The Frighteners
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Movie Reviews of The Frighteners
Movie Review: An underrated gem!
Summary: 5 Stars
In the early 1960's, a serial killer named Johnny Charles Bartlett (played BRILLIANTLY by Jake Busey) scores himself a record of killings ("That's one more than Starkweather!", he brags), with the help of his teenage girlfriend Patricia Ann Bradley (played by Dee Wallace-Stone). Twenty-something years later, Dr. Lucy Lynskey pays a visit to Patricia, in order to doctor some of her wounds. Patricia tells Lucy about her past, and why she has to keep Johnny's ashes in her room. Patricia's mother snaps at Lucy, making her leave. Psychic-investigator Frank Bannister (played wonderfully by Michael J. Fox), who can see deceased souls thanks to a accident he was in 5 years ago that killed his wife, by the help of his ghostly friends, Cyrus (Chi McBride) and Stuart (Jim Fyfe), and an undead judge (John Astin), earns a living working cases that involve objects moving around the room, toilet seats banging, water faucets turning on and off, etc. One day, Bannister acidentally scatters his business cards all over the car, and winds up crashing into a fence. He meets the owner, Ray Lynskey, who is angry at what has happened. He makes an offer to pay for the fence while giving Ray his business card. Later on, Bannister's friendly ghosts decide to frighten Ray, and his wife Lucy. Lucy decides to call Frank over, and Frank does a fake test, scoring himself another paycheck. Bannister and his friends quit fooling people when he starts noticing real hauntings around town: citizens dying mysteriously. Frank can see a figure, who looks like the grim reaper, crushing hearts of certain citizens, and then places a number on their foreheads. Lucy becomes one of the unlucky victims of one of the killings. She believes Frank has psychic abilities when her husband (who is now deceased) questions Frank about what happend to him. Ray asks Frank to invite Lucy to dinner, in order to be able to speak to her. Lucy joins Bannister in order to get to the bottom of what's happening. However, all of the killings point to Bannister, but Bannister soon figures out that Johnny Bartlett is "alive". Enter in FBI agent Investigator Dammers (played by Jeffrey Combs), a paranoid man who gets "all of the fruity cases". He takes Bannister in, and while Lucy is trying to help Bannister escape, Dammers tells her about the accident involving Bannister and his beautiful wife. While Dammers and Patricia try to stop Frank and Lucy, it's up to Frank, Lucy, and his dead friends to take down Johnny.Movie Review: Breathless, non-stop insanity...and clever, too
Summary: 5 Stars
I really like this film! Michael J. Fox has always been at his best when he does the fantasy thing, and he's in top form here. I won't go into descriptions of stuff, because it's all been said. Fox has an energy that's unending, belying the sad trials of Parkinson's that he subsequently acquired. Peter Jackson is best known for "Lord of the Rings", but his earlier work is quite profound (don't forget the haunting "Heavenly Creatures", giving Kate Winslet her big break). He shows a definite flair for fantasy. The make-up effects are bizarre, and the whole plot is so outrageous that it could only be pulled off with loads of humor, which is delivered in spades! The DVD gives an excellent transfer of the film, both in sound and picture, but the only extras are written biographies and production notes. I would've loved to see some interviews. This is the first film to present state-of-the-art special effects outside Hollywood (Jackson's own New Zealand), though I think it was filmed in the USA; Robert Zemeckis was the producer. Jackson also co-wrote the very clever script. The acting shows much dedication to the subject matter. It's a stellar cast, including Dee Wallace Stone (hard to think she was the mom in "E.T."); John Astin, Chi McBride & Jim Fyfe as good ghosts; Jake Busey (a natural as the psychotic ghost); Julianna McCarthy (excellent as the domineering mother); Peter Dobson (obnoxious by-stander); and the wonderful Lee Ermey, repeating his role from "Full Metal Jacket" as the marine sergeant ghost. A riot. The lovely Trini Alvarado could be confused for Andie MacDowell, except Trini has more facial expression & character. She's quite fine. The GREAT performance in the film is from Jeffrey Combs, as the eccentric FBI inspector who's the true psychotic of the bunch. It's over-the-top and thoroughly entertaining. Danny Elfman's music adds his usual plus to the already amazingly creative goings-on, to present a totally wonderful experience. Check this out to discover the genius behind the man who ultimately gave us "Lord of the Rings". This is a fine, fun film, as long as you let yourself kick back and run with it. You can't be disappointed!Movie Review: Atmospheres and Haunts
Summary: 5 Stars
"When a man's jawbone drops off, it's time to reassess the situation."
The Frighteners. I bought this on Widescreen VHS my freshman year in college solely based on the cover (and Zemeckis's reputation at the time), and it was the saving grace for keeping my sanity. After going through a massive (on my end) breakup, struggling with Women in Literature (I eventually pulled an A-), and learning far too late about the effects of alcohol on my friends, I would sit down and watch this movie every single day. Not all the way through. Parts of it. Usually the first hour. The location shots, especially, reminded me there was more on this globe of ours I was shutting out.
"My body is a roadmap of pain."
The atmosphere of this film is incredibly spooky. I'm not quite sure how they did it because I think this was before the Digital Intermediate was popular. The entire film is desaturated of a lot of red and yellows, while the green and blues are favored. Not so much as the Matrix films, of course... Frighteners is essentially Corpus Aeotearoa, if possible, as if created from the light of New Zealand. I love the light of the forest when Fox's character was slightly younger. Almost orange in hue.
"You are violating my territorial bubble."
This film has amazing effects in it. The ghosts look realistic, the tunnels of death are beautiful to watch, and all the sets are brilliant. I wish I knew how they did the church hospital scene, where Frank Bannister turns from the burnt down present into the shiny, slick past, in one shot. Probably motion control and plates, but I like to think they used ye olde fashioned ways...
And Michael J. Fox ... in the climactic scene ... supernal ...
Movie Review: Frightening and Funny!
Summary: 5 Stars
This has to be one of the most underrated horror movies ever made. It accomplishes what only one other movie I have seen has been able to accomplish--to be very scary and very funny, with neither of these traits lowering the impact of the other (the other movie is "Tremors", which I also highly recommend). The plot revolves around Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) who, since the death of his wife in a car accident, has become able to see spirits and even interact with them. The town he lives in has been having a large number of mysterious deaths, where people have suffered what appears to be a heart attack but they have no heart disease or heart block. It's as if something had reached inside their chests and squeezed their hearts till they stopped.
Not too much plot description can be given without giving too much of the movie away, but Frank finds himself trying to fight the cause of these deaths (which appears to look like the Grim Reaper) and along the way meets a doctor, whose husband is one of the victims, and an FBI agent who gets "all the weirdo cases" and makes Fox Mulder look normal (you have to see "Agent Dahmers" to believe him--and Jeffrey Coombs, who plays the role, steals all of his scenes).
All of this is tied to a mass murder years before at a local sanitarium, but Frank has to risk his life to find out what is going on before he can begin to try to figure out how to stop it.
I've watched this movie so many times that I wore out my VHS version and bought it on DVD. Even after you've seen the movie and seen the pieces all fall into place, it's still enjoyable to watch. It still is creepy and funny, even after multiple viewings. I think it is one of the best horror movies ever made.
Movie Review: Scary, Thrilling Fun!
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Frighteners" is one of those movies that has you exasperated at the finish, but smiling from ear to ear! This movie has it all! Great story...incredible action...awesome special effects...great characters! Zemeckis crafts a brilliant screenplay with wonderful actors in out-in-leftfield roles. I don't want to give away the movie's plot because getting through it is so much fun. You'll jump, laugh, and gasp! I've shown this movie to many people and every one has liked it. Zemeckis must have really liked this movie because the digital effects are astounding along with Zemeckis' trademark jaw-dropping shots. Also, the ending sequences are absolutely incredible. Filmed in unbelievable fashion, they leave every moviegoer asking how he did that. Once again, can't tell you why (it would ruin the end). There are so many richly-drawn supporting characters, it is impossible to name them here. All of them add their own magic to the ensemble. For those inquiring about the quality of the disc, let your fears subside. The picture is very clear and natural looking. The colors wonderful and natural. The Dolby Digital soundtrack is thunderous and very impressive! Every sound is rendered cleanly with monsterous LFE channel support. It is truly an impressive reproduction of this movie. The disc does contain a few cast/crew bios and some production notes, but they are not the grade of some of New Line's extras. Still, the disc stands out for it's impressive presentation of its feature.
I hope everyone discovers this little gem. It makes for great movie fun and will be great addition to any DVD library! Get a hold of this DVD! You will be entertained!