For the Matt Helm spy novel by Donald Hamilton, see The Frighteners (novel). For The Avengers episode, see The Frighteners (The Avengers).
The Frighteners
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Peter Jackson
Written by
Fran Walsh
Peter Jackson
Produced by
Peter Jackson
Jamie Selkirk
Starring
Michael J. Fox
Trini Alvarado
Peter Dobson
John Astin
Dee Wallace Stone
Jeffrey Combs
Jake Busey
Cinematography
John Blick
Alun Bollinger
Edited by
Jamie Selkirk
Music by
Danny Elfman
Production company
WingNut Films[1]
Distributed by
Universal Pictures[1]
Release date
July 19, 1996 (1996-07-19)
Running time
110 minutes[2]
Countries
United States[3]
New Zealand[3]
Language
English
Budget
$26 million[4]
Box office
$29.3 million
The Frighteners is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey and Jake Busey. The Frighteners tells the story of Frank Bannister (Fox), an architect who develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts after his wife's murder. He initially uses his new abilities to befriend ghosts, whom he sends to haunt people so that he can charge them handsome fees for "exorcising" the ghosts. However, an entity posing as the Grim Reaper appears, able to attack the living and the dead, prompting Frank to investigate the supernatural presence.
Jackson and Walsh conceived the idea for The Frighteners during the script-writing phase of Heavenly Creatures. Executive producer Robert Zemeckis hired the duo to write the script, with the original intention of Zemeckis directing The Frighteners as a spin-off film of the television series, Tales from the Crypt. With Jackson and Walsh's first draft submitted in January 1994, Zemeckis believed the film would be better off directed by Jackson, produced by Zemeckis and funded/distributed by Universal Studios. The visual effects were created by Jackson's Weta Digital, which had only been in existence for three years. This, plus the fact that The Frighteners required more digital effects shots than almost any movie made until that time, resulted in the eighteen-month period for effects work by Weta Digital being largely stressed.
Despite a rushed post-production schedule, Universal was so impressed with Jackson's rough cut on The Frighteners, the studio moved the theatrical release date up by three months. The film was not a box office success, but received generally positive reviews from critics. The film gained a cult following and is considered a cult classic in Jackson's catalog.[5][6][7][8][9]
^ ab"The Frighteners (1996)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
^"THE FRIGHTENERS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 10, 1997. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
^ ab"The Frighteners (1996)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^Pryor, Ian (2003). Peter Jackson: From Prince of Splatter to Lord of the Rings. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. pp. 204–205. ISBN 0-312-32294-1.
^"How Peter Jackson's the Frighteners Brought the Personification of Death to Life". December 14, 2018.
^"Peter Jackson's 'The Frighteners': An Unjustly Forgotten Gem". May 8, 2018.
^"Peter Jackson's the Frighteners: The Best Movie You Never Saw". October 20, 2020.
^"'The Frighteners' is the Perfect Bookend to Peter Jackson's Horror Period". July 21, 2022.
^"The Frighteners, Peter Jackson's Precursor to Lord of the Rings, Still Scares and Surprises". May 11, 2018.
TheFrighteners is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini...
comedy The Frighteners (1996), the epic monster remake film King Kong (2005), the World War I documentary film They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) and the documentary...
Johnny Bartlett in 1996's TheFrighteners, Ace Levy in 1997's Starship Troopers, Kyle Brenner in 2001's Tomcats, Aiden Tanner in the 2014–2016 TV series From...
numerous starring roles. In film, he has played prominent roles including TheFrighteners (1996), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), I, Robot (2004), Waiting... (2005)...
"Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy horror film TheFrighteners. She also has...
Φοβήτωρ; 'Frightener' from Ancient Greek: φόβος, phobos, 'fear' 'panic'), so called by men, or Icelos (Ancient Greek: Ἴκελος; 'Like'), so called by the gods...
and the Pendulum (1991) and Castle Freak (1995). His other horror film appearances include Necronomicon (1993), Peter Jackson's TheFrighteners (1996)...
(1987) and TheFrighteners (1996). Astin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his directorial debut, the comedic short...
ability to frighten children. Other notable moments in that decade include a disembodied brain falling to the floor in The Brain of Morbius and the Doctor...
to disturb, frighten or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative...
"Congressional lawmakers share 'frightening' insight into Capitol riot, how a police officer saved lives". WFAA. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021...
full producer (and editor) on TheFrighteners. Like Jackson, Selkirk has continued to live and work in New Zealand despite the international success of his...
later said that the frightening nature of the costumes prevented most of the Oz principals from eating in the studio commissary; and the toxicity of Hamilton's...
of the truth and frightening Ablabius into releasing the generals, for fear of Hell. Later versions of the story are more elaborate, interweaving the two...
around the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal stories intended to scare, frighten, or discomfort readers. The term...
literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror, possessing...
appearances in Sing (1989), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), The Marrying Man (1991), TheFrighteners (1996), and Drowning Mona (2000), in addition to a cameo...
If the Wind Frightens You (French: Si le vent te fait peur) is a 1960 Belgian drama film directed by Emile Degelin. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes...
Jackson's TheFrighteners (1996). On television, Wallace played a leading role in the CBS sitcom Together We Stand (1986–1987) and the family drama The New...
Global Information