Ghoulies Go to College aka Ghoulies III is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed by special effects creator John Carl Buechler (Cellar Dweller; Friday the 13th Part VII; Watchers Reborn) from a screenplay by Brent Olson.
Main cast:
Evan MacKenzie (Children of the Night; Scanner Cop II), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Piranha; The Sleeping Car), Eva LaRue, John R. Johnston, Patrick Labyorteaux, Billy Morrissette, Hope Marie Carlton (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Slumber Party Massacre III, Slaughterhouse Rock), Andrew Barach, Jason Scott Lee (Dracula II; Dracula 3), Griffin O’Neal, Marcia Wallace, Stephen Lee, Dan Shor. It also marked the debut of Matthew Lillard (Scream and Shaggy in the Scooby Doo live action movies)
Director John Carl Buechler and actor Kevin McCarthy with the three Ghoulies
Plot:
A Ghoulish Tales comic book is found in a frat house bathroom. The comic secretly holds powers over three lost Ghoulies that are imprisoned within its pages. They are released by Professor Ragnar who uses them in an attempt to stop ‘Prank Week’ where frats play tricks on each other for a tinfoil crown.
Skip Carter and his frat house of party animals are destined to take back the crown but he is having problems with his girlfriend who is dating his arch rival, Jeremy. When Jeremy frames Skip, resulting in his expulsion, the Ghoulies are sent to kill Skip and any other frats that stand in their way…
Reviews:
The Ghoulies themselves are actually pretty good puppets. Gone is the stop motion wizardry of Dave Allen, but in its place we have larger than life rubber creations from John Carl Buechler (who also directed). Their wise cracking and cheesy one liners really help with the fun of the film…” Paul Ashford, Horror and Sons
“Though the film’s ostensibly a slasher, its violence primarily takes the form of Chuck Jones-style cartoon slapstick: the ghoulies dispatch their handful of victims with a plunger, a frying pan, and a toilet bowl. Not a whole lot of terror to savor in this particular installment, nor much worthwhile comedy. Though I suppose the dick jokes garner a sliver of novelty when cackled by demon puppets.” Alice Stoehr, Letterboxd.com
“The kills are just as nonsensical as the murdering ghoulies. They shove an entire, still living frat boy down a toilet and flush it. I think you should do the same with this movie. Just flush it and forget that it was ever made.” John Leavengood, Movies, Films and Flix
“In one of a series of bad choices they decided to give the ghoulies voices which could have been refreshing for the third entry if they did not sound like Curly, Moe, and Larry. Another one of this movie’s woes is that they chose to give the demons clothes that made them look like little toys dressed up to resemble typical frat boys. Since the monster effects are done practically they really are a joy to see but I would recommend watching one of the first two as this picture proves awful hard to view.” William Nightshade, Nightmarish Conjurings
Choice dialogue:
Professor Ragnar: “I trust that you’ve all acquainted yourselves with Pandora’s box?”
IMDb | Image credits: Monster Crap
