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IMDbPro

The Frighteners

  • 19961996
  • RR
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
91K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,885
215
Michael J. Fox in The Frighteners (1996)
Trailer
Play trailer1:59
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyFantasyHorror
After a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead, and he uses that gift to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the ... Read allAfter a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead, and he uses that gift to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the only one who can stop it from killing the living and the dead.After a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead, and he uses that gift to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the only one who can stop it from killing the living and the dead.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
91K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,885
215
  • Director
    • Peter Jackson
  • Writers
    • Fran Walsh
    • Peter Jackson
  • Stars
    • Michael J. Fox
    • Trini Alvarado
    • Peter Dobson
  • Director
    • Peter Jackson
  • Writers
    • Fran Walsh
    • Peter Jackson
  • Stars
    • Michael J. Fox
    • Trini Alvarado
    • Peter Dobson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 270User reviews
    • 137Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 17 nominations

    Videos2

    The Frighteners
    Trailer 1:59
    Watch The Frighteners
    A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson
    Clip 1:33
    Watch A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson

    Photos203

    Michael J. Fox in The Frighteners (1996)
    Michael J. Fox and Trini Alvarado in The Frighteners (1996)
    Jake Busey in The Frighteners (1996)
    Jeffrey Combs in The Frighteners (1996)
    Peter Jackson in The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)
    Michael J. Fox and Trini Alvarado in The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)
    The Frighteners (1996)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Michael J. Fox
    Michael J. Fox
    • Frank Bannister
    Trini Alvarado
    Trini Alvarado
    • Lucy Lynskey
    Peter Dobson
    Peter Dobson
    • Ray Lynskey
    John Astin
    John Astin
    • The Judge
    Jeffrey Combs
    Jeffrey Combs
    • Milton Dammers
    Dee Wallace
    Dee Wallace
    • Patricia Bradley
    • (as Dee Wallace Stone)
    Jake Busey
    Jake Busey
    • Johnny Bartlett
    Chi McBride
    Chi McBride
    • Cyrus
    Jim Fyfe
    Jim Fyfe
    • Stuart
    Troy Evans
    Troy Evans
    • Sheriff Perry
    Julianna McCarthy
    • Old Lady Bradley
    R. Lee Ermey
    R. Lee Ermey
    • Hiles
    Elizabeth Hawthorne
    Elizabeth Hawthorne
    • Magda Rees-Jones
    Angela Bloomfield
    Angela Bloomfield
    • Debra Bannister
    Desmond Kelly
    • Harry Sinclair
    Jonathan Blick
    • Steve Bayliss
    Todd Rippon
    • Deputy
    John Sumner
    John Sumner
    • Deputy
    • Director
      • Peter Jackson
    • Writers
      • Fran Walsh
      • Peter Jackson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Michael J. Fox repeatedly blew his lines by calling The Judge (John Astin) "Doc", the name of Christopher Lloyd's character in the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy.
    • Goofs
      When Frank goes to the Lynskey house he said it was 'spontaneous recurrent psychokinesis', but when he goes to another case he calls it 'recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis'. The fact that he can't keep his con man story straight makes the scene even funnier.
    • Quotes

      Judge: [after having sex with a mummy] I like it when they lie still like that.

    • Alternate versions
      When Peter Jackson learned during post-production that the MPAA was going to give the movie an R-rating (despite many efforts to go for a PG-13 rating), he made Milton Dammers' death scene more gruesome by blowing up his head, instead of just having him shot in the chest and blown through the chapel doors. This caused problems with the BBFC, who cut the one continuous shot into two shots, minus the bullet blowing up the head. This censored Region 2 DVD was released throughout Europe. The U.S. television version uses the take where Dammers is blown through the chapel doors.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Multiplicity/The Frighteners/Kazaam/Fled/Celestial Clockwork (1996)
    • Soundtracks
      Don't Fear The Reaper
      Written by Donald Roeser

      Performed by The Mutton Birds (as The Mutton Birds)

      Courtesy of Virgin Records Australasia

    User reviews270

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    This looks like one tough business!
    In a small quiet coastal town of Fairwater, residents are dying in very strange circumstances and Frank Banister makes a living by scamming people of Fairwater with his psychic abilities to rid poltergeists out of their homes. Which, unknowingly for the occupants the trio of spirits that are causing the havoc happen to be part of Frank's scam. Frank manages to communicate and see the dead because of a scarring trauma he had. While, his set-up might be going to plan, the strange deaths keep on rising and Frank starts seeing numbers engraved on peoples' foreheads and one night he encounters a malevolent spirit shaped as the grim reaper who's performing these killings. The town believes Frank has something to do with the murders and a FBI agent is brought on the case and tries at every opportunity to pin the deaths on Frank.

    Well, Peter Jackson has made a name for himself with his last four blockbusters, but just before those epic films he made this odd ,comedy-horror caper that was aimed for a mainstream audience, but it sadly went by unnoticed, because it just didn't appeal to everyone's tastes. I've seen it a couple of times and I don't mind it, even if the film's all over the shop. The distinctively, novel film is brimming with creative images, oddball bunch of characters, masterfully constructed CGI effects, deliciously, quirky black humour and spontaneous jolts. So, whats not like!

    Well, despite these great aspects the film feels overly convoluted with many ideas and back-stories that makes the tone shift back and forth in such a unsteady rate. You just don't know what it really wants to be and it just feels like the film feels the same way too. The comical humour and ghoulish horror doesn't always gel, with the first half of the flick being more humorous, then suddenly it shifts gear with the second half going for some fast-paced thrills and shocks, but here Jackson never manages connect the two that successfully. That's not to say I didn't find it amusing, because it is. Its an entertaining caper and an ingenious thought, but it throws around so many paths the film could've taken instead of just fleshing one out and going for it. The meaty script is an complete muddle with many scenarios that only scratch the top of the surface and it seems to just go on for too long.

    While, the material might have been incoherent, it's Jackson's sharp visual eye that screams at you with the film's stark, Gothic fairytale style. Jackson always makes great use of the scenery and here is no exception with a murky colour palette that has a tonne of atmosphere about it. The twitchy camera-work is always on the move and Danny Elfman's score beats out a spaced out vibe that goes highly strung when the pace picks up. Jackson succeeds in creating around these kinetic aspects, slices of unexpected turns, pumping action and firmly, constructed suspense. But the film's big show stopper is the FX bonanza with it's extravagantly slick effects that shows Jackson demonstrates supreme control in his vision. The glaring getup of the Grim Reaper is the most artistic and forcible of the lot. Though, if you're looking for some gross-out, make-up effects there's none of that to be found and that's the same for any kind of campy nature. This project does seem more colder and distant than that of his previous efforts with the humour side of the things feeding more off the black misery than the goofiness.

    The film has a great cast on show with Michael J Fox who fits well as the sympathetic lead Frank. Trini Alvarado as Dr. Lucy Lynskey is good too. Dee Wallace Stone is great as the on edge Patricia. Jake Busey is equally good as her evil-minded boyfriend who's back from the grave committing murders. Chi McBride, John Astin and Jim Fyfe play the ghosts that teamed up with Frank and they add to the humour and so does Peter Dobson as the self-assured Ray. But when in frame its Jeffery Combs who steals the show as the eccentric FBI agent Dammers, who's one real nut! Also there's a amusing cameo from R.Lee Ermey mimicking his performance from "Full Metal Jacket" as a Sgt. Hiles a spirit of a graveyard.

    A flawed, but enjoyably agreeable dark comedy-supernatural flick.

    p.s. This review is on the theatrical release.
    helpful•9
    5
    • lost-in-limbo
    • Apr 14, 2006

    FAQ9

    • What is The Frighteners about?
    • How many different versions do exist of this movie?
    • What actually happened when Frank and his wife Debra crashed in the car in the flashback?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 19, 1996 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • New Zealand
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Robert Zemeckis Presents: The Frighteners
    • Filming locations
      • Wellington, New Zealand
    • Production companies
      • Universal Pictures
      • WingNut Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $30,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $16,759,216
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,565,495
      • Jul 21, 1996
    • Gross worldwide
      • $29,359,216
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • DTS-Stereo
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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