By - Stephen Mezo
Once again I've seen the results of the old saying "If you want something done right do it yourself!" And it's been done by Eddie Lebron of Blue Core Studios.
I've always been a huge fan of Fan Films and Five Nights at Freddy's VS. Ghostbusters is my new all time favorite.
Eddie Lebron's original idea and story combined with Gary Lee Mahmoud and Artie Brennan as a screenplay is brilliant. They had taken the great creep factor of Scott Cawthon's survival game and successfully combined it with the tongue in cheek comedy of Aykroyd, Ramis and Moranis.
And I can tell you that it's no easy feat. I mean horror is easy because a lot of people are frightened of the same stuff, but comedy is very subjective and varies like you wouldn't believe. But they manged to create a great homage to both franchises and their fans.
(A little backstory here)
A long time ago I worked for a pizzeria called Razz-Ma-Tazz that was along the same lines as ShowBizz Pizza Place with the Rock-Afire Explosion or Chuck E. Cheese for the fans out there that missed both of those. And my job was maintaining the animatronic characters on the stage while another guy would update the software and the audio/computers that ran it. It was great extra money while I was at The Costume Shop and it was all done late at night so I had the place pretty much to myself to get everything done.
Of course my friends would always ask me "What if they came to life and you were the only one there?" And I would answer "They're bolted down to the stage and hooked up to power sources so they wouldn't get far, besides I build monsters so how much of a threat could a dopey cat and dog be?"
Well Scott Cawthon definitely answered that one for me with a little modification to the animatronic characters...
Then I've watched every version of Ghostbusters from the original live action in 1975 with Bob Burns in his infamous gorilla costume all the way up to Ghostbusters 2.
(Just in case anyone needed to know if I was a fan of either franchise.)
Now back to the Fan film.
It opens up with Michael Mann as one of the last of a long line of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Security Guards meeting a horrible end by Freddy Fazbear himself.
Then we see Gary Lee Mahmoud as "Victor Owens/Beckett" on his way to an interview of a lifetime.
*Now if you're stellar at interviews that's awesome for you. But if your half a mess like myself you'll laugh your ass off watching the exchange between Artie Brennan as "John Cambell" and Victor Owens. I couldn't stop laughing because I have gone through an interview like that myself.*
In a later scene Samantha Jane Gurewitz as "Karolyn Hewitt" request the help of the Ghostbusters to take care of the problems happening at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. And the showdown happens from there!
I want to tell you more but it is a great watch and I really want you to enjoy it and take it all in. Gary, Artie and Samantha really made me like their characters and they had great timing with the humor.
And the cinematography of the city establishing shots draws you right into all our first intro to the world of a soon to be haunted New York City where three P.H.D. Scientist bought a run down firehouse and a used ambulance to start a business,
Like I said before Eddie did a fantastic job of keeping the creep factor high and his attention to detail goes to eleven. The Castle Fun Center in Chester, NY is an excellent backdrop as Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and Eddie even had the Security office built that is dead on to the games look.
Even the CGI animatronic Freddy and friends have you forgetting that that's what they are throughout the feature.
And the Ghostbusters equipment is accurate enough to have you convinced that they were borrowed from Ivan's set. Along with a cameo of Tom Gebhardt's own ECTO 1 - NJ
Tom Gebhardt founder and leader of Ghost Corps NJ and the lead Cosplayer in the Ghostheads documentary, also makes a cameo appearance in the Ghostbustes commercial spot playing in the Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria security office before Freddy's attack.
Five Nights at Freddy's VS. Ghostbusters is on YouTube
and you can watch it by clicking on the logo below.
And make sure to give it a thumbs up and tell them that I sent you!