The Frighteners (1996)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
4 connections found
View:
4 films that influenced The Frighteners
What critics say influenced The Frighteners
Worthy of special mention is Jeffrey Combs (star of "Re-Animator") who clearly relishes the role of Milton Dammers, the kind of FBI agent who could bring J. Edgar Hoover back from the dead.
Jeffrey Combs, of Re-Animator fame, is a stand-out as Milton, the FBI agent who specializes in paranormal psychology.
All three youngsters turn in teriffic performances, as does Dee Wallace-Stone of "The Frighteners," who plays the mother and Peter Coyote, who plays a mysterious Mulder-like government UFO investigator.
It's no surprise that this film's harried single mom (Dee Wallace Stone, "The Frighteners") would overlook E.T. hiding in plain site amidst a pyramid of teddy bears and other huggable toys.
Best known for the reality-based "Heavenly Creatures," his most recent film, Jackson had an earlier career as the splatter impresario behind "Bad Taste" and "Brain Dead."
Peter Jackson has always been a terrific entertainer, giving his all even when he was struggling through the no-budget shooting of his own Independence Day , an amazingly gross alien invasion picture called (accurately enough) Bad Taste.
Next came the critically acclaimed "Heavenly Creatures," and while the film was a departure from Jackson's typically bloody comedies, he focused on the real-life nightmare of two friends who committed murder.
Best known for the reality-based "Heavenly Creatures," his most recent film, Jackson had an earlier career as the splatter impresario behind "Bad Taste" and "Brain Dead."
Here's the pitch: New Zealand-based iconoclast Peter Jackson ( Braindead , Heavenly Creatures ) hooks up with tinseltown golden boy Robert Zemeckis and perennial smart-ass Michael J. Fox and tries to fit his very twisted sensibility into the mainstream American groove with his $30 million SFX-driven horror-comedy extravaganza The Frighteners.
Peter Jackson , who directed “The Frighteners” (and 1994's much better “ Heavenly Creatures ”) qualifies on the basis of this film for any special-effects movie you can imagine, just as long as it's about something.
Following director Peter Jackson's powerful, true-life matricide tale, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners falls short of expectations by being just one of many in the long line of 1996 summer movies.