The Frighteners

19961996
RR
1h 50min

The Frighteners (1996)

Trailer

Play trailer1:59

Comedy Fantasy Horror

After a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the only one who can stop i... Read allAfter a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead 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 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.

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 16 nominations

Videos2

The Frighteners

The Frighteners

A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson

A Guide to the Films of Peter Jackson

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)

The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners (1996)

Dead Alive

7.5

Bad Taste

6.6

Arachnophobia

6.4

Tremors

7.1

Meet the Feebles

6.6

Meet the Feebles

Heavenly Creatures

7.3

Heavenly Creatures

Fright Night

7.1

Forgotten Silver

7.5

Forgotten Silver

The Faculty

6.5

Dog Soldiers

6.8

Re-Animator

7.2

The Fog

6.8

After a car accident in which his wife, Debra, was killed and he was injured, Frank Bannister develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts. After losing his wife, he then gave up his job as an architect, letting his unfinished "dream house" sit incomplete for years, and put these skills to use by befriending a few ghosts and getting them to haunt houses in the area to drum up work for his ghostbusting business; Then Frank proceeds to "exorcise" the houses for a fee. But when he discovers that an entity resembling the Grim Reaper is killing people, marking numbers on their forehead beforehand, Frank tries to help the people whom the Reaper is after! —Anthony Pereyra <hypersonic91@yahoo.com>

ghost black comedy serial killer supernatural horror grim reaper 151 more

Taglines
- Something has put the fear of death in the living and sent the dead running for their lives.
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated R for terror/violence
Parents guide

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 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 At the Movies: 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

Top review

8/10

Surprisingly Dark

What sets out to be a comedy movie with ghosts, (and anyone could be forgiven for thinking this is what it would be given that Michael J Fox has the lead) rapidly becomes a very dark supernatural thriller.

The special effects still look good even by todays standards, and the story is solidly written, good characters and good direction, there is not much to criticise in this movie.

The film itself is one that you should not miss, and certainly not because you think its something that it isn't.

8/10 A surprising film, that has probably been overlooked by too many movie lovers.

helpful•137

23

mjw2305
Jan 21, 2005

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
- Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Production companies
- Universal Pictures
- WingNut Films
See more company credits at IMDbPro

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

Runtime
- 1h 50min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- DTS
- DTS-Stereo
Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1

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