Has maybe not aged flawlessly, but it's very silly and very involved in a good kind of way. Kind of feels like a spoof but I'm honestly not sure what of, so I think that it's maybe just a light toned take on some pretty dark subject matter. It's been about 20 years since I last watched The Frighteners and I think I could probably go about that long before I watch it again, but I still do think it's worthwhile.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._

When a man's jawbone drops off it's time to reassess the situation.

Peter Jackson's The Frighteners is an odd blend of outright comedy and supernatural thriller, if able to get onside with that then there's a whole lot to enjoy. Plot essential has Michael J. Fox as a psychic who really can see dead people, so much so in fact that he has befriended three ghosts and makes a living out of setting up hauntings and charging people to exorcise the spirits. However, things turn decidedly deadly when he encounters a grim reaper like spirit that is killing people and putting a number on their foreheads. It seems there is a serial killing spirit on the loose.

Frank Bannister (Fox) is grieving from the death of his wife and he has become a conman, this is an interesting characterisation for Fox to play and he does so with relish. Initially the pic is all about the comedy, with Bannister's interactions with the three ghosts devilishly funny. Ok, the effects work now look a bit crude, but there's a vibrancy on offer both visually and orally.

Come the second third the pic shifts into a serial killer investigation and the narrative gets dark. Oh there's still fun in the mix, but Jackson and his team are toying with the very real facet of a celebrity serial killer (ebulliently played by Jake Busey). Trini Alvarado (what happened to her?) is playing what ends up as Bannister's side-kick and love interest and the pair of them are thrust into a frantic final third of a life and death battle with Busey's psychotic spirit Johnny Bartlett. Bartlett in turn is aided by mentally ill Patricia Bradley (horror icon Dee Wallace Stone), while an outrageously over the top Jeffrey Combs is in the mix as a damaged FBI agent intent on destroying bannister and all he stands for.

When you strip it down it's a live action horror comedy cartoon, which when you look in context to Jackson's early work is not surprising. It's also not surprising that The Frighteners has become a cult movie of some standing. The bonkers plot, the close to the knuckle humour and choice narrative threads make it a fascinating viewing experience. 7.5/10

"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.