If you had told me this was directed by Sam Reimi, I would believe it. The first half is a lot of fun but then the main plot kicks in and it starts to drag. There's a great 90 minutes movie here.
Also, there's no one quiet like Michael Fox today. His charisma and star power makes anything watchable.
I loved this movies back in the 90s when I was a teenager, and until this day this is a one of a kind movie. Maybe I love it for nostalgic reasons, but it’s still worth checking out if you have never seen it before.
The Frighteners isn’t a perfect film by Peter Jackson but is way above the one star that Roger Ebert gave it. Since it is a fun and well made ride with a good twist.
Crazy to think that this is a Peter Jackson film. Underrated film. I wish he would revisit this or crank out a bit more gritty horrors--it's there.
Very entertaining movie, i good combination of horror and black comedy. Nice visuals for that era.
No more comedy or horror than a Ghostbusters installment for what it's worth, mostly just... goofy. Well directed film but the VFX look dated even for the time (one year older Casper's CGI was a grade above), the script is quite boneheaded, plus many themes are kind of knocked off of Ghost (1990). The "Nazi" FBI agent feels extraneous and his long monologues get annoying fast.
I still remember seeing this one in the theater so many years ago. Still holds up relatively well despite the aged FX. There are some plot points and comedy that are a bit weak but overall it’s a good watch that doesn’t really feel like it drags along.
"Get back in the goddamn ground you unorganized grab-asstic gob of teleplasmic shit!"
Oh Peter Jackson... I wish you would make more films like this. You got good ol Michael J. Fox, good VFX for the time, and a pretty fun premise. It is a little odd at times but I think that is what I love about it.
Now that was bad. For a comedy/horror there wasn't much comedy and no horror. The only positive was R. Lee Ermey basically reprising his Full Metal Jacket role from the grave.
Such a fun, offbeat horror comedy. Peter Jackson right before LOTR and Michael J Fox in top form. I’m not sure I’d say they don’t make them like this anymore but they definitely don’t make them on this scale anymore. CG doesn’t quite hold up but can be forgiven as the film is 25 years old and is better than some films from 5 years ago.
Love this movie! Fun ghost adventure with spectacular cast and silly story. It has this unique charm. One of my favorite Peter Jackson's films. Just lots to love here.
"The Frighteners" should have been named "The Murderers". Its about a mass murderer and there's nothing incredibly frightening at all in the movie. There are lots of ghosts but they're mostly outrageous characters who just happen to be able to walk through walls and possess other typical ghostly skills. The movie turns very violent during its last third which is no doubt why the movie was originally rated R. I watched the Director's Cut of the film and it was entertaining but it seemed liked Peter Jackson had a hard time ending it. The movie's final chase scene seemed to drag. Also I found the FBI agent character Milton Dammers to be rather distracting because his role was to prosecute Michael J. Fox's Frank Bannister. The attempts to incarcerate Bannister just didn't seem that important to the story because Bannister is far too likable of a character. Dammers was just weird was painted largely incompetent and basically served the story as a pain in the ass nothing else. It would have been sufficient to just let Bannister pursue the bad guys/ghosts without the distracting Dammers jumping in just to muck things up. There is a lot of early CGI special effects in "The Frighteners" and it is interesting to view them compared to what we see today; 12 or 13 years later. The effects aren't really convincing but they work within the movie pretty well. The best effect is the Death character. Its movements are impressive and it is threatening. Overall I'd suggest that this is a good movie and Jackson's direction makes for some interesting shots and scenes but the story has a few too many distracting elements that take away from the very likeable Frank Bannister.
Shout by notnixonVIP 11BlockedParent2017-09-06T11:26:14Z
I absolutely loved The Frighteners back in '96, but this is a prime example of why directors should stick to practical effects wherever possible. This has dated terribly.