The Frighteners already had an international 4K release, but it’s here in the U.S. for the film’s 30th anniversary. This movie has such a clever hook, it really should have been a bigger hit. Perhaps it should not have been a summer movie, so at least Arrow is releasing the special edition in time for Halloween.
Michael J. Fox plays Frank Bannister, a psychic who runs a scam with his ghost friends. They’ll haunt houses so people will call Frank to bust them. Frank gets a chance to redeem himself when the ghost of Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey) menaces the town. He uses his powers and the help of his friends on the other side.
It was only the second movie for Weta FX after Peter Jackson’s previous Heavenly Creatures. The supernatural script provided many creative challenges to realize ghostly effects, which they’d later employ on Lord of the Rings. I have to say they hold up, mainly because they’re not trying to convince us anything is real. It’s all imaginary ghost stuff.
It is nice to see modern New Zealand in 4K, as in not Middle Earth, even though it’s supposed to be America. There are some deep black night skies over Frank’s unfinished house and in the cemetery, and shadow in the abandoned hospital.
Surround sound produces ghost rumble and whooshing around. Several ghosts have artillery so the Judge (John Astin)’s gunshots and Hiles (R. Lee Ermy)’s machine guns ricochet back and forth. There is some rain for subtle ambiance.
A brand new look back by Richard Taylor and other filmmakers runs 94 minutes, but the most personal part comes during the outtakes in the end credits.
But they’d already produced four and a half hours of bonus features for laserdisc. This is a prelude to the Appendices on the Lord of the Rings DVDs. 45 minutes alone are just storyboards! These include auditions and rehearsals, Fox chatting with New Zealand kids between takes, in depth spotlights on The Reapoer, the dog, the Gatekeeper, worm and more creatures, and all the actors give interviews.
The crew running with blue screen behind actors seems way more involved than modern behind the scenes. Now they’re just on a green screen stage or The Volume.
Another more recent 40 minutes with Richard Taylor includes notes on inspiration from the Santa Clause prosthetics and some personal cow birth filming. It’s nice to hear him react to specific questions with “let me talk about that” and still remember in detail.