The
Frighteners - Director’s Cut
Picture: B+
Sound: B+ Extras: A Film: A-
My first encounter with The Frighteners was in 1996
upon its initial release. The preview
was cool enough, and my brother wanted to see it because it looked a little spooky. What ultimately convinced me to see it was a
shot of Michael J. Fox, starring in what, to me, was his first movie since Back
to the Future Part III (of course that wasn’t the case; he was involved
with 13 other films between BTTF3 and The Frighteners), screaming
something. To me, it sounded like he
was screaming, “Doc!” and that was enough to get me into the theater.
The movie was fun and quirky, and my dad could have spent
the admission for The Frighteners on worse. As the years went on, my brother began exploring Peter Jackson’s
films more, his early works primarily for their horror, and I went about my
business, The Frighteners occupying a little space in my head and heart
reserved for interesting, under-appreciated movies. When my two brothers and me watched the DVD for the new
director’s cut of the film, the brother I saw it in the theater with quipped,
“This is about as many people that saw it in the theater.”
The 10 years between now and the first time I saw the film
didn’t numb my enjoyment of it. But
watching it today, there’s a feeling that there’s a 1000-pound gorilla in the
room with you, namely Peter Jackson. (OK, more like a 500-pound gorilla now.)
Ever since the runaway success of The Lord of the Rings
movies, Peter Jackson has had carte blanche to do whatever. And he’s certainly relished that freedom,
what with making his overlong King Kong. But that freedom has also bred smugness. “I’m Peter Jackson, and welcome to my DVD
of…” It doesn’t really matter what it is.
“I’m Peter Jackson, and welcome to my DVD of Lord of the Rings
outtakes.” “Hello, I’m Peter Jackson,
and welcome to the DVD of the director’s cut of my film, The Frighteners.” “Hello, I’m Peter Jackson, and welcome to
the DVD of me polishing my Oscars.”
“I’m Peter Jackson, and this is the director’s cut of the film I made
this morning of me counting my money.”
Jackson’s Cult of Myself is on particular display all over
the new DVD of The Frighteners.
While it’s true that this film is a turning point in his career — it was
his first taste of Hollywood, it forced him to lay the groundwork of Weta, and
it allowed him to explore making the Rings films — there’s no other way
to look at the DVD besides grossly self-indulgent.
Side one of the disc contains the film, a genuinely
inspired, funny, and sort-of groundbreaking film. Frank Bannister (Fox) is an I-see-dead-people paranormal
huckster, employing the ghosts of the nerdy sock-hop-ish Stuart (Jim Fyfe) and
the wise-ass disco king Cyrus (Chi McBride) to scare local yokels into calling
Bannister to “cleanse” their homes of the invading spirits — and their wallets
of their cash. But when locals start
dying of a mysterious heart ailment, and Bannister becomes a suspect, he begins
tracking a cloaked figure he believes is Death itself. Turns out, though, it’s really the spirit of
long-dead serial killer Johnny Bartlett (Jake Busey), returning to his old
stomping grounds to kill more people with the aide of his one-time lover
Patricia (Dee Wallace-Stone).
Jackson’s new cut of the film reinserts 14 minutes to the
running time, none of which adds anything particularly insightful to the
film. They don’t take away from the
film, but the added time does cause the film to drag. Previously, it was a lean, mean, ghost-fighting machine. Now, it’s a bloated, dragging grind, not to
mention indulgent. And only heightening that feeling is the totally unnecessary
intro to the DVD provided by Jackson.
“Hello, I’m Peter Jackson, and welcome to the director’s
cut of The Frighteners.” Wait,
you mean this isn’t season three of Golden Girls?
We know we’re watching The Frighteners, and we know
it’s a director’s cut. How? The box tells us, thanks. This opening serves no other purpose than
for newly-trim Jackson — Jackson 2.0, if you will — to appear in front of the
camera and extol how amazing it is to be able to give us this new cut of the
film and, gee, he’s sure glad to add all that extra footage in.
Granted, some of the things Jackson 2.0 tells us in the
opening are interesting — this film moved Weta into a position to make his
recent films, for example — but we’ll find this all out later. On the three-and-a-half-hour making-of
housed on side two of the DVD.
For a film like The Two Towers, such a
behind-the-scene document is worthwhile.
For a film like Pearl Harbor, it’s an exercise in futility. For The Frighteners, a film no one
saw, it’s an indulgence afforded to someone who made three computer-generated
films that were successful because they were pretty to look at and they had a
built-in audience. And it doesn’t hurt that they just so happened to be the
biggest things of the decade.
I’ll be honest; I was interested in what the making-of
consisted of initially. This is
probably because it was done in a fly-on-the-wall way that makes for some
interesting looks at the making of the film and some interesting perspectives
from the film’s cast and crew. And I’m
a fan of the film, so sure I’m interested in the genesis of it and how it got
made.
But by anyone’s estimation, nearly four hours of making-of
material is an endurance test worthy of the Iron Man Competition. What’s scary is that Jackson 1.0 shot a ton
more footage for this documentary, which was originally supposed to appear on a
special edition 12” LaserDisc edition of The Frighteners. Jackson 1.0 didn’t have a problem with this,
but what he didn’t have — and what 2.0 does — is the freedom to release
whatever he pleases. Had Jackson 1.0
released a laserdisc with a three-hour-plus documentary of the making of a
movie that made one-half of its budget back in the United States, he’d have
been laughed right out of Hollywood.
But because Jackson 2.0 is now on the scene, such a move is looked at as
inspired. “How fortuitous it was that
he filmed himself way back when. Now we
can see a genius at work.” More like a
guy who doesn’t know when to stop going back to the buffet.
The Frighteners disc itself is wonderful. There’s a trailer, Jackson 2.0 commentary,
storyboards, and that monster making-of, and the film looks great in its 2.35
anamorphic presentation and sounds amazing with its Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. It’s a film that any Jackson fan, 1.0 or 2.0
it doesn’t matter, should see if they haven’t, unfathomably, done so already. For casual fans, The Frighteners is
worth checking out for great performances and one of the most original,
irreverent stories you’ll find this side of a Wes Anderson script. In speaking of LaserDiscs, the film was
issued in its original DTS in that 12” format and that sound is unfortunately
not included here, but you can here some of that quality impact in the Dolby
tradedown mix here.
But, let’s face it, this is the result of a man who
doesn’t know when to quit. We don’t
need more, more, more Jackson 2.0, saturating every moment of the disc. If anything, we need less. Jackson 1.0 is certainly responsible for the
film, and Jackson 2.0 is rightly proud of the work. But he makes himself more important than the work itself.
Watching this DVD is like forcibly being a part of the
Peter Jackson Experience at some New Zealand theme park. Except, rather than
waiting in long-lines for the ride, you’re suckered into it with the promise of
a killer film and then given the Ludovico Technique while this weird skinny guy
runs reel after reel of footage of him, fat and jolly, at work carousing with
movie stars.
It’s enough to make you wish for a bit of the old
ultraviolence.
- Dante A.
Ciampaglia
