The Frighteners

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Rating 4


Directed by Peter Jackson

Written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh

Starring Michael J Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Chi McBride, Jeffrey Combs, Troy Evans, R Lee Ermey, Dee Wallace and Jake Busey


Frank Bannister (Michael J Fox) is a down and out architect who describes himself as a psychic private detective and claims to rid his clients of unwanted ghosts and poltergeist. What he does is a scam, although he genuinely can see the spirits of the dead. When a Grim Reaper-like creature begins to kill in the small town where he lives, Frank is accused of the murders. He is aided in his attempts to stop the killings and prove his innocence by Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado), and has to finally confront the truth about the death of his wife several years earlier.

This black comedy horror was co-written and directed by Peter Jackson (‘Lord Of The Rings’, ‘King Kong’). It was his first Hollywood film and came two years after the acclaimed ‘Heavenly Creatures’. It was the last film to feature Michael J Fox in a lead role (not counting his featured role in ‘Mars Attacks!’) before the public announcement that he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

The film was rated “R” in America, meaning that it lost a large percentage of its intended audience, and it failed to repeat the box office success of ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Beetlejuice’, the two films that it most obviously resembles. Reviews were mixed, although mostly positive.

I saw this film a couple of times several years ago and I really liked it. Watching it again now, after such a long gap, I still enjoyed it very much. I am not a fan of over-the-top special effects, something that Jackson has a tendency to overdose on, but they are largely kept under control here. The mix of horror and comedy is just right, and the film takes quite a dark turn in its second half. The cast is excellent. Michael J Fox was one of the most personable leading actors of his time and he is on top form here. I would be interested to learn why the career of Trini Alvarado became somewhat becalmed after this film.

The film has established quite a cult reputation in the years since it was first released – and rightly so. I think it's excellent and I highly recommend it.



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Voodoo Moon

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Rating 2½


Written and directed by Kevin VanHook

Starring Eric Mabius, Charisma Carpenter, Rik Young, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace and Geoffrey Lewis


Kevin VanHook, the writer, editor, producer and director of this zero-budget Sci-Fi Channel horror film, is a visual effects supervisor who has worked on films like ‘Miss Congeniality’ and ‘I Robot’. He is also a comic book artist and writer – I believe he wrote for the ‘Flash Gordon’ comic strip between 1992 and 1996.

‘Voodoo Moon’, released in 2005, stars Eric Mabius and Charisma Carpenter. Mabius is now best known for his role as Daniel Meade in ‘Ugly Betty’. Dee Wallace, famous from ‘ET’ and ‘The Howling’, is also amongst the cast and there is an appearance by Geoffrey Lewis – the father of Juliette Lewis and a one-time mainstay of various Clint Eastwood films.

It’s all about good versus evil, told with a hotch-potch stew of witchcraft, voodoo, religion and ancient prophecies. Think of a mix of ‘The Prophecy’ (without the Christopher Walken / Viggo Mortensen Smackdown) and ‘Supernatural’ you’re in the right ballpark.

The production values are on the cheap side, the script isn’t going to win any awards, and the acting leaves something to be desired at times. I’m not sure why the female nudity was necessary, apart from the obvious pandering to teenage male fantasies, but that aside it’s silly harmless fun that doesn’t try for the highbrow approach to these things. In other words, it doesn’t get caught in the trap of taking itself too seriously - something that snared ‘The Reaping’, as one example.

Mabius and Carpenter play brother and sister and get the vibe just right, although there is no real sense at all of the traumatic events of their childhood or of the world-ending threat they now face.

Charisma Carpenter is a likeable actor and this isn’t one of her “tiny bikini” roles (see ‘Charmed’ and ‘Veronica Mars’). Eric Mabius seems to be going for a mixture of Michael Hutchings, ‘The Crow’ and Spike from ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. The evil they face comes in the form of a character played by Rik Young, an English actor who not only looks like Orlando Bloom’s twin brother, but also seems to have adopted an exact copy of his acting style, which is very weird.

It’s cheap and cheerful fun, but instantly forgettable.



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