The Frighteners | | Cast : | Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado | | Director : | Peter Jackson | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | July 19, 1996 | | DVD Released Date : | August 12, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 06, 2005 | | Summary | This Movie Must Not Be Forgotten! | Content
 | This is a great one of a kind movie. This movie has some really moody scary moments, it has some really funny moments and a believable dramatic back story. Michael J. Fox shines in this against type performance. The special effects are first rate...take that George Lucas! I went to see this in the theater and I remeber a fat lazy jerk falling asleep and snoring through half the movie only to leave at the end and sneak into Independence Day. I just remember thinking anyone who didn't appreciate this movie was really missing out. Peter Jackson is a film lover first and foremost and you can always tell when you watch any of his movies, this man has passion, take that Mel Gibson!
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| Rating | | | Date | July 10, 2005 | | Summary | An underrated gem! | Content
| In the early 1960's, a serial killer named Johnny Charles Bartlett (played BRILLIANTLY by Jake Busey) scores himself a record of killings ("That's one more than Starkweather!", he brags), with the help of his teenage girlfriend Patricia Ann Bradley (played by Dee Wallace-Stone). Twenty-something years later, Dr. Lucy Lynskey pays a visit to Patricia, in order to doctor some of her wounds. Patricia tells Lucy about her past, and why she has to keep Johnny's ashes in her room. Patricia's mother snaps at Lucy, making her leave. Psychic-investigator Frank Bannister (played wonderfully by Michael J. Fox), who can see deceased souls thanks to a accident he was in 5 years ago that killed his wife, by the help of his ghostly friends, Cyrus (Chi McBride) and Stuart (Jim Fyfe), and an undead judge (John Astin), earns a living working cases that involve objects moving around the room, toilet seats banging, water faucets turning on and off, etc. One day, Bannister acidentally scatters his business cards all over the car, and winds up crashing into a fence. He meets the owner, Ray Lynskey, who is angry at what has happened. He makes an offer to pay for the fence while giving Ray his business card. Later on, Bannister's friendly ghosts decide to frighten Ray, and his wife Lucy. Lucy decides to call Frank over, and Frank does a fake test, scoring himself another paycheck. Bannister and his friends quit fooling people when he starts noticing real hauntings around town: citizens dying mysteriously. Frank can see a figure, who looks like the grim reaper, crushing hearts of certain citizens, and then places a number on their foreheads. Lucy becomes one of the unlucky victims of one of the killings. She believes Frank has psychic abilities when her husband (who is now deceased) questions Frank about what happend to him. Ray asks Frank to invite Lucy to dinner, in order to be able to speak to her. Lucy joins Bannister in order to get to the bottom of what's happening. However, all of the killings point to Bannister, but Bannister soon figures out that Johnny Bartlett is "alive". Enter in FBI agent Investigator Dammers (played by Jeffrey Combs), a paranoid man who gets "all of the fruity cases". He takes Bannister in, and while Lucy is trying to help Bannister escape, Dammers tells her about the accident involving Bannister and his beautiful wife. While Dammers and Patricia try to stop Frank and Lucy, it's up to Frank, Lucy, and his dead friends to take down Johnny. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 11, 2005 | | Summary | Atmospheres and Haunts | Content
| "When a man's jawbone drops off, it's time to reassess the situation."
The Frighteners. I bought this on Widescreen VHS my freshman year in college solely based on the cover (and Zemeckis's reputation at the time), and it was the saving grace for keeping my sanity. After going through a massive (on my end) breakup, struggling with Women in Literature (I eventually pulled an A-), and learning far too late about the effects of alcohol on my friends, I would sit down and watch this movie every single day. Not all the way through. Parts of it. Usually the first hour. The location shots, especially, reminded me there was more on this globe of ours I was shutting out.
"My body is a roadmap of pain."
The atmosphere of this film is incredibly spooky. I'm not quite sure how they did it because I think this was before the Digital Intermediate was popular. The entire film is desaturated of a lot of red and yellows, while the green and blues are favored. Not so much as the Matrix films, of course... Frighteners is essentially Corpus Aeotearoa, if possible, as if created from the light of New Zealand. I love the light of the forest when Fox's character was slightly younger. Almost orange in hue.
"You are violating my territorial bubble."
This film has amazing effects in it. The ghosts look realistic, the tunnels of death are beautiful to watch, and all the sets are brilliant. I wish I knew how they did the church hospital scene, where Frank Bannister turns from the burnt down present into the shiny, slick past, in one shot. Probably motion control and plates, but I like to think they used ye olde fashioned ways...
And Michael J. Fox ... in the climactic scene ... supernal ... |
| Rating | | | Date | March 10, 2005 | | Summary | Funnier than Ghost | Content
| This movie has to have one of the scariest & creepiest covers I've seen, apart from the Critters movies. And Michael J Fox is so cute in it! Did anyone else keep expecting Christopher Lloyd to pop up as his character the Back To The Future series, Doc? Apparently, so did Michael J Fox, as he repeatedly blew his lines by calling John Astin's character "Doc". This movie was eventually chosen, after an hour long discussion about what film to pick from 500+ - you should try it sometime, it's really hard, especially when you don't have the same taste in movies!!!
I'm not sure about Peter Jackson being involved in this. Everywhere I look at the moment, he seems to be involved in something, or making a remake of something, or releasing fantastic, action packed DVDs of films. (Why can't James Cameron get his finger out then?) I haven't seen Heavenly Creatures yet, although it looks quite good but strange. He has a small cameo in this, which was kindly pointed out to me, even though I was already halfway to figuring out the character looked kinda familiar. He plays the The bearded and pierced man who Frank bumps into a minute before the ghost of Ray knocks him down. The day that his cameo was shot, Jackson had to wear the heavy metal outfit (leather jacket, make up and a vast amount of piercings) the entire day. This happened to be the same day that the studio had invited the media to the set for publicity.
There's quite a few references to other movies in this. A figurine depicting Elvis Presley is visible in Ray (Peter Dobson) and Lucy's bedroom. Dobson played Presley in Forrest Gump. The surname "Lynskey" is a reference to Melanie Lynskey, who starred in Heavenly Creatures, and also has a small role in this film. While Lucy is watching the video about Johnny Bartlet, a copy of Heavenly Creatures (also directed by Peter Jackson) is visible next to the bed.
The Frighteners was not released in theaters in Tasmania, Australia. The Port Arthur massacre rather spookily mirrored the films content and as it happened not long before the films release it was not shown in Tasmania. It was subsequently on video however and it has been broadcast.
This was originally planned as a "Tales from the Crypt" feature, but producer Robert Zemeckis liked the script so much, he decided it should stand on its own and not be part of a series.
I have to say that if you like the movie Ghost, you'll love this, as I ended up with the giggles during a few funny scenes, particularly when the ghost turns up and tries to talk to his widow through Michael J Fox's character. This has the right blend of comedy & horror, while not taking itself too seriously, like the afore-mentioned film Ghost. There's a lot of combined stories thrown into the running time though, so it can be a little confusing, while you try to figure out the ending.
I found a lot of the time I was finding Jake Busey's character looked very familiar, but I must have had Back To The Future on the brain, as I thought he was Biff!!! Fortunately, I was wrong. He is of course Gary Busey's son. That's why he looks so familiar. He still looks like Biff though.
It wasn't as scary as I was expecting, and kinda started to drag a bit in the middle. But still worth a quick peek if you fancy Michael J Fox - and the movie of course. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 09, 2005 | | Summary | I Do Believe In Spooks! | Content
| Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) is a hearse-chasing psychic investigator, drawn into the middle of a murderous mystery when people start dropping dead prematurely all around him. Frank is the only one who has any idea what's really going on, due to his ability to see ghosts. He sees a hooded DEATH figure, stalking and crushing the hearts of unsuspecting victims. What connection is there between these new paranormal murders and the death of Bannister's own wife five years earlier? Also, what do the infamous mass-murderer Johnny Bartlett (Jake "Starship Troopers" Bucey) and his girlfriend Patricia Bradley (Dee "The Howling" Wallace-Stone) have to do with things? Enter FBI Investigator Dammers (Jeffery "Re-Animator" Combs) as a man who believes he knows what's happening, but just might be insane! Peter Jackson co-wrote, co-produced, and directed this comic / horror blow-out. The ghosts are cool and the atmosphere is just grim enough to keep the story dark. Danny Elfman's (Batman, Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice) score is as good as any he's ever done. THE FRIGHTENERS is a movie that deserves to be seen by any / all creep-fans... |
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