Even Though Peter Jackson’s 1996 Horror Movie With Michael J. Fox Flopped Hard at the Box Office — It’s Absolutely Worth Your Attention
1996 saw the release of Peter Jackson’s first major Hollywood studio production, The Frighteners. While the film was a box office flop, grossing only $29 million off of its $26 million budget, it’s still a highly underrated horror-comedy. The Frighteners delivers an entertaining genre mash-up that looks visually striking. It boasts strong performances, visual effects that were cutting-edge for their time, and it provides a refreshingly original scenario. Despite this, the movie was not a hit with moviegoers or critics. With the shifting cinematic landscape, perhaps now is the perfect time to revisit The Frighteners.
‘The Frighteners’ Showcases Peter Jackson’s Evolution
An interesting aspect about The Frighteners is that it showcases Jackson’s evolution as a filmmaker. The Frighteners was Jackson’s precursor to The Lord of the Rings. In the mid-1990s, Jackson was an up-and-coming filmmaker, known for his wackier, lower-budget splatter-house films, such as the horror-comedy Bad Taste, the zombie comedy Dead Alive (a.k.a Braindead), and the adult puppet-themed comedy Meet the Feebles. The Frighteners was his follow-up to the critically acclaimed 1994 drama, Heavenly Creatures, which earned Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
The Frighteners represented the culmination of the New Zealand filmmaker’s earlier forays into lower-budget horror comedies. It also allowed Jackson a bigger budget and canvas to unleash his imagination, along with his unique sensibilities for dark, wicked, and grim humor, with a plot involving the architect-turned-afterlife psychic, Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox). Bannister possesses a unique ability to commune with ghosts, which he utilizes as a means to scam people as his ghost acquaintances “haunt” other people. However, Bannister soon draws the attention of a deadly Grim Reaper-like spirit, who can attack both the living and the dead.
The Frighteners exceptionally marries both horror and comedy through its intense macabre imagery and amusing comedic moments. Bannister shares a humorous relationship with his ghostly pals, The Judge (John Astin), Cyrus (Chi McBride), and Stuart (Jim Fyfe), who work as the ghosts Bannister falsely exorcises. The unfolding plot later reveals a traumatic backstory for Bannister, disclosing that his wife’s murder is connected to the new killings. The FBI agent Milton Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) believes Bannister is the murderer, bringing things together in a wild third act, revealing the truth behind the deadly specter posing as the Grim Reaper. Jackson, as a director, has proven that he’s comfortable working in just about any genre, and The Frighteners exemplifies that with its unique blend of supernatural horror, comedy, and even a bit of action. His comfort working in multiple genres would serve him well later when moving on to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
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Peter Jackson Transitioned Into More Prestigious Fare After ‘The Frighteners’
Although The Frighteners was not a huge success, it was clearly a major stepping stone and learning experience in Jackson’s career. After The Frighteners, he embarked on directing The Lord of the Rings trilogy, an event that changed blockbuster films forever. Jackson and his collaborators filmed three major book adaptations chronologically, releasing them only one year apart, starting with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, followed by The Two Towers in 2002, and finally, The Return of the King in 2003. The Frighteners proved Jackson’s talents and his ability to work with larger budgets and casts, evident in The Lord of the Rings trilogy which became a box-office smash, hitting with both critics and audiences. The final film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, won a clean sweep at the Academy Awards in 2004, winning all eleven of its nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Jackson, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jackson, Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy elevated Jackson’s career into the upper echelon of prominent directors. Later, he directed his dream film, the 2005 blockbuster remake of King Kong. He returned to The Lord of the Rings franchise once again, directing The Hobbit trilogy, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012. Jackson also directed its two sequels, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 2013, and its finale, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, in 2014. None of it would’ve happened without The Frighteners — the film that cracked Hollywood’s door open for Jackson.
Peter Jackson Crafts a Weirdly Funny, Grotesquely Scary Experience
As a movie, The Frighteners is strangely humorous, scary, disturbing, suspenseful, and compelling. It’s not a perfect movie or a masterpiece by any means. Watching the film in theaters when it first came out was a bizarre experience. At first, it seems like you’re in for a wacky comedy with Michael J. Fox and a crew of mischievous, eccentric ghosts. Although that is part of the plot, Jackson throws some interesting curveballs into the works with the film’s horrifyingt, and sometimes unsettling, imagery. The plot progresses into a harrowing story about the trauma of losing a loved one and near-death experiences.
The film also pays homage to Jackson’s horror movie past with some shocking moments of R-rated violence and gore. Combs delivers one of the best performances of his career as Agent Dammers, who grows gradually more unhinged as the plot progresses. Combs’ casting is pitch perfect, noting his own background with bloody gore-fests, such as Re-Animator. His role as Agent Dammers acts as a great homage to his horror filmography as well. The film’s visual depiction of ghosts and malevolent spirits would also evolve into Jackson’s later films. The malevolent Grim Reaper-like phantom closely resembles Jackson’s depictions of the Nazgûl in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The more benign ghostly spirits, such as The Judge, also closely resemble undead figures who appear frequently throughout The Lord of the Rings film franchise.
The Frighteners may not have turned out as initially expected, but it still provided an incredibly entertaining and rewarding experience. It’s a film that brings Jackson’s amazing style to the table in every category and it exists as an interesting footnote in Jackson’s directing career and evolution. Jackson’s experience working on The Frighteners benefited his career before he progressed to direct larger, more prestigious fare and became one of the most prolific, award-winning filmmakers on the planet. The film should be celebrated for its ingenuity, amazing visual effects, and Jackson’s skill in juggling multiple narrative genres with aplomb. Despite the movie’s failure, it put Jackson on Hollywood’s radar, spearheading him into The Lord of the Rings franchise. Jackson essentially walked with The Frighteners so he could learn how to run with The Lord of the Rings.
