Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Frighteners 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 3, 2023

Peter Jackson's "The Frighteners" (1996) arrives on 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray courtesy of Turbine Medien. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new interviews with various people that worked on the film; archival audio commentary with the director; vintage promotional materials; and a lot more. In English or German, with optional English, English SDH, German, and German SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It would be silly not to concede that there is an obvious connection between Peter Jackson's The Frighteners and Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters, but how do you deconstruct it? Was Ghostbusters an inspirational blueprint of sorts? Even if Jackson detailed exactly how The Frighteners was conceived and its identity shaped, it would still be unclear to what extent and how his creative efforts were influenced by Ghostbusters. Jackson may not even realize that he made very particular choices that were influenced by his knowledge and enjoyment of Ghostbusters.

Jackson was/is apparently a very big fan of Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator too, so it is only logical to assume that much of the graphic mayhem in The Frighteners is in some way traceable back to it as well. The bulk of the violent material from the final third of The Frighteners, for instance, very much feels like a homage to Re-Animator. But is it? Could it be that Jackson had seen and liked Fred Dekker's Night of the Creeps and his mind unintentionally copied some ideas from it, too? Why not? If Jackson had a great time with Re-Animator, then it is guaranteed that a year later he saw Night of the Creeps as well.

But why does it matter whether Jackson was directly or indirectly influenced by the likes of Ghostbusters, Re-Animator, and perhaps even Night of the Creeps? It matters because nearly everything that makes The Frighteners great can be explained by the fact that it is an ‘80s film trapped inside the body of a ‘90s film.

Of course, this is precisely the reason The Frighteners had some very serious rating troubles. The ‘80s were the last decade when filmmakers had the freedom to shoot over-the-top genre films without fear of becoming targets for promoting excessive violence, sex, bigotry, etc. In the ‘80s, it was still possible to mix comedy with excessive violence and produce an unoffensive genre film that could be marketed as a mainstream film. The ‘90s destroyed this freedom and removed the fun factor from genre films that attempted to imitate what was possible a decade earlier, which is why Natural Born Killers and Crash, for instance, became so controversial. Also, in the ‘90s, to justify their existence, the over-the-top genre films had to produce a good social message.

The Frighteners immediately goes to work to impress as the great ‘80s genre films did -- with genuine passion and tremendous imagination. It takes about fifteen minutes to realize that Michael J. Fox’s con and his “assistants” would push the The Frighteners into a territory where anything goes, and after that, as they begin doing their tricks, you are simply stuck in a guessing mode, which is quite possibly the greatest feeling while enjoying a genre film. There is humor, there is drama, there is horror, and there is plenty of suspense. The visuals are pretty stunning, too.

The glue that keeps everything together and, more importantly, makes it look coherent and special is Jackson’s imagination. Simply put, it is spectacular. In the hands of a different director, the same material almost certainly would have produced a tedious mishmash of random ideas and visuals, but Jackson directs with striking confidence and clarity. Indeed, Fox’s con is constantly being forced into wild situations that keep expanding his playing field and changing the tone of The Frighteners, so by the time you reach the bloody mayhem you are already viewing a completely different film, not the one you started some ninety minutes ago, and yet the transformation looks perfectly legit.

The visual effects are outstanding. While it is fair to point out that some look too elaborate for an ‘80s film, the ‘80s vibe that runs through The Frighteners remains unaffected.

*Turbine Medien's 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release has two versions of The Frighteners: Theatrical Cut, which is approximately 110 minutes long, and Director's Cut, which is approximately 123 minutes long. Also included is an open matte version of the Director's Cut. The Frighteners was remastered in 4K under the supervision of Jackson.

The Frighteners 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Turbine Medien's release of The Frighteners is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo release. The two 4K Blu-ray discs are Region-Free. The four Blu-ray discs are perfectly playable on my Blu-ray player as well.

Please note that some of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including its actual color values.

Screencaptures #1-22 are from The Frighteners: Director's Cut Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #24-28 are from The Frighteners: Theatrical Cut Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #30-34 are from The Frighteners: Director's Cut 4K Blu-ray.

Apparently, both cuts of The Firghteners were remastered in 4K under the supervision of Peter Jackson. The remastered versions can be viewed on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. The native 4K presentations have exclusive new Dolby Vision/HDR grades as well.

I viewed the Director's Cut in native 4K, with Dolby Vision, and then did extensive comparisons with the 1080p presentation of the Director's Cut. I also viewed substantial portions of the Theatrical Cut in native 4K with HDR and in 1080p.

First, this release offers the best technical presentations of the versions of the film to date. The existing U.S. Blu-ray release of The Frighteners is sourced from a predictably mediocre old master that has all the typical limitations Universal's masters are known for. In other words, in native 4K and 1080p, the film looks dramatically better now. On my system, well-lit and darker/nighttime footage usually looked outstanding. Delineation, clarity, and depth were very impressive. In a few areas, density levels fluctuate a bit, but only because the special effects produce some unique visual contrasts. (The most obvious ones appear when the ghosts are active). Fluidity is excellent too, so if you have a large screen you will be pleased to know that the visuals hold and move superbly. Interestingly, I do feel that they could look even a tad better. Why? I do not want to speculate exactly why because I do not know how the current master was prepared, but there are some outdoor sequences where zooms and quick camera moves in general do not produce the type of ultra-even movement that I expected to see. However, this is not as obvious in native 4K as it is in 1080p. I think that in native 4K the Dolby Vision grade does a lot to help. I did not find the color grading as convincing as I wanted it to be. While all primaries and supporting nuances remain stable, the overall color temperature is not quite right. For example, there are numerous spikes in cyan that have a pretty significant impact on how blues, greens, and whites are displayed. To be clear, there are some small ranges of cyan that need to be present, but there is a lot more of the cyan that produces some minor to moderate anomalies. The presence of other strong primaries that are more consistent, like red, could downplay some of these anomalies, but the shift remains. For example, you can see how the current grade shifts the blue(s) -- arguably the most unstable primary -- to purple in the American flag in screencapture #16. To be honest, the shift that is present here reminded me a lot of the recent 4K makeover of Basic Instinct, where very similar anomalies in the reproduction of the native blues and even greens can be observed. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks very clean as well.

The Frighteners 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are multiple audio tracks on this release. I am listing them below. Also, there are optional English, English SDH, German, and German SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

1. Director's Cut 4K Blu-ray: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and German Dolby Atmos.
2. Director's Cut Blu-ray: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS 5.1, English DTS 2.0, and German Dolby Atmos.
3. Director's Cut Open Matte: Engish Dolby Atmos, English DTS 5.1, English DTS 2.0, German Dolby Atmos.
4. Theatrical Cut 4K Blu-ray: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.
5. Theatrical Cut 4K Blu-ray: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

I viewed the Director's Cut with the Dolby Atmos track and thought that it was exceptional. The film has a tremendous amount of diverse action with excellent effects and surround movement that sounded tremendous on my system. I was genuinely impressed. Oddly, I even tested the DTS 5.1 track and thought that it was very strong. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

The Frighteners 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC ONE - DIRECTOR'S CUT

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. Dubbed in German. (3 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Peter Jackson some years ago and has appeared on other home video releases of The Frighteners. It is a very technical commentary that offers a wealth of information about the production of the film and specifically the shooting of various sequences at particular locations and the type of digital effects that were used. There are interesting comments about the casting choices that were made and how the stars managed to work together as well as some changes that were made while moving the original story from the screenplay to the screen. In English, with optional English and German subtitles.

4K BLU-RAY DISC TWO - THEATRICAL CUT

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. Dubbed in German. (3 min).

BLU-RAY DISC ONE - DIRECTOR'S CUT

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. Dubbed in German. (3 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Peter Jackson some years ago and has appeared on other home video releases of The Frighteners. It is a very technical commentary that offers a wealth of information about the production of the film and specifically the shooting of various sequences at particular locations and the type of digital effects that were used. There are interesting comments about the casting choices that were made and how the stars managed to work together as well as some changes that were made while moving the original story from the screenplay to the screen. In English, with optional English and German subtitles.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO - DIRECTOR'S CUT OPEN MATTE

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. Dubbed in German. (3 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Peter Jackson some years ago and has appeared on other home video releases of The Frighteners. It is a very technical commentary that offers a wealth of information about the production of the film and specifically the shooting of various sequences at particular locations and the type of digital effects that were used. There are interesting comments about the casting choices that were made and how the stars managed to work together as well as some changes that were made while moving the original story from the screenplay to the screen. In English, with optional English and German subtitles.

BLU-RAY DISC THREE - THEATRICAL CUT

• Trailer One - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. In English, with optional German subtitles. (3 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is a vintage U.S. trailer for The Frighteners. Dubbed in German. (3 min).

BLU-RAY DISC FOUR - BONUS FEATURES

• The Making of "The Frighteners" - this massive archival program covers everything that would be of interest to a fan of The Frighteners. It features an astonishing amount of archival interviews with Peter Jackson, producer Robert Zemeckis, and multiple cast and crew members. There are some particularly good comments about the casting choices that were made and stylization of the visuals during some of the most memorable sequences. Also, some of the clips from the raw tests are quite hilarious. The program can be viewed with an archival introduction by Jackson. In English, with optional English and German subtitles. (270 min).

• No Way to Make a Living - A Look Back at "The Frighteners" - this exclusive new program combines new interviews with design and effects supervisor Richard Taylor, visual effects supervisor and visual effects producer Wes Takahashi, actor Jake Busey, actress Dee Wallace, cinematographer John Blick, producer/editor Jamie Selkirk, and production designer Grant Major. In English, with optional English and German subtitles. (95 min).

ADDITIONAL CONTENT

• Book - a 196-page illustrated book with writings on The Frighteners, its production, Peter Jackson, interviews, and a lot more. In German.

• Posters - two posters for The Frighteners in English.

• Art Cards - six collectible art cards.

• Business Card - Frank Bannister's business card.

The Frighteners 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Peter Jackson's The Frighteners desperately needed a good 4K makeover. Currently, this incredibly lavish 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack from German label Turbine Medien gives you the best technical presentation of the film that you can get on a disc, plus hours of excellent exclusive new and archival bonus features that cover all aspects of its production. I think that many fans of The Frighteners will be quite happy with it. However, my take on this release is identical to my take on the recent 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray release of Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct. I think that The Frighteners could have been graded better. RECOMMENDED.