Review for The Frighteners: Peter Jackson's Director's Cut (Review)
Monday, 23rd August 2010, 15:16

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Introduction
One thing that is really cool is to know something that few other people do. It makes you feel special, part of a select crowd. For a while after 1996, I knew that Peter Jackson was an amazing mainstream director. Not a lot of people knew that, and wouldn't do for a good few years until the Lord of the Rings movies came out. Before 1996, Peter Jackson was better known for cult hits like Braindead, and Heavenly Creatures. The days of packed cinemas, mega-budgets, and awards triumphs were yet to come, but what drew me to The Frighteners wasn't even Peter Jackson's name, it was Robert Zemeckis and Michael J. Fox, who together created a major strut of my adolescence with the Back to the Future films. Zemeckis was producing this time around, but the combination still tickled my taste buds. When The Frighteners was released, I hastened to a London cinema to take in this latest summer blockbuster with the teeming masses, which as per convention of the era hit the UK in winter. The teeming masses in Leicester Square turned out to be me, and about five other people, in a cinema that normally seats a few thousand. That wasn't a good sign, and even though I saw one of the best movies I had seen in ages that day, the world didn't agree. It's fair to say that The Frighteners flopped on its theatrical release.

You can't keep a good movie down though, and as so occasionally happens with box office flops, word of mouth and home video gave it a life beyond expectations, and it has to be said that The Lord of the Rings movies giving Peter Jackson such clout also gave it a second life. Certainly the first DVD release of The Frighteners back in 1999 was pretty dismal and vanilla, non-anamorphic and with no extras worth mentioning. In an era where double dips were becoming increasingly common, I waited for The Frighteners to get an upgrade, especially as the Director's Cut was released on Laserdisc along with a massive making of documentary in 1998. The upgrade wasn't forthcoming though until the LOTR movies finally convinced Universal to cash in on the growing Peter Jackson-mania. That was back in 2005, and the DVDs have lain on my re-watch pile ever since.

Frank Bannister is an architect turned psychic investigator. When ghostly activity occurs in the sleepy town of Fairwater, he is invariably called to exorcise the restless spirits. In actual fact, Frank has chanced upon the perfect scam. Since a traumatic event, he actually has been able to see the spirits of the deceased. He's gathered a motley crew of dispossessed wraiths and uses them to engineer the hauntings. But events take a sinister turn when Frank becomes mixed up in an unexplained series of deaths. He performs an "exorcism" at the house of Lucy Lynskey but notices an ethereal number carved into her husband's forehead. Soon after, he dies of a heart attack. The Grim Reaper is loose in Fairwater, and only Frank can see the cloaked spirit fleeing from the scene of each death. This has the unfortunate effect of making him prime suspect, and soon the amiable Sheriff and a creepy FBI agent are pursuing him. Meanwhile, Lucy, who is a doctor in the town surgery, has paid a visit to Patricia Bradley, a reclusive woman who lives with her mother in a dilapidated mansion. When Patricia was 15 years old, she was the accomplice of a serial killer, Johnny Bartlett, who murdered 12 people in the local hospital. Yet now Patricia is being terrorised in the mansion, and Lucy wishing to help gets drawn into the creepy history of the Bradley Bartlett murders. Events draw Lucy and Frank together as they fight the supernatural menace and try to solve the mystery of Patricia Bradley in this chillingly funny film.

Picture
At last The Frighteners gets the transfer it deserves, a splendid 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer that is clear and sharp throughout. Detail levels are astounding, the colours are strong and consistent, and other than the odd fleck of dirt, there's hardly any sign of age. Also, other than a smidge of grain, there really are no nits to pick with the transfer, no artefacts, no edge enhancement, it's just what you would want from a film on DVD. Also, The Frighteners is yet to see a Blu-ray release, so if you want a better picture than this, you'll have to buy the HD-DVD. Remember those?

Like the Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson has filmed this film on location in New Zealand, with the town of Lyttleton substituting for the American coastal town of Fairwater. The scenery is just gorgeous, filled with rolling green hills and picturesque coastal views. The look of the film is carefully thought out as well, a faded palette of colours lending an unearthly touch to the story and adds a genuinely spooky atmosphere. Pale greens and rich browns dominate and all the characters have pale flesh tones. The only exceptions are the flashback and otherworld scenes. The effects are remarkably well done, with the ghosts looking suitably spooky, and it has to be said that even after 15 years, the effects hold up astonishingly well.

Sound
You have a choice between DD 5.1 and DTS English for the Director's Cut, with plenty of subtitle tracks. The film gets an excellent, vibrant audio presentation that brings the action and music out in effective fashion. The sound design has to be something special to match the visual effects, and the otherworldliness of the spooks and spectres comes across with clarity. Danny Elfman's score is perfectly suited to the film, while I have to admit that The Muttonbird's cover of Don't Fear The Reaper is a particular favourite of mine.

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