Royal Albert Hall, October 26, 2024

The 1984 comedy horror movie gets a live performance.

The Royal Albert Hall’s Films in Concert series continues with a 40th anniversary screening of Ivan Reitman’s 1984 hit, with its score by Elmer Bernstein performed live. We lost Elmer many years ago, so it’s delightful that his son Peter (who also co-orchestrated the original score) holds the baton, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra for a pre-Halloween treat.

Ask most people about the music of Ghostbusters and they will invariably go straight to Ray Parker Jr’s smash single. And while pop song soundtracks were certainly de rigueur in mid-80’s Hollywood movies, Reitman still needed a composer to underscore the emotional beats of the movie. The greatest joy of listening to Bernstein’s cues like this, deliberately dialled up in the mix, is that you get the opportunity to appreciate their creative brilliance.

By the time he scored Ghostbusters, Bernstein had been scoring movies for over 30 years, with an Oscar under his belt. He’d already worked with Reitman on comedies Meatballs and Stripes and would follow Ghostbusters with Legal Eagles. And what makes this score play so well is that (like Airplane) it’s played dead straight.

Cues like Bernstein’s Ghostbusters Theme, Venkman and Dana’s Themes all come to life thematically when isolated like this, and the finale cues give the movie the dramatic punch needed at that time. As you’d expect from such talent on stage, the performances were flawless, the lengthy applause at the end testimony to their excellence. I’ve never seen a screening at the venue with so many members of the audience in cosplay and related T-shirts. Even the Eco-1 was outside the venue! And now I also know what it sounds like to hear 5,000 people shouting out ‘Ghostbusters’ at once.

Verdict: If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood, what should you watch? Ghostbusters (live)! 9/10

Nick Joy