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Ghostbusters poster

Movies that feel likeGhostbusters (1984)

After losing their university jobs, three parapsychologists start a ghost-catching business in New York City and uncover a supernatural threat that could destroy the world.

If you loved Ghostbusters, the closest films we have are Nothing Left to Do But Cry (1984), The Visitors (1993) and Liar Liar (1997). All three share Ghostbusters' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Harvey (1950).

🍅 95% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.8 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ivan Reitmanwittyplayfuldreamlike
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Ghostbusters hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: Ghostbusters II (1989) · Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Nothing Left to Do But Cry poster
Nothing Left to Do But Cry
1984 · dir. Massimo Troisi
★ 7.6comedy · fantasy

Two ordinary schmoes dropped into an impossible situation

The difference: An Italian time-travel farce — local wit, subtitles required

Two 20th-century friends accidentally stumble into the year 1492, where they meet a charming teen and try to alter history.

The Visitors poster
The Visitors
1993 · dir. Jean-Marie Poiré
🍅 31%★ 7fantasy · comedyPrime Video

Chaos comedy from worlds colliding that should never meet

The difference: Broad French slapstick — gags over deadpan cool

After a wizard's spell goes awry, 12th-century Gallic knight Godefroy de Papincourt, Count of Montmirail finds himself transported to 1993, along with his dimwitted servant, Jacquouille la Fripouille. Startled and perplexed by modern technology, the duo run amok, destroying cars and causing chaos until they meet Beatrice de Montmirail, an aristocratic descendant of the nobleman, who may be able to help them get back to 1123.

Liar Liar poster
Liar Liar
1997 · dir. Tom Shadyac
🍅 83%★ 6.9comedy · fantasyNetflix

A magic premise wound up and let loose on a fast talker

The difference: A one-man showcase — mugging replaces ensemble chemistry

Forced by his son's birthday wish, fast-talking attorney and habitual liar Fletcher Reede must tell the truth for the next 24 hours.

The Purple Rose of Cairo poster
The Purple Rose of Cairo
1985 · dir. Woody Allen
🍅 93%★ 7.6fantasy · comedy · romance

New York wonder where the impossible strolls right in

The difference: A bittersweet Depression fable — melancholy under the magic

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she watches dashing archaeologist Tom Baxter time and again.

Harvey poster
Harvey
1950 · dir. Henry Koster
🍅 88%★ 7.9comedy · fantasy

A gentle soul whose invisible companion baffles everyone

The difference: Vintage 1950 warmth — whimsy without a single scare

The story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.

Beetlejuice poster
Beetlejuice
1988 · dir. Tim Burton
🍅 83%★ 7.4fantasy · comedyMax

The afterlife as a bureaucratic joke with real bite

The difference: Burton's macabre streak — creepier and more chaotic

A newly dead New England couple seeks help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.

Twins poster
Twins
1988 · dir. Ivan Reitman
🍅 44%★ 6.2comedy

Reitman's comic timing applied to a ridiculous premise

The difference: A one-joke odd-couple movie — no spectacle at all

Julius and Vincent Benedict are the results of an experiment that would allow for the perfect child. Julius was planned and grows to athletic proportions. Vincent is an accident and is somewhat smaller in stature. Vincent is placed in an orphanage while Julius is taken to a south seas island and raised by philosophers. Vincent becomes the ultimate low life and is about to be killed by loan sharks.

Kindergarten Cop poster
Kindergarten Cop
1990 · dir. Ivan Reitman
🍅 54%★ 6.3comedy

Reitman mining laughs from a pro hilariously out of his depth

The difference: A cop-goes-soft vehicle — sentiment sneaks past the jokes

Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.

If I Were You poster
If I Were You
2006 · dir. Daniel Filho
🍅 13%★ 6.1comedy · fantasy

A supernatural hook played strictly for laughs

The difference: A Brazilian body-swap sitcom — modest and formulaic

The publicist Claudio and the housewife and choral teacher Helena have been married for many years, but they do not understand and respect the feelings and view point of the partner. Claudio sees Helena as a shopper and "little teacher of a choral" and Helena sees Claudio as an insensitive and rough man. On the night before the fiftieth anniversary of Claudio, they changed places with each other.

17 Again poster
17 Again
2009 · dir. Burr Steers
🍅 57%★ 6.4comedy · fantasyNetflix

A fantasy do-over premise worked for comedy and heart

The difference: Teen-movie sweetness — no bite, no proton packs

On the brink of a midlife crisis, 30-something Mike O'Donnell wishes he could have a "do-over." And that's exactly what he gets when he wakes up one morning to find he's 17 years old again. With his adult mind stuck inside the body of a teenager, Mike actually has the chance to reverse some decisions he wishes he'd never made. But maybe they weren't so bad after all.

The Brand New Testament poster
The Brand New Testament
2015 · dir. Jaco Van Dormael
🍅 82%★ 7.1comedy · fantasy

Divine mischief treated with a straight face and a smirk

The difference: Belgian surrealism — art-house wit, not crowd-pleasing gags

God lives in Brussels. On Earth though, God is a coward, morally pathetic and odious to his family. His daughter, Ea, is bored at home and can't stand being locked up in a small apartment in ordinary Brussels, until the day she decides to revolt against her dad...

Ted 2 poster
Ted 2
2015 · dir. Seth MacFarlane
🍅 45%★ 6.3comedy · fantasyRent or buy

Both land wit and play at once

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Newlywed couple Ted and Tami-Lynn want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he's a person in a court of law.

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The best-reviewed films that share Ghostbusters’ defining feeling.