The Frighteners (1996)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Do some of you Believe in Ghosts? Well Knowing Japan, They are very superstitious, But I'm talking about Ghosts in movies... I know they are sometimes seen in Halloween, But There is one Ghost movie that is very... Interesting, The Frighteners, Now As you all know Peter Jackson is one of most Recognizable Directors in Hollywood, He did Movies like The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy, And his Remake of King Kong, But he also did projects that I thought where the guys Film-College experiments, This is one of his movies that I'd say was a Nexus of his Directing life, And Remember Michael J. Fox, He is in this movie I always thought he looked like Matt Damon back then, Also I have this movie on Blu-Ray while Mr Jackson has it on Laserdisc (While might have been the Prototypes to DVD's HD-DVD's and Blu-Rays)... First off I have to point out that This poster of the Movie is pretty Confusing then Scary, I mean WHAT THE HECK I'M I LOOKING AT HERE? This was the best you could come up with Peter Jackson? All we see is a Face of some strange Smiling Alien skull Pressing his face against a Wall of Fabric, Gives me no idea what the movie is about, Well seeming that Oliver Harper Review this movie, Don't know if the Critics from Channel Awesome have done this yet, But At least I'll be second place.I seen this movie many times in the past on when it was in the TV and on Blu-Ray... Well, I never thought Id say this on a Peter Jackson movie but... I thought it was an alright movie, Arthur McCartney might not have been into this movie but for me... Well you know, I found the Story interesting, Mr Fox was alright in it, There where some cleaver Ideas in this, using ghosts for exorcist profit was a original idea, And there are some Jump-Scars that would work for anyone that's never seen this before, But this movie does have problems, Some of the Jump-Scars will get old, And seeming it was made in the 90's the CGI would look dated, I found Heaven and Hell very strange, But I'll give this movie credit on the look of the ghosts, They look more Realistic in some strange way if we are able to see them, (YEAH TAKE THAT CASPER!!) I know there is a Novel of this movie that's based on the Original script, But there is an extended version of the movie that is included in Blu-Ray, Two disk special edition DVD's and possibly on the Laserdisc Special Edition, I seen the extended version and let me tell you, It's a lot better, has more to the story then the theatrical release, If this movie was released in the Halloween season, then it would have made more money out of it, But it's an Average Peter Jackson Movie from his Early Days of Movie making.As Oliver Harper once aid on his Review in this movie, You will return to it on a Regular bases!Here is a link to his Review of this movie, Now if you excuse me, I'm off to see is my Old TV down stares is not possessed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYI5KrZDjcA

The Frighteners (1996): Dir: Peter Jackson / Cast: Michael J. Fox, Dee Wallace Stone, Trini Alarado, Jake Busey, John Astin: Enchanting yet disarming visual feast that regards fear from both a human and spiritual aspect. The plot is obviously inspired somewhat by Ghostbusters. Michael J. Fox plays a scheming Ghostbuster who lives with three ghosts and together they scare households while Fox collects money to rid them. Dee Wallace Stone is under guard by her ruthless mother ordered by the court after she was an accomplice in a murder spree. The murderer was put to death but he was known for carving a digit into the victim's head to keep count his murders. His spirit returns and Fox can see digits appearing on the heads of potential victims. Director Peter Jackson is backed by production here that is inventive. He previously made the acclaim Heavenly Creatures. Fox is amusing as a Ghostbuster who mourns his wife and struggles with this new case. Stone steals scenes in her demented state. Jake Busey plays the spirited murderer set to kill again. Trini Alvarado is weak as a woman who lost her husband. She is involved in a shameless scene where she nearly helps Fox commit suicide before reaching a corny happy ending. John Astin plays a gun slinging ghost who provides a little humour. It presents a stunning array of frightening visuals. Score: 4 ½ / 10

A movie that Robert Zemeckis proves that he finds Michael J Fox very correct.without Michael J Fox playing Frank Bannister, my friends and I would not even have any interest to watch Frighteners.Now even our throne rush team call "Frighteners" see how much I love this movie. yes it's true. my throne rush facebook game team is called this movie. Maybe to some people who admire Johnny Depp, they think that Johnny Depp would be able to play a better frank Bannister than Fox. but to we MJF fans, MJF is better. even Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise (I am a Tom Cruise fan) can not even have what MJF influenced people on this movie. everyone would hope their idols inside this movie. me too. My idols are Tom Cruise and Michael J Fox, but since Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorced I throw tom Cruise away. *talk back to MJF as it's Michael's movie*Yes I would speak that, you love Johnny Depp, just like how we love MJF, of course everyone would want every movie contain their favorite actor. Mentioning/remembering the times this movie was displayed in cinemas, NOT MANY PEOPLE were in cinemas. because MJF popularity was still weak (not really influenced enough in Hong Kong) around hong Kong. only back to the future that played in 1995 in TVB or ATV in Hongkong, then no more. that time people do not watch much English films. we only watch how funny and how the story goes, we don't even notice which actors play BTTF Marty mcfly, but Marty Mcfly is very remarkable in hongkong, we don't know that he is Michael J Fox. When Frighteners comes to Hongkong, my mom Sandra Ng. (facebook URL BingNg7, I am facebook URL Olivie.lo) and I went cinema watching frighteners, we were really delighted that not many people were watching. because the screen was clear enough to watch the whole movie, unlike pulp fiction times that a lot of people sitting in cinemas covering the screen bottom part, maybe you may think bottom part does not cover a lot of things, but some subtitles (we read Chinese subtitles when watching English movies) are covered. I don't have good English that time . that was why I am happy when frighteners was so outstanding and NOT MANY PEOPLE, I repeat, NOT MANY PEOPLE in cinemas. NOT MANY PEOPLE in cinemas as if this movie is junk/crappy/rubbish. but they were stupid, this movie is very remarkable, no wonder this movie is called "being highly-underrated". yes it's true, seriously underrated. people were stupid that they lost an opportunity to watch such a great movie. HOW STUPID. I am not being mean but those who had not watched this movie in cinemas must now be regretting when they watch this movie's DVD HAHA

Wow! Just watched this movie and what a trip it was!! I can't believe something as lame as Ghostbusters garnered all the attention while this gem was swept aside like the red-headed step-child. So many fantastic characters and twists and turns it made my head spin. I loved everything about this flick including the awesome special effects & the silly humour. Fox shone like he always does and the dude playing the insane FBI agent was brilliant!! Great story, wonderfully directed with great actors and a magic blend of hilarity, scariness, suspense, shocks and spookiness! I read some of the reviews here and can't believe how negative some of them are & the reasons they give for their negativity. eg "Oh boo hoo! It was awful coz the music sounded like some music I heard in another movie" and "Mr Jackson used CGI & expensive cameras and stuff & I don't think he should be allowed to, so I'm going to punish him with lower marks" etc etc Seriously? I think some people just love to be miserable.This is well worth seeing - it's just become one of my favourite movies. And now I just need to find (and buy) the Director's Cut for even more fun!