From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:44:22 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!nntp.uib.no!nntp-bergen.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!oslonett.no!sn.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!enews.sgi.com!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!cbgw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: BXBE64F@prodigy.com (Larry Mcgillicuddy) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: THE FRIGHTENERS (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jul 1996 15:45:30 GMT Organization: Prodigy Services Company 1-800-PRODIGY Lines: 56 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4t2s2q$685@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: XBE64F@prodigy.com (Larry Mcgillicuddy) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05674 Keywords: author=McGillicuddy Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5008 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1034 THE FRIGHTENERS A film review by Larry McGillicuddy Copyright 1996 Larry McGillicuddy ****(out of 4) Directed by Peter Jackson Starring Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffery Combs, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Chi McBride, R. Lee Ermey Review- Peter Jackson's The Frighteners has received some notice for setting the record for most computer effects ever in a movie, and still coming in at the extremely cheap $30 million price tag. But for those who were dismayed by this year's blockbusters like Twister and Independence Day, The Frighteners has much more to offer than special effects. And for those worried wether or not Peter Jackson would compromise to Hollywood you can rest easily. The Frighteners is as far removed from Hollywood as a high-profile movie can get. Michael J. Fox stars as Frank Bannister, a con artist who can speak to ghosts. He uses this ability to set up a scam in a small town where his ghost buddies scare the hell out of people, then he comes and pretends to get rid of them. This is how he has made a living ever since his wife died in a car crash 5 years ago. Frank's latest customers are a young couple, played by Trini Alvarado and Peter Dobson. When Dobson ends up dead, Alvarado starts to take an interest in Fox. But Dobson's spirit is still around as he refuses to beleive he's dead. This leads to a very awkward and amusing dinner date between Fox and Alvarado, with Dobson tagging along as a ghost. Things start getting complicated for Fox when he is accused for a series of murders taking place in the town. Fox sees someone named The Soul Collector crushing the heart of the victims, but noone else can see that. So when Fox shows up to try and save each victim, naturally people suspect he is the killer. Fox sees that Alvarado is next on The Soul Collector's hit list, and the last half hour of the movie deals with Fox's attempts to save her from this evil spirit. There are many wonderful twists and turns in the screenplay written by Peter Jackson and Frances Walsh. The movie starts off as a black comedy, and ends up a horror-action film. The mix between these genres are perfect. No laughs are sacrificed in the name of horror, and vice versa. One point of contention might be a lackluster score by Danny Elfman. But that hardly seems like a flaw when you have such a diverse cast all in top form. Michael J. Fox delivers one of his best performances to date as a man who hides the sorrow of his wife's death, and then is forced to confront this later on. Alvarado, looking like Andie MacDowell, makes a great frightened, tough, and smart heroine. And Jeffery Combs, as a paranoid FBI agent, is brilliantly bizaare. The Frighteners never once feels like it is running long. The first hour is as funny as any comedy this year, and the last half hour is as thrilling as any of the big budget blockbusters. This movie is probably what Casper would've looked like if David Lynch directed it. It's easily the best film of the year, so far. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:45:01 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!nntp-oslo.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!oslonett.no!sn.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!enews.sgi.com!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!cbgw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: chuckd21@southeast.net (Chuck Dowling) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: THE FRIGHTENERS (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jul 1996 15:46:01 GMT Organization: Southeast Network Services, Inc. Lines: 99 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4t2s3p$689@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: chuckd21@southeast.net (Chuck Dowling) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05675 Keywords: author=Dowling Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5009 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1035 THE FRIGHTENERS [Spoilers] A film review by Chuck Dowling Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling (1996) ** - C:Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Jeffrey Combs, Jake Busey, Dee Wallace Stone, R. Lee Ermey. "The Frighteners" tries to be too many things all at once. It's part comedy, part horror, part thriller, and sadly, only partially entertaining. The film stars Michael J. Fox, a con-man who enlists the aid of two spirits to haunt people's houses. Then he shows up to "exterminate" them and collects from the homeowners. Sounds good so far. The town that he lives in however, has had a recent history of people dying mysteriously. Mainly, their hearts have been crushed with no signs of outside force used. Sounds good too. Then, Fox is able to see one of the murders take place. It's committed by a grim-reaper type spirit that just reaches into people and rips the life out of them. Also very interesting. So what's the problem? Well, the main problem with "The Frighteners" is that there's no depth into anything. The paragraph above gives as much information as the movie gives, which is hardly any. Fox is working with two spirits, a stereotypical black man and a wimpy white guy, to help him scam money. How does he know these spirits? How did he meet them? How did they decide to do this? What exactly do they do during these cons? No details available. At one point, the spirits are haunting a rich woman, making her small children fly around the room. When Fox shows up to exterminate them, she waves a newspaper in his face which states that he is a local con man who bothers people at funerals. So she throws him out. Now, did the newspaper state that he works with two spirits to con people? No, of course not. If it had, ever newspaper in the world would be hounding him. All it said was that he bothers people at funerals. So she just dismisses the fact that her children were FLYING AROUND THE ROOM. Yeah, ok. Anyway, this interesting plot line is dismissed 15 minutes into the film. So now we're onto the mystery of what is killing all the people in town. Well, early on in the film we are treated to footage from a documentary about a vicious killing spree at a hospital in town. The murders were committed by an orderly there (Jake Busey, who looks and sounds so much like his father Gary that it's frightening) who wanted to kill more people than one of his mass murderer idols. We are then told that the orderly was executed for his crimes. Now, why are we watching this? Well, one of the Laws Of Movies is that you will hardly ever be given information in a film that doesn't have anything to do with the story (unless you're watching Michael Mann's Heat). So obviously it's this guy's spirit who's doing all the killing. But the film treats the discovery of this like some sort of revalation, like we're supposed to be so surprised by it. I can't stand watching a story where we the audience know everything that's happening but have to watch the characters on screen figure it out for themselves. That's why I can't stand TV's "Columbo". The biggest problem I have with the film is that nothing about the spirits or the spirit world is given any detail. For example, the two spirit friends of Fox have to ride in his car to get from place to place, yet other spirits, like the demon, just fly around. These spirits walk without any problems, but pass through walls and fall in holes and other things. Then why does the ground support them? R. Lee Ermey (the drill sergeant from "Full Metal Jacket") has a great bit part here as a drill sergeant spirit who's in charge of the graveyard and keeps the other spirits in line. He can, at will, change outfits and suddenly produce big machine guns from thin air. So why can't the other spirits do this as well? The black spirit complains early on that he wants a new outfit. Well, Ermey can change his clothes with ease, so why can't the black guy? Later, Fox's two spirit buddies are fighting the demon, basically just by holding on to it. Yet, when Ermey fights with the demon, he magically produces heavy artillery to fight the beast. Again, why can't the other spirits do this? What are these levels of the spirit world where you can do different things? It's bad writing, that's what it is. Late in the picture, Fox's character realizes (how he realizes this I have no idea) that the only way he can fight this demon is by fighting it in the spirit world, so he basically kills himself to go fight it. Then, 20 minutes later he's brought back to life and after resting for about three minutes, he proceeds at full strength, alive, to go and fight the demon again. So what was the point of killing himself in the first place??? Ten minutes after coming back from the dead he gets shot several times, falls 5 or 6 stories through many floorboards, dies again, but is still ok by the end of the final scene, which can't take place more that two days after the ordeal. The police, who were not witnesses to the film's outcome, seem completely ok with the explanation that Fox must give them, about demons and ghosts killing everyone. Also, the romance that develops between Fox and Alvarado is so phony that it's annoying. These people fall in love in a matter of minutes, which also happens to be a matter of minutes after Alvarado's husband dies. Truly ridiculous. There are a few bright spots in the film. Jeffrey Combs plays a truly whacked-out FBI agent who's in charge of investigating "weird cases". Combs ("Re-Animator" and "From Beyond") always plays this type of character flawlessly, and he's very entertaining here. The special effects are also excellent, but just as with another Robert Zemeckis production Death Becomes Her, the special effects are all there is. "The Frighteners" is a major disappointment. -- Chuck Dowling Please visit my movie reviews web site at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ You'll be glad you did. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Aug 4 02:45:10 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!solace!nntp.uio.no!nntp-oslo.UNINETT.no!nntp-trd.UNINETT.no!online.no!Norway.EU.net!EU.net!enews.sgi.com!lll-winken.llnl.gov!fnnews.fnal.gov!cbgw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: jloisell@infobahnos.com (Jean Loiselle) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: THE FRIGHTENERS (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jul 1996 15:46:41 GMT Organization: Total Net Lines: 39 Sender: eleeper@lucent.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: eleeper@lucent.com Message-ID: <4t2s51$68c@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Reply-To: jloisell@infobahnos.com (Jean Loiselle) NNTP-Posting-Host: mthost1.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05676 Keywords: author=Loiselle Originator: ecl@mthost1 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:5010 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1036 THE FRIGHTENERS A film review by Jean Loiselle Copyright 1996 Jean Loiselle Ok, when I went to see Frighteners, I thought I'd get another movie where they're too busy putting special effect that they forget to put in a plot, like Twister. I was pretty surprised that it included some type of a plot. I am a big fan of comedy-fantasy-horror movies (like Army Of Darkness by Sam Raimi). I thought this movie would be more like a horror movie with some funny cliches like most horror-comedy movies. But actually, it was a lot like a supernatural thriller. While watching it, you'll ask yourself all the classic serial-killer questions like: Who did it? Who the hell is this guy? The special effects are really cool but some are not for the weak at heart. One thing that I really disliked about this movie is that you keep asking yourselves questions about plot mistakes and such. For an hour and a half I kept wondering things like: Where did that spirit get that cape and blade thingie? What happens to the spirits when the Reaper "kills" them? That one got me going for a long time...I found some stuff quite disturbing like the fact that people can avoid going to hell simply by not going in a light funnel. Also, some spirits were just too dumb to remember they could FLY! Like the guy who's getting buried and needs help, why doesn't he just FLY OUT? HELLO?!?!?! You can FLY!! All in all, it was pretty cool. The super indestructible hero (who dies 2 times in the movie but always manages to come back to life) is played by Michael J Fox. He does his role well, but in some parts he just doesn't convince me. So if you want to see a movie about a con-man shooting holy water from a water pistol, you know which movie to watch. Eric Loiselle jloisell@infobahnos.com