Flashback Friday: The Frighteners (1996) Review

A halloween horror spree and preemption for Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movie led me to view The Frighteners (1996), a delightful movie that enchants through its visual spectacle, soft comedy and occasional horror. Often described as a blend of Beetlejuice and Ghostbusters, it deservedly attained cult status and should be re-visited by all.

The ever-likeable Michael J.Fox  stars as Frank Bannister, a supernatural private-eye who developed a powers to see the deceased after a near-death encounter. What may originally seem like a cliched theme which has been used  to death in Hollywood (if you'll pardon the pun) from films like the Sixth Sense to The Others, here it is dealt with in a novel way. In particular, the interaction of Bannister with various ghosts works to produce comedic scenarios with the highlight being a cameo from R. Lee Ermey who parodies his Full Metal Jacket sergeant character. Bannister's power takes him into dark territory after the occurrence of various ghostly assassinations which seem to be tied to a brutal serial killer from 20 years earlier. As he teams up with Lucy Lunskey (Trini Alvarado), Bannister has to take more and more extreme steps to unravel the mystery of the recent killings

"Get back in the goddamn ground,you unorganised grab-asstic gob of teleplasmic shit!"- R.Lee Ermey as Hiles in the Frighteners

The Frighteners(1996) marks a transitional phase in direction for Peter Jackson taking the comedic horror from his low-budget movies such as Bad Taste (1987) and Dead Alive (1992) and mixing it in with relentless action of the Lord of the Rings franchise. The light-hearted nature of the actors do well to keep the story from getting too heavy and the frantic movement of the story will constantly keep the audience interested along the whole ride with all the twists and turns leading to a satisfying but somewhat underwhelming ending. But like the latest Hobbit movies, it is the journey rather than the outcome that makes for a enjoyable film.

8/10