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RUNTIME
Did you know
81 minutes exactly β the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#01
Ghoulies
"They'll get you in the end."
1984 1h 21m EN
π
4.9
SKIP
π₯«
7%
ROTTEN
π¬
26
METACRITIC
β
4.2
IMDB
β
4.9TMDB Β· 305π₯«7%Rotten Tomatoesβ26Metacriticβ
4.2IMDB Β· 10,685
HorrorComedy
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
A young man and his girlfriend move into the man's old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a need to control ancient demons.
βThey'll get you in the end.β
Where to watch Β· US
Amazon Prime VideoSubscription
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Fandango At HomeRentAmazon VideoBuyApple TV StoreBuyGoogle Play MoviesBuyYouTubeBuyFandango At HomeBuyCast
Peter Liapis
Jonathan Graves
Lisa Pelikan
Rebecca
Michael Des Barres
Malcolm Graves
Ralph Seymour
Mark (Toad Boy)
Victoria Catlin
Anastasia
Keith Joe Dick
Dick
Charene Cathleen
Robin
Jack Nance
Wolfgang
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Luca Bercovici
- Writers
- Luca Bercovici, Jefery Levy
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts πΏ
2 / 8
MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 6.4Γ over at the box office.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#02
3 / 8
ERA
Did you know
42 years old β old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#03
4 / 8
CINEMA
Did you know
Part of the "Ghoulies Collection" β so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Luca Bercovici, shot by Mac Ahlberg. Note their partnership β DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Shirley Walker. Worth a dedicated listen after β most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Ted Nicolaou shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#07
8 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Peter Liapis and Lisa Pelikan and Michael Des Barres carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr Β· trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Luca Bercovici directs. Mac Ahlberg behind the camera. Shirley Walker scores. Ted Nicolaou cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 181 minutes exactly β the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
- 2Made its money back 6.4Γ over at the box office.
- 342 years old β old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 4Part of the "Ghoulies Collection" β so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
- 5Directed by Luca Bercovici, shot by Mac Ahlberg. Note their partnership β DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 6Original score by Shirley Walker. Worth a dedicated listen after β most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 7Editor Ted Nicolaou shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 8Peter Liapis and Lisa Pelikan and Michael Des Barres carry the top of the cast.
- 9Marketing tagline: "They'll get you in the end.".
- 10IMDB entry: tt0089200 β still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 11Classified under 11 themes, including "witch", "monster", "sacrifice", "pentagram".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Mac Ahlberg
- Original score
- Shirley Walker
- Editing
- Ted Nicolaou
- Production design
- Wayne Springfield
- Costume design
- Kathie Clark
- Makeup / hair
- Donn Markel
- Runtime
- 81 min Β· 1h 21m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $5,500,000
- Box office
- $35,000,000
- Return
- 636% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- PG-13
- IMDB
- Ghoulies (1984)
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 7% π₯« Rotten
- Metacritic
- 26/100
- IMDB rating
- 4.2/10 Β· 10,685 votes
- MPAA
- PG-13
Part of
Ghoulies Collection
An American horror comedy film series centered on a group of demons usually summoned by Satanic worshipers and that have a wide range of twisted appearances.
Also by
Luca Bercovici
Stills Β· wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames β open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- Datapotomusβ 3/10
Not enough Ghoulies!! If the cover of your movie has a creature popping out of toilet. I your movie, you better have a creature popping out of a toilet. Itβs Chekhov's gun. There was no ghoulie that ever popped out of a toilet. I was waiting the entire movie for a puppet to pop out of a toilet, and never got it! Aside from that this movie is still pretty bad. The main actor has some weird green eyes that glow when he βinvokesβ them (I guess). I donβt really know, because they donβt explain it, and they show up when he is βmoreβ menacing than he normally is. I also didnβt understand why they had to wear sunglasses towards the end. He could turn his weird green eyes off when he wanted. He didnβt need the sun glasses. I also didnβt get why the main character decided he had to quit school to clean up a house. Why wouldnβt you just clean up the house after school??? It didnβt make any sense. The movie is filled with pretty subpar acting. For some reason a female costar that seems like she was already in her fifties, but her actual age hadnβt caught up to her yet. The ghoulies were the best part, but you only see them for maybe, maybe, 10 minutes out of the whole movie. There were also these two dwarves that showed up for no real reason except to drink some liquid, and fight against their original master (maybe?)
- Gimlyβ 3/10
Almost seems like someone had an idea for a bland cultist horror flick script, but was told "Gremlins are big, you gotta put some little dudes in this!", so they wrote in a couple of midgets, were subsequently told that didn't count, so wrote in some slimy puppets, but forgot to get rid of the bit they'd written about the midgets, and somehow made their bland idea straight-up bad. This came out the same years as Gremlins though, so I have no idea how it was allowed to happen. Final rating:β Β½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid where possible.
- ηζ°ηη«β 8/10
The ghoulies get a few kills in, but this is mostly focused on Jonathan becoming obsessed with acquiring power and knowledge in occult fashion. It's a good, silly B-movie with plenty of Satanic nonsense, just don't expect the ghoulie puppets to be front and center.
Production companies
Who made it
- EM
Empire Pictures
US
Key crew
- First Assistant DirectorBetsy Magruder
- CostumerJill M. Ohanneson
- ControllerCathy Mickel Gibson
- Assistant Makeup ArtistDonn Markel
- ElectricianJoey Alvarado
- ElectricianVance Trussell
- Key GripRon McCausland
- GripMichael Stocks
- Additional GripMichael Molnar
- Second Assistant DirectorWilliam James Murray Jr.
- Production AccountantJay Sedrish
- Additional CameraMichael Wilson
- Additional GripWayne Stroud
- Additional GripBrian Dean
- ElectricianStephen Crawford
- Co-Art DirectorCindi Sowder
- ElectricianDennis Clark
- ElectricianRik Faigh
- ElectricianAndrew Roach
- Additional Key GripRay Maichen
- Unit Production ManagerHugh McCallum
- GafferKevin Brennan
- Best Boy GripRay Maichen
- Additional GripJerry Day
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- witch
- monster
- sacrifice
- pentagram
- murder
- mansion
- creature
- demon
- warlock
- satanic ritual
- ressurection
Release history Β· US
When it landed
- Theatrical (limited)1984-11-16PG-13
- Theatrical1985-01-18PG-13
- Physical1990-01-01PG-13Β· Video Treasures
Also known as
International titles
- BeastiesUS
- ι¬Όι£δΊΊHK
- γ°γΌγͺγΌγΊJP
