The Frighteners (1996)

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Bussey, Chi McBride, R. Lee Ermey

More info: IMDb

Tagline: No Rest for the Wicked.

Plot: After a car accident in which his wife, Debra, was killed and he was injured, Frank Bannister develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts. After losing his wife, he then gave up his job as an architect, letting his unfinished "dream house" sit incomplete for years, and put these skills to use by befriending a few ghosts and getting them to haunt houses in the area to drum up work for his ghostbusting business; Then Frank proceeds to "exorcise" the houses for a fee. But when he discovers that an entity resembling the Grim Reaper is killing people, marking numbers on their forehead beforehand, Frank tries to help the people whom the Reaper is after!

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Here's yet another one that's been on my list to watch for more than a decade and I'm finally getting around to it. It starts out much sillier than it ends. For as playful as it is it's got a lot of adult weight to it which I really dug. The story is good and the performances stand up even better but it's the special effects (by WETA, the same group that handled the LORD OF THE RINGS pictures) that are fucking outstanding! NICE!!! Overall it's a fun movie and worth seeing. You'll see some of Jackson's style and sense of fun throughout and with Michael J. Fox bringing his likability you can't go wrong. OK, you can but not so wrong you'll hate yourself for it in the morning.