulders, but I think that there’s something that happens when you feel like you’re the protector of a story, specifically when you’re looking after characters that matter to you.

I mean, my relationship with Ghostbusters goes back to my own watershed experience of seeing the film with my father in a cinema when I was seven years old. Then through writing the characters with Jason Reitman on Afterlife, I began to feel a sort of sense of kinship, I don’t want to use the word ownership because characters sort of live independently, but I did feel protective over them. And that sort of begins to give you something to hold on to, almost like the feather in Dumbo’s trunk.

You feel like there’s something that you can focus all of your energies maybe your terror into as well. And then that way, I think you can just keep your head sort of pointed forward and and tell the story.

Sony Pictures

You mentioned father and son. This is the first Ghostbusters film made since Jason’s father, Ivan, passed away. Can you tell me how it felt to make a Ghostbusters movie without him?

GK: It was deeply sad, both as a fan and to know that my best friend and creative partner had lost his father just as we were beginning a fresh push of telling the stories that he himself began and put out into the world 40 years ago.

So obviously, there is a bass note under all of it, only leveraged by the fact that there’s so much joy in telling the Ghostbusters story. That is something that extends beyond just myself as the filmmaker who’s directing the film or myself and Jason as the sort of creative heads that are charting the path forward.

You feel it in every department, you feel it in every screening; there is just the love and, you know, a pure sort of something that maybe does harken back to those early cinematic memories that a lot of us share in the audience or want to share with our kids or friends, etc. So it’s it’s definitely an absence that you are aware of, and you feel it every day. I think everyone worked together to make a film that Ivan would be proud of.

Sony Pictures

You’ve made no secret of the fact that the Real Ghostbusters cartoon influenced the film. Where do you think those influences most shine through?

GK: I’ll just say that, for me, there was never a distinction in storytelling between animation and live-action. I think we grew up in an age where you would take your character or story engagement where you could find it. Sometimes it was in the cinema sometimes it was on the television while you were eating cereal.

The Real Ghostbusters was something I loved as a kid. It was a way for me to to satisfy my fix of Ghostbusters in between films, and of course, there haven’t been that many movies. The Real Ghostbusters is wild and it’s fearless. Ghostbusters has always had a thread of bravery running through the characters, they’re irreverent, they’re weird, they’re oddballs.

That series was not afraid to push the boundaries of sort of formal storytelling. They would create unexpected forays into the supernatural world. I think because they were creating so many episodes, they became very liberal with some of the mythologies, and that felt cool. It felt like we almost had our own access to a Necronomicon for kids that would play every week on television. And I think it made all of us a little weirder, which is great.

Sony Pictures

I can see the influence of the show on Garraka’s design. I loved him as a villain. Can you tell me a little about his conception?

GK: Well, Garraka came out of a narrative desire between Jason and myself to create a nightmarish vision that would give us real stakes in this story. We knew that we had resolved the Gozer saga and that created an opportunity to create a villain that would take its place in the center of this supernatural world and give focus to some of the horror that we knew we were going to be bringing to this story.

Garraka is sort of drawn from some of the nightmarish visions that I grew up with. So, like the Real Ghostbusters, and actually pulling from references that are way more personal to me. My grandfather used to read me this German fairy tale called Struwwelpeter about a boy with bad hygiene who had these terrifying long fingernails.

So you pull in these images, and I start to draw Garraka. While we were writing, the horns became a symbol of an unfulfilled power, and the completion of that allowed us to tell a larger, more original mythology that we were really excited about.

Sony

Possibly a controversial question, but who do you think is stronger, Gozer or Garraka?

GK: Gozer or Garraka, who’s stronger? I mean, Gozer is a god who can use your own thoughts against you, which obviously creates an opportunity for real mayhem. But I’ve got to say, Garraka has a dark glint of death in his eyes that pulls me in his direction. [Laughs] Maybe that’s because I’ve just spent the last year with him but I’m a little bit leaning in the direction of Garraka.

The film ends with the Ghostbusters still in business. Do you think we could see a sequel?

GK: I love watching Phoebe Spengler and her family growing up. I think that whether or not this is something that happens in the next year or two years, who knows? It’s really up to the audience showing up in the next few weeks. But as a fan, I would be thrilled to watch Phoebe Spengler growing up into young adulthood to see how her extraordinary sensitivity to the supernatural world and her immense bravery as a Ghostbuster channels itself into another adventure.

If we got another Ghostbusters film, would you like to bring Louis back finally?

GK: I’d love to see Louis totally included in these stories.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire hits theaters on March 22.

Want more bustin’ action? Then check out our article breaking down exactly how many Ghostbusters movies there are and we’ve explained how you can watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, as well as a breakdown on whether there’ll be another Ghostbusters movie after this.

We’ve also got a list of the best movies coming to streaming this month and if you can’t get enough of’80s remakes, then you need to read out guide on the Beetlejuice 2 release date and we’ve broken down everything you need to know about Wednesday season 2.