 | |  | | Media: | HD DVD | | Country: | USA | | Studio: | Universal Studios Home Entertainment | | Cert: | Unrated | | Discs: | 1 |
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| Review Scores | | Movie |  | | Picture |  | | Sound |  | | Extras |  | | Overall | | | Review Verdict | | The Frighteners is a hugely enjoyable romp through some fantastic ideas, with strong performances and, for the time, ground breaking effects, Peter Jackson has managed to bring the dead to life and give life back to the living. Whilst not one of his own best films, it is nevertheless far superior to the usual Hollywood fodder. As an HD DVD package, an average picture is given life due to an excellent sound mix and maintains that standard with the excellent extras package, even though there is no HD exclusive material. A film not only for Jackson fans. | | Overall score : 7 | | Movie | | The Frighteners | | Date | 1996 | | Genres | Comedy
Thriller
Horror | | Director | | Peter Jackson | | Stars | Dee Wallace Stone
Jeffrey Combs
Michael J Fox
Trini Alvarado |
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Screen captures are for illustration purposes and may not originate from the item reviewed. | | The Frighteners: Director's cut Review| HD DVD review written by Simon Crust, published 11th June 2007 | Supplied for review by  | One of my biggest problems being an avid film fan is the amount of films I collect. They are everywhere and as the mountain grows the number I own but have never seen gets ever larger. In fact when I came to sell my VHS collection, because I needed room for the DVDs, I found countless tapes still wrapped in their original cellophane, unopened and ignored. I also discovered many taped films that I had also bought as originals and worst of all, multiple copies of the same film …… still unwatched. One such film, believe it or not is Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners. I have owned said film, in a variety of formats for years, but until this review had never actually seen it from beginning to end!
Now I have been a fan of Jackson’s since I first saw an advertisement (not even the film!) for his first independent venture Bad Taste (1987). I was still at school, sixth form, and saw the ad in a national paper. It took me some three years or so, but I managed to track the film down on VHS, and I was right to be a fan. I followed his career, snapping up his films with abandonment, revelling in his wild imagination and his skilful handling of his subject matter, for, as most surely know by now, his blend of horror/sci fi/comedy was a rare combination. His independent roots and pennant for solving effects by practical methods being unrivalled (he made his own steady cam because he could not afford to buy one) meant he worked a film on his own terms, a drive that is still evident in his latest ventures. As his reputation grew so did his finances and the lure of the Hollywood studios. But, he never lost sight of his roots and in fact continues to make all his films in his native New Zealand. Like Lucas, he has formed his own effects house, both computer generated and practical, that have grown to become world leaders in their field. There development throughout the years is one of the great success stories, and I had great fun reading through the credits of The Frighteners seeing all the names that are now so well know.
But above all The Frighteners is seen as a transitional film; Jackson himself admits this, between his independents and Hollywood. For it was his first true studio financed film, one with ‘big’ named stars and one with huge computer effects. From this relatively small ‘start’ Jackson was able to achieve superstardom with the Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Looking back over the film, there is still a raw edge, be it in the style of writing or the delivery, it maintains a look outside of the Hollywood mainstream. Even its plot is something of an enigma and one that caused no short problem with the censors.
The town of Fairwater is under siege, a spate of victims have been found dead of a supposed heart attack, though all have perfectly healthy hearts. At the funerals of the victims, Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) sells his wears; he is a psychic offering to help, but with one twist. He can actually see and communicate with the dead. For the most part he uses these powers to con people out of their money by staging fake hauntings. But when he starts to see a number on the foreheads of people that subsequently turn up dead, and he begins to see the ghostly apparition of death squeeze the life from those very peoples hearts, he realises he must try and stop it. His efforts are hampered when his proximity to the victims leads the police to suspect him as the murderer are compounded when FBI agent Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) is called in. His years of working undercover in various sects and cults have left him near deranged and he is convinced that Bannister is the culprit and is inventing the stories of death to cover his own murderous alter ego. With the help of Lucy (Trini Alvarado), a wife of one of the victims and unquestioning devotee of his abilities, Bannister suffers a near death experience to fight the ghost on its own turf, so to speak. In doing so, Bannister discovers the identity of the ghost, a way to stop him and a glimpse at his own past demons.
I found the film much to my liking, it has the ring of ‘early Jackson’ fused with a budget to place a vision on the screen. The plot has quite a few twists and turns and for the most part works, though there are some glaring plot discrepancies, be it the ghosts that are ‘killed’ appearing in Heaven or the fact that there is no explanation or reason for the return of ‘death’, or worst of all a beginning that makes no sense in relation to the end. Jackson, himself, is very candid about these problems but with pace and gutsy direction the jarring is minimised. It is this direction that really drives the film home, part action, part suspense, part comedy encased in a cocoon of horror. There are some wonderful little nods to other seminal horrors scattered throughout, The Shining being just one. It was little wonder the Hollywood executives had a hard time with it; not only with the censorship issue – Jackson was homing for a PG-13 but was given an R – but also with their marketing strategy and unfortunately the film failed at the box office.
However, Jackson in nothing if a visionary, be it with his films, or with his ideas on the home video market. He planned an all encompassing package, at the time for Laser Disc (DVD was yet to be invented), and it was here that The Frighteners made its mark. Seems at the home, the film takes on a whole new life (geddit), to revel in its excesses and marvel at is sheer audacity. Fox as a genuine psychic that cons people for example; poking fun at the afterlife, at psychics or the people that use them. Cynical? Maybe, because the theme of redemption is quite strong throughout the film; Bannister’s suffering and all he puts himself though, finally enable him to live, the ghosts are rewarded with Heaven and ‘death’ receives his just desserts. Oh yes, good verses evil is strictly defined in the end. But what makes this story stand out more is the shades of grey Jackson weaves in. Bannister’s motives in the beginning for example, driven by guilt and nothing but a con man or Dammers motivations throughout. Now there is a character that redefines deranged, played quite brilliantly by Coombs. Suffered for his county, in the most extreme ways, yet always with ‘good intentions’ even if he is presented as the wrong side. Even he gets a redemption of sorts. And I can’t finish without mentioning a fantastic cameo by R. Lee Ermey spoofing his own character from Full Metal Jacket.
So there is a lot going on in the Frighteners, not all of it good, by any means, yet the film manages to carry its baggage well. After the credits there is a deal of satisfaction to be had as well as entertainment. It may not be one of Jackson’s best, actually by comparison it is one of his worst, but when one of his worst is as entertaining and enjoyable as this, really, you ought to be frightened.
Movie score : 7 | | 1,270 word review written by Simon Crust. |  | To comment on this review, click here and post a reply.
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