The Frighteners
Peter Jackson blends horror, comedy and fantasy in this film about a psychic (Michael J. Fox) who initially works with spirits to con money out of customers but then becomes a legitimate paranormal investigator when the spirit of a mass murderer begins attacking both the living and the dead.
Shot in Wellington, this is Jackson's first Hollywood-funded film, backed by Universal Studios and producer Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future).
1996Rating: M, contains violence110 minsNew Zealand, USA
ComedyFantasyHorrorThriller
- Director:
- Peter Jackson ('The Lovely Bones', 'King Kong', 'The Lord of the Rings', 'Heavenly Creatures', 'Braindead', 'Meet the Feebles', 'Bad Taste')
- Writer:
- Fran WalshPeter Jackson
- Cast:
- Michael J. FoxTrini AlvaradoPeter DobsonJohn AstinJeffrey CombsDee WallaceJake BuseyChi McBrideJim FyfeTroy EvansJulianna McCarthyR. Lee ErmeyElizabeth HawthorneAngela Bloomfield
The Frighteners / Reviews
Entertainment Weekly
That rare horror film that actually gets better as it proceeds; this scare machine has a heart and a brain.
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Time Out
At times the relentless special effects and tangled plotting veer towards visual and narrative overkill, but the final tonal swerve is shocking and effective.
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Variety
A two-tone scarefest, the first half a facetious, aggressively jokey send-up of the supernatural, the second an attempt at some legitimate thrills. After his brilliant breakthrough two years ago with "Heavenly Creatures," new pic reps a step back into infinitely less interesting genre work for New Zealand auteur Peter Jackson, with an added reliance on elaborate, almost continuous special effects.
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Total Film
Thrills, sight gags and tasteless one-liners abound as Michael J Fox, Trini Alvarado and assorted spectral allies take on an evil spirit... Go see it - it's great.
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The New York Times
As directed by Peter Jackson, whose "Heavenly Creatures" looks sedate by comparison, it's a technically impressive horror-comedy-romance in desperate need of a story editor or a cold shower.
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Roger Ebert
Last year, I reviewed a nine-hour documentary about the lives of Mongolian yak herdsmen, and I would rather see it again than sit through ``The Frighteners.''
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Los Angeles Times
Director Peter Jackson, at home with all kinds of excess in New Zealand, keeps everything spinning nicely, not even losing a step when the mood turns increasingly disturbing.
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