The Frighteners (1996)

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers (WGA):

Fran Walsh (written by) &
Peter Jackson (written by)

Release Date:

19 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

No Rest for the Wicked.

Plot:

After a car accident in which his wife, Debra, was killed and he was injured, Frank Bannister develops psychic abilities allowing him to see...

Plot Keywords:

Supernatural | Cult Favorite | Scythe | Box Office Flop | Hell

Awards:

1 win & 10 nominations

Cast

Michael J. Fox	...	Frank Bannister
Trini Alvarado	...	Dr. Lucy Lynskey
Peter Dobson	...	Ray Lynskey
John Astin	...	The Judge
Jeffrey Combs	...	Milton Dammers
Dee Wallace	...	Patricia Ann Bradley (as Dee Wallace-Stone)
Jake Busey	...	Johnny Charles Bartlett
Chi McBride	...	Cyrus
Jim Fyfe	...	Stuart, Bannister's Ghostly Assistant
Troy Evans	...	Sheriff Walt Perry
Julianna McCarthy	...	Old Lady Bradley
R. Lee Ermey	...	Sgt. Hiles
Elizabeth Hawthorne	...	Magda Rees-Jones
Angela Bloomfield	...	Debra Bannister
Desmond Kelly	...	Harry Sinclair

Also Known As:

Robert Zemeckis Presents: The Frighteners (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for terror/violence.

Runtime:

110 min | USA:122 min (director's cut)

Country:

New Zealand | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 (director's cut) | UK:15 (uncut director's edition) | USA:R (certificate #34656) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Iceland:14 | UK:15 (re-rating) (2005) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (2000) (DVD) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (1997) (video) (uncut) | Germany:18 (nf) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-15 (2005) (uncut) (DVD) (director's cut) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Italy:VM14 | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The day that the director's (Peter Jackson) 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.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Frank crashes through Ray's fence, he deliberately backs out over a garden gnome, crushing its head. In the next shot, Ray is holding the intact head while screaming at Frank.

Quotes:

Frank Bannister: [after seeing the glowing number on her forehead] You're next.
Magda Rees-Jones: He's threatening to kill me!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Movie Magic: Ghost Effects: Ghost Stories (#4.13)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Superstar

Strong fantasy-mystery but see the director's cut

Peter Jackson approaches his own script with the kind of technique most Hollywood directors wouldn't ever even imagine. Jackson has his own and unique brand of movie-making and this is a perfect example of how to make an original and superior film.

Michael J. Fox (who looks like he did some working out for the role) plays Frank Bannister, a Psychic investigator, who pursues a strange and sinister cloaked figure who seems to be terrorising both the physical and supernatural world. That's all I'm going to tell because I don't want to ruin it for you.

Universal tried to sell the film totally on it's wonderful SFX. But this was in a year when audiences were wowed by the superficial FX of ID4 and didn't really care about a bunch of ghosts. The Frighteners is criminally under-rated and underseen so I suggest you run down to your local store and either buy the DVD right now. You'll love it. It's a shame that Universal won't release a DVD version of the laserdisc SE (complete with the 4-hour documentary) and the 124-minute director's cut of the film. You'd think with their willingness to do 86 different releases of American Pie and with Peter Jackson's massive success with the LOTR films they'd cash-in on The Frighters. But no! Idiots!