Dan Aykroyd Wishes This Ghostbusters Scene Had Lasted Longer
It's easy to watch "Ghostbusters" and simply see it as a crowd-pleasing and entertaining comedy. However, when you start looking at the bigger picture, it's hard to deny the influence the film has had on the entertainment industry. The 1984 sci-fi horror comedy follows a team of New York parapsychologists who open up a ghost-hunting business and must use their wits to take down an especially powerful paranormal force. Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Rick Moranis, the film was a blockbuster hit, ranking as the second highest grossing film of 1984 (behind "Beverly Hills Cop") with a gross of nearly $230 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). "Ghostbusters" remains beloved by audiences and critics, sporting a 97% Fresh Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film received two Oscar nominations (via IMDb) and spawned a sequel in 1989 as well as a 2016 reboot and a second sequel in 2021.
"Ghostbusters" is commonly recognized as being one of the first comedies to employ grand-scaled special effects. Its success helped in the creation of similar effects-driven comedies from "Beetlejuice" to "R.I.P.D" (via National Post). Ultimately, the effects in "Ghostbusters" help elevate the comedy, and it's hard to imagine so many of the film's iconic moments without them. However, one effects-heavy scene could have gone much further.
Ray's bedroom scene was originally longer
One of the most hilarious moments in "Ghostbusters" occurs during the montage in which we see Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) dreaming of a seductive ghost who unzips his pants. While the dream doesn't show anything graphic, Ray's cross-eyed reaction says everything you need to know before he topples out of his bed in the real world. Although the scene exists as a brief joke in the final cut of the film, Aykroyd wishes there was more to it. In a November 2021 interview on the podcast Galaxy Brains, the Oscar nominee recalls the cheeky scene. "Yes, I remember the woman who played that," Aykroyd says. "Her name was Kym Herrin, and she was a Playboy Playmate. She played the ghost. Like, I wish they'd let that scene go a little longer."
A longer version of the scene was shot. According to the 1985 book "Making Ghostbusters," Harold Ramis (who stars as Egon Spengler and co-wrote the film with Aykroyd) and director-producer Ivan Reitman, the idea of Stanz having sex with a ghost was one they enjoyed. The entire scene was shot, but it was decided that the moment didn't fit and only part of it was reinserted later when the team realized they were low on material for the montage.