Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frighten me!, 1 Jan 2006
Just before doing "Lord of the Rings," director Peter Jackson (who can be seen in a cameo as "Man with Piercings") made an off-kilter horror/comedy movie called "The Frighteners," the tale of the undead and the guy who makes a living off of them. Though "Frighteners" was barely in theaters at all, this cult flick is funny, creepy, well-acted and wonderfully directed.
Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) has seen spirits and apparitions ever since the car crash that killed his wife. Now he operates an amateur "ghostbusting" operation that is supposed to exorcise ghosts from people's houses -- the problem is that the ghosts who haunt those houses are in league with him (Chi McBride as the opinioated afro-ed Cyrus, Jim Fyfe as the nerdy Stuart, and most of John Astin as what is left of The Judge).
Frank's business certainly isn't hurt by the fact that for years after a serial killer's murderous spree, people have died mysteriously of heart attacks. Then Frank starts seeing fiery numbers emblazoned on the foreheads of people who will die, including the husband of doctor Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado). As if trying to stop a specter of death weren't hard enough, crazed FBI agent Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) believes that Frank is the one murdering people. But the evil specter is still killing -- and Lucy is the next victim.
Peter Jackson once said that he has a "moronic" sense of humor, and it shows up in all its glory here -- from bug spray dissolving a ghost's face to a piece of talking oily sludge to a drill sargeant ghost with submachine guns, this is weird and absolutely hilarious. It's the perfect blend of comedy and horror.
But he's also good during the more serious moments, such as Bannister's flashbacks to his wife's death, or the eerie sight of homicidal young lovers dancing with a gun. The opening shot is pure Jackson, with the camera swooping through a window, past fluttering curtains, and though a hole in the attic floor to a screaming woman below.
Jackson also takes the opportunity to poke a bit of fun at more conventional ghost movies: the big Gothic house, crazy old lady, ghost in '70s clothes, and Fox's hilarious turn as a ghostbuster. Nothing horrific is sacred. "There ain't nothing worse than a bunch of pissed-off brothers... that's ALREADY DEAD!" Cyrus yells at one point.
Does it have a flaw? Yes -- the opening scene doesn't seem to make much sense later on in the movie. But Jackson makes up for that with a surprisingly tight, coherent plot, and a satisfying finale that makes more sense than most other horror movies do.
The cast is brilliant, whether it's the twitchy, wild-eyed FBI agent, or the three weird ghosts. Michael J. Fox does an excellent job as Frank, with the right combination of cockiness and pathos, while Alvarado is solid as the idealistic young doctor. But the scenes are reallystolen by Dee Wallace-Stone and freaky-eyed Jake Busey, as homicidal young lovers.
"Frighteners" might not make you believe in ghosts, but it will make you laugh, shiver, and maybe even shed a tear or two. Wildly funny, weird, gross, and sometimes really peculiar, this is Jackson's splatter-gore at its best.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Director's Cut on DVD at long last!, 12 Jan 2006
I'd just about given up on this ever getting released on DVD! When the first Lord of the Rings film cleaned up at the box-office and director Peter Jackson became a household name I was convinced that the Director's Cut of The Frighteners was a dead cert for a DVD release. 5 more years later, and the entire LOTR trilogy out on DVD twice over, there was still no sign ... and I'd lost faith. But here it is, finally! Better late than never, Universal!Let's get to the good stuff... Most important of all as far as I was concerned, the UK release is NOT CUT this time around! When I saw The Frighteners in the cinema, one bit in particular made everybody in the place sit up and go "Whoa!" So imagine my disgust when the UK home release of the theatrical version turned out to have emasculated this very sequence by inserting a spurious shot of M J Fox falling, right in the middle of the shot, splitting it into two and virtually completely removing the exploding head. If the idea was to "lessen the intensity" of the sequence, then it worked. Sadly I thought I'd bought the same intense film I'd seen at the cinema! Needless to say, I got shot of my UK version and got the uncut US version instead. Happily, the UK DVD release of the Director's Cut contains the sequence uncut and is identical to the US version. In fact this UK release - in a rare reversal of the norm - is actually superior to the US release for a couple of reasons. The UK version offers DD5.1 and DTS5.1 soundtracks in addition to the director commentary, whereas the US version doesn't have DTS. And the UK version comes on 3 separate DVDs (one for the film and two discs for the incredibly extensive extras) whereas the US version is a single-disc release, cramming the same content onto one of those horrible double-sided DVDs that you hardly dare handle. And don't be misled by the US version stating that the film is extended by 14 minutes where the UK version claims 12 - that's due to the slight timing difference between US and UK TV systems and the content is identical. The Frighteners is now ripe for rediscovery. The additional material is not just a load of exposition and reinsertion of deleted scenes better left out - a surprising amount of it is FX stuff you'll be surprised wasn't in the film all along. And for those interested in the process of film-making, the 4 hours of extras form one of the most in-depth "making of" documentaries ever seen - Peter Jackson set out to deliver the kind of behind-the-scenes material he always wanted to see as a budding film-maker, and it shows. Highly recommended.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Under-rated and frighteningly good !, 29 Dec 2005
An early undiscovered gem from the writing team that later brought the world The Lord Of The Rings and King Kong.
Peter Jackson(along with Fran Walsh) created this great horror- comedy-thriller almost ten years ago before they became known worldwide and in it they tell the story of Frank Bannister as played by Michael J. Fox who is a small-town "ghost-buster" in league with the very spirits he is supposeed to be exorcising.
This scam works well until a dangerous and powerful spirit goes on a murderous rampage thus forcing Frank to stop him in any way neccesary.
This director's cut DVD is also packed with an introduction by Jackson along with an audio commentary originally recorderd for the Laserdisc and also has an extensive making-of documentary which is over 4 hours!
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