The Frighteners

The Frighteners is a fun little movie from the mid-90s. It has an pleasing mix of stars who hit their stride in the 80s (Fox,Wallace, and Ermey) and others who count this as among their first works (Alvarado, Busey, McBride). It is an odd mix of horror and humor from Peter Jackson and had state-of-the-art special effects for the time.

The Frighteners, filmed and produced in New Zealand, was the biggest special effects movie made at that time outside the Hollywood movie base. It made extensive use of blue screens and had over 400 computer-enhanced special effects. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh wrote the script and Jackson directed and produced the film.

The Frighteners has an overall tone of whimsy but also has some impressive horror movie moments. The Danny Elfman score fits the movie perfectly. Frank Bannister, played by Fox, is a widowed psychic investigator exploring supernatural goings on in a placid rural town. Newcomer Alvarado plays his romantic interest. Veteran actor John Astin plays a ghost called The Judge who has seen his better days. Ermey plays drill instructor (go figure), Sgt Hiles, who is in charge of the local cemetery. He has several lines and a general demeanor that pays homage or satirizes (depending on your viewpoint) his character in 1987's Full Metal Jacket. Jake Busey plays a good bad man, and McBride plays a funny role as Bannister's ghostly aide.

The Frighteners is amusing, frightening, entertaining, and a bit exhausting. It is a great Fall or Halloween movie.

I hadn't heard of this film before I got more involved in reading and writing about films. I became interested in the work that Peter Jackson did before he embarked on the 'Lord of the Rings' epic trilogy. So, when I can, I'm slowly going through his back catalogue. This is quite an interesting film with some nice ideas and some really great effects (for its day) but it does suffer from a slightly over-complicated plot and being a little too long. But more of my thoughts later, here's a brief summary first.

Frank Bannister makes a living as a Psychic Investigator. After an accident five years ago, he can see and speak to ghosts. One of his clients is Ray Lynskey, who he had had a run-in with recently. Just before he leaves, after removing some troublesome spirits, he notices a mystical number on Ray's forehead but thinks nothing of it. The next day Ray is dead. His wife, Dr. Lucy Lynskey, asks Frank to communicate with Ray and from this they form a friendship. More people die and it begins to look like Frank is the culprit, but he claims he's innocent. The FBI even get involved in the shape of, the very strange, Milton Dammers. Eventually Frank and Lucy link it back to a serial killer, Johnny Charles Bartlett, who went to the electric chair many years before. Will Frank be able to stop Bartlett before he claims Lucy as his next victim? Well, you can probably guess, but you didn't hear it from me right.

As I said at the beginning, this film does suffer from a rather over-complicated plot. The first-rate special effects go some way to making up for this, but not quite. Having said that, it's still quite watchable with some decent performances; chiefly from Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister and Trini Alvarado as Dr. Lucy Lynskey. Also worthy of note are Peter Dobson as Ray Lynskey, John Astin as The Judge, Jeffrey Combs, who was really off the wall, as Milton Dammers, Dee Wallace as Patricia Ann Bradley and Jake Busey as Johnny Charles Bartlett. Oh, and worthy a special mention, it was nice to see a small cameo from R. Lee Ermey as Sgt, Hiles.

I must admit I did quite enjoy this film, there were many sight gags that I found amusing and the musical score was pretty good too. A very well made film with some decent cinematography and, as I've already mentioned, some excellent effects, both CGI and animatronic. It does suffer though from the very complicated plot and it does seem to drag a bit towards the end, probably because it's too long. Having said that though, it's worth a viewing for some very interesting ideas that you might recognise from Jackson's later works… Recommended.

My Score: 7.1/10

"The Frighteners" is really a good ghost story, not a horror movie. This is really a watchable 'popcorn' kind of fantasy movie, where the humor is raked up in dark devilish, sometimes stupid jokes. This combination of Robert Zemeckis and Peter Jackson is fantastic. This movie is an odd blend of outright comedy and supernatural thriller. Plot essential has Michael J. Fox as a psychic who really can see dead people, so much so in fact that he has befriended three ghosts and makes a living out of setting up hauntings and charging people to exorcise the spirits. However, things turn decidedly deadly when he encounters a grim reaper like spirit that is killing people and putting a number on their foreheads. It seems there is a serial killing spirit on the loose, played by Jake Busey. This movie has a terrific cast with an outstanding acting performance overall. It's also not surprising that "The Frighteners" has become a cult movie of some standing. The bonkers plot, the close to the knuckle humour and narrative make it a fascinating viewing experience. Find the time and watch this movie. You will not be disappointed.

After the traumatic experience of losing his beloved wife Debra (Angela Bloomfield) in a car accident, the architect Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) acquires the ability of seeing ghosts. He quits his profession; abandons the construction of his dream house to live with Debra and becomes a con man, using the ghosts Cyrus (Chi McBride), Stuart (Jim Fyfe) and The Judge (John Astin) to haunt houses and then charging the dwellers to exorcise their homes.

Dr. Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado) visits the reclusive Patricia Ann Bradley (Dee Wallace-Stone), who was a former delinquent and girlfriend of the serial–killer Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey) that lives with her mother, she notes that Patricia has bruises. Lucy returns home and together with her husband Ray Lynskey (Peter Dobson), they are haunted by a poltergeist. She calls Frank and soon Ray has a heart attack. Lucy meets Frank in a restaurant and he realizes that Soul Collector is marking numbers in the forehead of his victims before killing them. Frank becomes prime suspect of the police due to his knowledge about the murders and he is arrested. Meanwhile the psychotic FBI agent Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) comes to the city to investigate the murder cases. When Frank finds that Lucy will be the next victim of the Reaper, he takes the ultimate decision to fight the entity to save her.

"The Frighteners" is a weird, but entertaining and original film by Peter Jackson. The story is too violent for comedy and too silly for horror; therefore the genre is indeed a combination of comedy, romance, horror and fantasy. The special effects are excellent and state-of-art for a 1996 movie. Michael J. Fox shines in the role of the psychic Frank Bannister and Trini Alvarado is perfect in the role of his romantic pair Dr. Lucy Lynskey. All the characters are interesting and peculiar, and the cast has great performances independently of the special effects. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Espíritos" ("The Spirits")

I absolutely love this movie! It's a funny story with Michael Fox as the main character who can see ghosts. Three funny friendly ghosts talk to him regularly, hang out in his house & ride with him in his car. He's good friends with them & they help him drum up business. You see Michael advertises that he can rid a house of ghosts. When someone calls him thinking their house might be haunted he brings his ghosts with him on the first visit. The ghosts help Michael J. Fox by haunting the house while he's checking it out & writing an estimate. By the time he's done the owner is begging him to come back at any cost! It's really funny. The DVD is better. When I streamed it I noticed some scenes were cut out or shortened. I highly recommend.