“Give it up, Frank! Death ain't no way to make a living!”
Welcome to Harbour Highlights, a series of cult and classic favourites, handpicked by the staff of Harbour Lights. Following on from December’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Matt takes us a step back in director Peter Jackson’s carer with 1996’s comedy horror The Frighteners.
Starring Michael J. Fox, the film follows a psychic who uses his ability to orchestrate fake hauntings that he can then exorcise for a large fee. However, he soon finds himself in over his head when the spirit of a mass murderer begins attacking both the living and the dead. Originally written as an episode of Tales from the Crypt, the script impressed the studio enough that it was reconceived as a big budget film, with Jackson given total artistic control. Using the same approach he would for Lord of the Rings, it was film entirely in New Zealand, with Jackson’s own Weta Digital used to create more digital effects shots than any other film at that time.
Despite being praised by critics – especially for its visuals and Fox’s performance – the film underperformed commercially on release. Rediscovered on home video, it’s since developed a passionate cult following, especially when viewed as a bridge between Jackson’s earlier independent splatter comedy work and his big-budget studio films. The Frighteners remains a uniquely weird film, in all the right ways.
