Review: The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners 

IMDB rate: 7,2

Genre: Ghost, Comedic

Another Netflix ghost movies! This time it's a bit different though because The Frighteners is also a very funny movie. This movie is from 1996 but when I watched it I could swear it was a lot older. I'm not sure if they made it look older on purpose or if it's not on purpose, but anyway, I thought the movie was a lot older. 

I don't think this will be a very long review, there's not a whole lot to say I think. 

After a car accident in which his wife, Debra, was killed and he was injured, Frank Bannister develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear and communicate with ghosts. After losing his wife, he then gave up his job as an architect, letting his unfinished "dream house" sit incomplete for years, and put these skills to use by befriending a few ghosts and getting them to haunt houses in the area to drum up work for his ghostbusting business; Then Frank proceeds to "exorcise" the houses for a fee. But when he discovers that an entity resembling the Grim Reaper is killing people, marking numbers on their forehead beforehand, Frank tries to help the people whom the reaper is after. 

Michael J. Fox plays the role of Frank Bannister, and this is actually his last leading role in a movie. After this he only did very small parts or TV shows. I am a big fan of Michael J. Fox actually, of course, after seeing Back to the Future, who isn't a big fan of him? Great movies. His character are often the same though as when he was Marty McFly. A funny guy whose also clumsy and clever. I like these roles of him, although they do get a bit boring after awhile. Even in Spin City he was this guy. Anyway, no complains on his acting. He did a good job in this movie I thought. I wasn't too crazy about Trini Alvarado, I'm not familiar with her other acting but in The Frighteners she was a bit fake. She just tried a bit too hard. 

The ghosts in this movie aren't very real looking, I think they're quite crappy looking actually. But in a movie like this it doesn't really matter, because it's not seriously meant anyway. I think this movie is much like The Haunted Mansion, it has the same comedic twist and also the same style of ghosts and stuff. I always loved the watch The Haunted Mansion when I was a kid, and I think if I would've seen this movie when I was that age that I would love it as well. The Frighteners is a bit a family horror movie I think, although it does contain a bit more bloody scenes compared with The Haunted Mansion.

Peter Jackson is the director of this movie by the way, I think it's really fun to see his switch from horror movies like Braindead and The Frighteners to big Hollywood movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (and for some reason he made this crap movie called The Lovely Bones in between).  

The Frighteners is a fun family horror movie. The performance of Michael J. Fox is amazing as usual, he really carries this movie. The special effects weren't too great, the ghost were quite fake looking and a bit over the top ghost like, but I wasn't really bothered with it, because it fits the movie. I definitely liked it. 

My personal rate: 7/10