Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
• a review of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 25 March 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Callie Spangler (Carrie Coon), her partner Gary (Paul Rudd) and her two children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), are living in the original Ghostbusters firehouse. The place is falling apart, yet the family is determined to keep fighting ghosts no matter what occurs. When Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), the grandson of a fire master, sells an ancient Orb to original Ghostbuster Ray Stance, (Dan Akroyd) who runs a paranormal shop specialising in the unexplained, strange things begin to happen. As luck would have it, the ancient Orb houses an evil demon who was locked inside the copper ball centuries ago, and who continues to look for a way out so that he can end the world through fear and ice. Can the Spangler family and their friends work together to save the city from this ancient evil, or will the demon release all the ghosts they have captured over the years and unleash a hellish fury on the citizens of New York?

Fitting in and belonging in relation to a blended family; Betrayal; Being undervalued and discriminated against due to age; Fear; Ghosts; Supernatural entities and curses.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A firefighter’s hand is frozen to a door.
• Firefighters enter a room, only to be confronted with a room of people who have been suddenly and inexplicably frozen to death.
• A severed hand is shown operating a crank.
• A pulsating orb causes frozen people to explode.
• The ghost of a sewer dragon erupts from below the street and the Ghostbusters recklessly pursue it through the city as it damages walls and buildings and causes all sorts of havoc with the traffic. Phoebe shoots at it with her proton gun and eventually the creature is captured but not before Phoebe is nearly crushed by two oncoming vehicles and Gary smashes into a bunch of bicycles.
• Little marshmallow ghosts are repeatedly shot, impaled, squished, stabbed and smashed. One even has his arm ground up in a pencil sharpener.
• A green, slimy-looking ghost screams at and blasts through Trevor, leaving him standing in his attic covered in goo.
• A character tells how she was burned in a terrible tenement fire and that is why, even as a ghost, her body is still covered in flickering flames.
• A creepy spirit is sucked from a possessed CD.
• A disturbing ghost face comes up close to the glass-panelled prison it is being kept behind and terrifies all who get near it.
• An innocent-looking ghost vomit-screams as people approach it.
• A machine is broken trying to extract whatever is in an ancient orb. The ghosts in the building are clearly terrified of it and many try to escape by bashing against their enclosures.
• One of the Ghostbuster’s hands is frozen when he touches the Orb. He is later shown in bandages.
• A character describes how her family were all killed in a fire.
• Pens are repeatedly thrown at a character.
• A back story is explained about a blood thirsty king who used a demon but then branded and disfigured him by ripping the horns off its head. This demon then went on a murder spree, killing with ice and the power of fear itself, before ancient fire masters captured him and locked him up in an orb.
• A stone lion comes to life and is ready to attack and eat a character. Phoebe shoots the lion’s tail, and it blasts off its body. She shoots it again, just as it is about to pounce on her and crush her to death. The lion explodes, stones falling all around Phoebe and landing on a police car.
• Phoebe uses a ghostbusting machine to separate her spirit from her body.
• Phoebe is possessed by a demon, who can control her spirit, and he uses her voice to unlock the orb and release an army of ghosts.
• A character tries to stop a demon with a proton gun but her hands and pack begin to freeze, as does the beam shot out of the gun.
• A man is frozen, impaled and then he shatters.
• A demon breaks into Nadeem’s apartment. He takes his old horns off a display on a wall and shoves them into the side of his head in a scene that is both disturbing and disgusting. The demon then vows vengeance on the whole world.
• A violent storm suddenly begins out at sea, ice spikes blast up from the sand as beach goers run for their lives.
• A taxi is impaled by a huge bicycle.
• The doors are ripped right off of the firehouse and the ghostbusting sign falls to the ground.
• A car is possessed by a demon that can inhabit any inanimate object. It tries to run the ghostbusters down.
• A weird blob with glowing eyes throws a demon onto a gun.
• A possessor demon controls a gun and nearly kills Trevor and Gary.
• A demon blocks the exit of the firehouse with massive, sharp icicles. Ice bursts through everything as the firehouse cracks and the Ghostbusters begin to freeze as they are trapped against the spiky icicles.
• Phoebe shoots a demon in the chest and he tries to fight Phoebe, shooting a storm into her mouth as she slowly begins to freeze. He then tries to suck her soul from her body.
• Nadeem throws fire at a demon, while Phoebe shoots him again and he glows red in a fiery rage.
• Little marshmallow ghosts attack a guy in a car.
• Ice blasts through the basement of the firehouse and horns are torn from a demon’s head, his spiky fingers and claws are snapped off as he is sucked down a hole.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• There are multiple, scary-looking ghosts and creatures throughout the film. Towards the beginning there is a dark, menacing creature with glowing eyes that largely takes over the screen as it advances closer. It is accompanied by intense, eerie music and could be very frightening for young children.
• A possessed doll’s eyes keep flipping up and down. This may be disturbing for some children, especially when a ghost is sucked out of the doll.
• An older woman dressed in period clothing is seen standing in an aisle of a library, moments later she transforms into a demonic version of herself, screaming and racing towards another character as if she is possessed.
• Phoebe is possessed by a demonic creature after she separates her body and her soul. Her eyes become glassy and opaque and a strange voice speaks in ancient tongues. As the Orb is opened, darkness begins to fall all around and a tall, menacing figure with long, sinister claws and glowing eyes declares that: “Your world will shatter to bones and ice”. His physical appearance will be very frightening for many young children.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• There is ominous music and sinister sounds as a demon ghost is released and he sets about turning the city to ice. His appearance is visually terrifying, he is bent on destroying the human race and, at one point, Phoebe has to fight him alone as he has frozen or trapped her family. He seems to be slowly killing her as he tries to suck her soul out of her freezing body.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Reese’s, Oreos, and Lays chip packets are clearly seen in a massive pile of wrappers.
• Trevor likes to eat Cheetos and occasionally uses them to lure ghosts out of hiding places.
• Dunkin Donuts are seen on occasion.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Gary and Callie fist bump each other talking about how they first, “got some action”.
• An ancient, ghost-fighting chamber is repeatedly referred to as a sex dungeon.
• It is inferred that a grandmother could be as loud as she wanted to during sexual acts.
• Nadeem asks the others to please stop making sex jokes about his grandmother.
• Referring to a demon, someone calls out: “Tall, dark and horny at 12 o’clock”.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A character mentions a “nipple” painting, referring to an exposed breast.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• A man is killed inside a smoke and vape shop.
• A character drinks straight out of a liquor bottle and declares that it gives him courage.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Asshole
• Suck
• Little weasel
• What the fudge is wrong with you girl?
• It is mentioned that Mary Todd Lincoln used the 'F word'.
• Shit
• Son of a bitch
• Crap
• Dickless
• Shut up
• Geez
• Moron
• Stupid.

In a nutshell

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a sequel to the 2021 film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film features lots of special effects and some of the characters from the original, 1984 Ghostbusters. Due to the violent and scary content, this is not a family film but one that is better suited to teens from 14, and adult audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that life can be difficult and messy but that everyone has a place they fit in; and that it is important to know your inner worth and to face your fears rather than allowing them to control you.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Courage
• Persistence
• Curiosity
• Ingenuity
• Responsibility.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Discriminating against someone due to age. Just because someone is old doesn’t make them useless and just because someone is young doesn’t make them incompetent.
• Risk taking and putting yourself in a dangerous situation.
• Allowing fear to control you.