The Frighteners (1996)

The Frighteners has a fun story with interesting characters and excellent performances, but it seems sloppy and thrown together at times. The scary moments work well, but the humor falls flat. Still, it's enjoyable to watch.

'The Frighteners (1996)' balances its comedic and horrific elements well, with the picture getting surprisingly dark towards its final act and the mystery that propels its plot forward being a rather interesting and occasionally enigmatic one. There's a number of moments where the CGI doesn't hold up so well, but for the most part the piece still looks remarkably good. It also helps that the world is a uniquely off-kilter one filled with odd-ball characters that are a joy to watch. Michael J. Fox gives his best performance outside of his iconic 'Marty McFly' role, with a turn that's incredibly unique and wholly believable. The infrequent, almost slapstick inspired gory moments add a gritty and darkly funny punch to the flick, too. It does sometimes seem to get a bit too dark for its own good, likely a result of the numerous clashes with the MPAA that resulted in Jackson stopping aiming for the 'PG-13' and going straight for the 'R', but becomes a more distinct and compelling picture for it. 7/10

After the traumatic experience of losing his beloved wife Debra (Angela Bloomfield) in a car accident, the architect Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) acquires the ability of seeing ghosts. He quits his profession; abandons the construction of his dream house to live with Debra and becomes a con man, using the ghosts Cyrus (Chi McBride), Stuart (Jim Fyfe) and The Judge (John Astin) to haunt houses and then charging the dwellers to exorcise their homes.Dr. Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado) visits the reclusive Patricia Ann Bradley (Dee Wallace-Stone), who was a former delinquent and girlfriend of the serial–killer Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey) that lives with her mother, she notes that Patricia has bruises. Lucy returns home and together with her husband Ray Lynskey (Peter Dobson), they are haunted by a poltergeist. She calls Frank and soon Ray has a heart attack. Lucy meets Frank in a restaurant and he realizes that Soul Collector is marking numbers in the forehead of his victims before killing them. Frank becomes prime suspect of the police due to his knowledge about the murders and he is arrested. Meanwhile the psychotic FBI agent Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) comes to the city to investigate the murder cases. When Frank finds that Lucy will be the next victim of the Reaper, he takes the ultimate decision to fight the entity to save her."The Frighteners" is a weird, but entertaining and original film by Peter Jackson. The story is too violent for comedy and too silly for horror; therefore the genre is indeed a combination of comedy, romance, horror and fantasy. The special effects are excellent and state-of-art for a 1996 movie. Michael J. Fox shines in the role of the psychic Frank Bannister and Trini Alvarado is perfect in the role of his romantic pair Dr. Lucy Lynskey. All the characters are interesting and peculiar, and the cast has great performances independently of the special effects. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Os Espíritos" ("The Spirits")

I remember my older brother showing me this movie when it first came out. I was younger and had a very vivid imagination so it scared the hell out of me. Today I went back and re-watched this movie I have not seen since then and while my imagination is still vivid, I respect the movie now because of it.The movie starts off I would say 80/20 Comedy/Horror. You get to see the shenanigans that MJF and his two ghost cohorts pull off. Watching the transformation of his character as he slowly realizes that he's up against more then he thought. The story develops unbelievably well. The characters (living and dead)are well thought out and brought to life, with such great enthusiasm it's amazing. The story evolves slowly and dramatically, each minute bringing more and more to the story.The acting is amazing. MJF, awesome. Playing both the con artist, and then the hero. Jake Busey pulls of crazy well, but then again he is his fathers son. The CGI I think is pretty awesome for the time. The grim reaper shots, still give me the creeps.Over all I have a love for this movie that makes me want to keep watching it again and again.