The Frighteners
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 practices necromancy, developing 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, the spirit of a mass murderer appears able to attack the living and the dead, posing as the ghost of the Grim Reaper, prompting Frank to investigate the supernatural presence.
Plot
In 1990, architect Frank Bannister's wife, Debra, dies in a car accident. He abandons his profession and his unfinished "dream house" sits incomplete. Following the accident, Frank gained the power to see ghosts and he befriends three: 1970s street gangster Cyrus, 1950s nerd Stuart, and The Judge, a gunslinger from the Old West. The ghosts haunt houses so Frank can then "exorcise" them for a fee. Most locals consider him a con man.
More details
| author | Fran Walsh Peter Jackson |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | California |
| director | Peter Jackson |
| editor | Jamie Selkirk |
| events | supernatural |
| genre | comedy horror |
| keywords | american frontier arrest ash attack barbiturate body count build capture car accident charles manson charles starkweather con man confidence trick death death penalty dream house exorcise exorcism fbi fbi agent federal bureau of investigation giant worm giant worm-like creature grim reaper gunfighter gunslinger heart attack hell hellmouth his family in 1969 hypothermia kill newspaper editor ouija board psychiatric hospital rid spahn ranch#manson family headquarters street gang the old west unfinished |
| musicBy | Danny Elfman |
| producer | Jamie Selkirk Peter Jackson |
| productionCompany | AFI Catalog of Feature Films WingNut Films |
| publisher | Universal Pictures |
| recordedAt | New Zealand |
| theme | black comedy comedy horror ghost serial killer |