| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace-Stone and Jake Busey
Screenplay: Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson
Music: Danny Elfman
AKA: Robert Zemeckis Presents: The Frighteners |
Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) is a man who
can see and communicate with the ghosts of the
dead. He uses this talent for his commercial gain
by befriending some ghosts and enlisting them
to perform 'hauntings' which he then charges the
unwary victims extortionate prices for clearing
up. But when he arrives at the home of Ray (Peter
Dobson) and Dr Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado) to
perform an 'exorcism', he becomes alarmed when
he sees a number carved into Ray's forehead. Feeling
a little spooked he leaves rather quickly.
Ray dies soon after and Frank encounters his ghost
whilst walking down a busy street. Ray explains
that something had reached into his chest and crushed
his heart. Sure enough, Frank soon sees the culprit
- death itself has arrived in the seaside town of
Fairwater and the body count is rising.
With the assistance of Ray's widow, new doctor
Lucy Lynskey, he sets out to stop the malevolent
force. However, there are hindrances in his way,
the most prominent being FBI paranormal expert
Milton Dammers, who is convinced that Frank is
responsible.
How does it all turn out? Well, you'll have to
watch it yourself and find out!
Director Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, Braindead, Lord of the Rings) drives the film along
at a breakneck pace and there is never a dull
moment. The cast give it all they have and deliver
some marvellous performances, with Jeffrey Combs
giving a maniacally over-the-top performance as
Special Agent Milton Dammers, delivering great
lines like: "Sheriff! You are violating my territorial
bubble."
You can never accuse this film of being uninteresting
as Jackson keeps introducing new plot concepts
and the story twists and turns like a frenzied
rollercoaster. The characters are colourful and
entertaining; with an amusing turn by R. Lee Ermey
spoofing his role from Full Metal Jacket as an army sergeant keeping a tight rein on his
graveyard.
The ghostly characters are well realised and
the set designs are suitably impressive and creepy.
The dialogue is fast paced and reasonably amusing
and the cast pull it all off expertly with the
sure hand of Jackson at the helm.
Ghosts, serial killers, murder, a manic FBI agent
and spooky goings-on galore. Could Jackson possibly
have crammed anymore into the 105 minute running
time?
A winner.
It's
also interesting to note that an NTSC Laserdisc
incarnation of this film once surfaced with a
122 minute running time - 12 minutes of extra
footage. The Laserdisc also carried a 4 and a
half-hour documentary on the making of the film
(according to IMDB).
This UK release has suffered a 2-second cut to
the shot of Dammers' exploding head, but it's
not enough to warrant any great complaints and
doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the film. |
