Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
The Frighteners is a wildly inventive horror-comedy that showcases Peter Jackson's singular creative voice before his LOTR era. The blend of slapstick ghost comedy with genuine serial killer horror is genuinely distinctive, and the film's frenetic energy and visual imagination set it apart. The CGI ghost effects were cutting-edge for 1996 and the tone-juggling is impressively bold. However, the ending feels rushed and tonally uneven, failing to stick the landing on the darker turn the third act attempts. Acting is solid if uneven — Michael J. Fox anchors it well, but some supporting performances veer into caricature. The plot is creative but somewhat overstuffed, losing coherence as it escalates.