The Frighteners *** (1996, Michael J Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson) – Classic Movie Review 8418

Director Peter Jackson’s 1996 supernatural black comedy horror thriller The Frighteners, in the style of Beetlejuice complete with a Danny Elfman score, is poundingly pacey, reasonably scary and original enough, but, when the brilliant special effects subside, just does not quite hit the spot.

Michael J Fox stars as psychic investigator Frank Bannister who plies his trade with the help of three ghoulish friends, until something distinctly unfriendly causes an epidemic of heart attacks among the locals. Add the town doctor Dr Lucy Lynskey (Trini Avarado)’s investigation of a mad woman Patricia Ann Bradley (Dee Wallace Stone) whose boyfriend Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey) was fried for mass murder and the appearance of a cowled figure sweeping from the sky to collect the souls of new victims, and you have a spine-tingling story.

The real star is the special effects, which are bang on target, with more than 500 computer-generated images, as walls, mirrors and ceilings bulge, the dead rise and ectoplasmic masses seep away in search of escape. The performances are less special and the script tame with a cheesy ending in a film that is neither quite dark enough nor funny enough to score a bull’s-eye.

The Frighteners is a very good looking movie, atmospherically shot on location in New Zealand, standing in for the New England harbour town setting, with studio filming at Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand.

Director Jackson has a cameo as the punk man with piercings, but disappears between shots.

Jackson said: ‘The ghosts aren’t just special effects; they’re key characters who just happen to be dead. These spirits had a chance to progress to another realm after death but were trapped by their apprehension of what lies beyond.’

It runs 110 minutes and 123 minutes in the director’s cut.

Also in the cast are Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, Try Evans, Julianna McCarthy, R Lee Ermey, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Angela Bloomfield, Desmond Kelly and Jonathan Blick.

The Frighteners is directed by Peter Jackson, runs 110 minutes or 123 minutes in the director’s cut, is made by Universal Pictures, WingNut Films, released by Universal Pictures (1996) (US) and United International Pictures (UIP) (1997) (UK), is written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, is shot by John Blick and Alun Bollinger, is produced by Peter Jackson and Jamie Selkirk, is scored by Danny Elfman and is designed by Grant Major.

It had its premiere at Universal City, California, on 17 July 1996 and was released in the US on 19 July 1996. It was shown at the Venice Film Festival on 1 September 1996. It was not released in the UK till 24 January 1997. It was fairly costly and not a hit. Budgeted at $30,000,000, it grossed $16,759,216 in the US with a cumulative worldwide gross of $12,600,000.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8418

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