Movie Smarts

Ghostbusters Quiz: Who Has the Answers?

Fifteen questions, four choices each. Give your movie memory a moment to shine.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Ghostbusters: The Pest Control Bill Is Going to Hurt

A group of out-of-work researchers decides to turn a strange discovery into a business. Soon they are racing around the city, handling calls that ordinary cleaners would wisely refuse. Success brings attention, complaints, and a threat much bigger than anything in their training. The equipment is homemade, the customer service is uneven, and the uniforms are about to get very dirty.

The phone is ringing. Your memory is on call.

1. Who plays Peter Venkman?
- Bill Murray
- Dan Aykroyd
- Harold Ramis
- John Candy
The part was written with John Belushi in mind, and Aykroyd and Ramis reworked it for Murray after Belushi died in 1982. Murray signed on in exchange for the studio financing his passion project The Razor's Edge, which came out the same year.
2. Who directed Ghostbusters?
- Joe Dante
- John Landis
- Richard Donner
- Ivan Reitman
Aykroyd's first draft was set in the future, with many teams of ghost catchers, and Reitman steered it toward present-day New York and a budget the studio could live with. He had already directed Murray in Meatballs and Stripes.
3. Which two stars wrote the screenplay?
- Harold Ramis and John Candy
- Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
- Ernie Hudson and Bill Murray
- Bill Murray and Rick Moranis
Aykroyd comes from a family with a long interest in spiritualism, and his first script had the team working across time and other dimensions. Ramis helped bring it down to earth, and the two wrote the parts of Stantz and Spengler for themselves.
4. What kind of building becomes the team's headquarters?
- A library
- A train station
- A former firehouse
- An abandoned school
The exterior is Hook and Ladder 8 in Tribeca, a working New York firehouse that still draws visitors. The interiors were shot in a decommissioned fire station in downtown Los Angeles, like a good deal of the rest of the picture.
5. What is their converted ambulance called?
- Phantom-1
- Specter Six
- Ghost One
- Ecto-1
It is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, built as a combination ambulance and hearse, that Ray buys in dreadful shape and fixes up himself. He reels off the repairs it needs, brakes, rings, mufflers, wiring, while Venkman asks only how much it cost.
6. Who plays Dana Barrett?
- Geena Davis
- Karen Allen
- Sigourney Weaver
- Annie Potts
Weaver was fresh from Alien and wanted the comedy, so at her audition she got down on all fours and growled like one of Gozer's dogs to show Reitman the possessed Dana. Her apartment is at the top of 55 Central Park West, the building the plot turns on.
7. What instrument does Dana play?
- Violin
- Cello
- Harp
- Flute
She rehearses with an orchestra at Lincoln Center, where Venkman turns up afterward and talks his way into a date. The man he dismisses as a stiff is a violinist from the same orchestra, and Louis, meanwhile, keeps inviting her to his party next door.
8. What is Dana's neighbor Louis Tully's job?
- Accountant
- Dentist
- Real-estate agent
- Pharmacist
He throws a party for his clients rather than his friends so he can write the whole thing off as a promotional expense. Rick Moranis plays him; the part was written for John Candy, who wanted to play Louis as a German with a couple of dogs, and dropped out.
9. What do the Ghostbusters wear on their backs to capture ghosts?
- Neutron traps
- Plasma batteries
- Ion shields
- Proton packs
Each one is a portable particle accelerator, unlicensed and nuclear by Venkman's own account, that fires a stream to hold a ghost over an open trap. The props were built on army surplus pack frames and were heavy enough that the actors' fatigue is real.
10. What warning does Egon give about their beams?
- Never aim above eye level
- Do not cross the streams
- Always use them underwater
- Keep them pointed north
Egon's explanation is that every molecule in the body would explode at the speed of light, which Ray sums up as total protonic reversal and Venkman as an important safety tip. They cross them anyway on the roof, to close Gozer's door.
11. What kind of food mascot appears as a giant destroyer?
- The Jolly Green Giant
- The Pillsbury Doughboy
- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
- Tony the Tiger
Gozer takes whatever form its victims choose, and Ray's mind goes to the most harmless thing he knows, the marshmallow mascot of his childhood. The giant is a stuntman in a suit shot against miniatures, and the goo that lands on Peck was shaving cream.
12. Which Ghostbuster is hired last, through a help-wanted ad?
- Winston Zeddemore
- Peter Venkman
- Ray Stantz
- Egon Spengler
Winston answers the ad once business is booming, and tells Janine that for a steady paycheck he will believe anything she says. Ernie Hudson plays him; the part was much bigger in early drafts, when Eddie Murphy was expected to take it.
13. What is the receptionist's name?
- Alice Drummond
- Janine Melnitz
- Wendy Slimer
- Dana Barrett
Annie Potts plays her, in glasses and a nasal New York accent, answering the phone with 'Ghostbusters, whaddya want?' and flirting with Egon between calls. Alice Drummond is the actress who plays the librarian in the opening scene.
14. Which government agency does Walter Peck represent?
- The IRS
- The FBI
- The CIA
- The EPA
Peck turns up from the Environmental Protection Agency, is refused a look at the containment grid, and comes back with a court order and a man from Con Edison to shut it down. Every ghost the team has caught escapes at once; William Atherton plays him.
15. Who performs the hit theme song?
- Kenny Loggins
- Billy Ocean
- Ray Parker Jr.
- Lionel Richie
Parker wrote and recorded it in a matter of days and took it to number one that summer. Huey Lewis sued over its resemblance to "I Want a New Drug", and the case was settled out of court.

All the answers

1. Who plays Peter Venkman?

Bill Murray

The part was written with John Belushi in mind, and Aykroyd and Ramis reworked it for Murray after Belushi died in 1982. Murray signed on in exchange for the studio financing his passion project The Razor's Edge, which came out the same year.
2. Who directed Ghostbusters?

Ivan Reitman

Aykroyd's first draft was set in the future, with many teams of ghost catchers, and Reitman steered it toward present-day New York and a budget the studio could live with. He had already directed Murray in Meatballs and Stripes.
3. Which two stars wrote the screenplay?

Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

Aykroyd comes from a family with a long interest in spiritualism, and his first script had the team working across time and other dimensions. Ramis helped bring it down to earth, and the two wrote the parts of Stantz and Spengler for themselves.
4. What kind of building becomes the team's headquarters?

A former firehouse

The exterior is Hook and Ladder 8 in Tribeca, a working New York firehouse that still draws visitors. The interiors were shot in a decommissioned fire station in downtown Los Angeles, like a good deal of the rest of the picture.
5. What is their converted ambulance called?

Ecto-1

It is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, built as a combination ambulance and hearse, that Ray buys in dreadful shape and fixes up himself. He reels off the repairs it needs, brakes, rings, mufflers, wiring, while Venkman asks only how much it cost.
6. Who plays Dana Barrett?

Sigourney Weaver

Weaver was fresh from Alien and wanted the comedy, so at her audition she got down on all fours and growled like one of Gozer's dogs to show Reitman the possessed Dana. Her apartment is at the top of 55 Central Park West, the building the plot turns on.
7. What instrument does Dana play?

Cello

She rehearses with an orchestra at Lincoln Center, where Venkman turns up afterward and talks his way into a date. The man he dismisses as a stiff is a violinist from the same orchestra, and Louis, meanwhile, keeps inviting her to his party next door.
8. What is Dana's neighbor Louis Tully's job?

Accountant

He throws a party for his clients rather than his friends so he can write the whole thing off as a promotional expense. Rick Moranis plays him; the part was written for John Candy, who wanted to play Louis as a German with a couple of dogs, and dropped out.
9. What do the Ghostbusters wear on their backs to capture ghosts?

Proton packs

Each one is a portable particle accelerator, unlicensed and nuclear by Venkman's own account, that fires a stream to hold a ghost over an open trap. The props were built on army surplus pack frames and were heavy enough that the actors' fatigue is real.
10. What warning does Egon give about their beams?

Do not cross the streams

Egon's explanation is that every molecule in the body would explode at the speed of light, which Ray sums up as total protonic reversal and Venkman as an important safety tip. They cross them anyway on the roof, to close Gozer's door.
11. What kind of food mascot appears as a giant destroyer?

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Gozer takes whatever form its victims choose, and Ray's mind goes to the most harmless thing he knows, the marshmallow mascot of his childhood. The giant is a stuntman in a suit shot against miniatures, and the goo that lands on Peck was shaving cream.
12. Which Ghostbuster is hired last, through a help-wanted ad?

Winston Zeddemore

Winston answers the ad once business is booming, and tells Janine that for a steady paycheck he will believe anything she says. Ernie Hudson plays him; the part was much bigger in early drafts, when Eddie Murphy was expected to take it.
13. What is the receptionist's name?

Janine Melnitz

Annie Potts plays her, in glasses and a nasal New York accent, answering the phone with 'Ghostbusters, whaddya want?' and flirting with Egon between calls. Alice Drummond is the actress who plays the librarian in the opening scene.
14. Which government agency does Walter Peck represent?

The EPA

Peck turns up from the Environmental Protection Agency, is refused a look at the containment grid, and comes back with a court order and a man from Con Edison to shut it down. Every ghost the team has caught escapes at once; William Atherton plays him.
15. Who performs the hit theme song?

Ray Parker Jr.

Parker wrote and recorded it in a matter of days and took it to number one that summer. Huey Lewis sued over its resemblance to "I Want a New Drug", and the case was settled out of court.