James Wan Calls This Free-to-Stream Horror Comedy From Peter Jackson “Hilarious”
James Wan has long since cemented his reputation as a master of modern horror. He came in hot early in his career with Saw and has since proved he’s anything but a one-hit wonder. Perhaps that’s because he has great taste. Wan has shared some terrific recommendations with fans over the years, from diamonds in the rough to stone-cold classics. He knows how to pick ‘em.
I recently happened upon a film suggestion from Wan that stood out to me. It’s a picture I also hold in high regard. A bonkers supernatural comedy from Peter Jackson. I’m speaking, of course, about The Frighteners. The film features one of my favorite Michael J. Fox performances outside of Back to the Future and it’s funny as hell.
Time to get frightened:
Wan spoke about his reverence for the film in an interview with The New York Times. Saying, “Sadly, most people today know him from his Lord of the Rings films, but for hardcore fans we all grew up with Dead Alive, Bad Taste, and Meet The Feebles. In his gory horror comedies, his horror set pieces are so over the top — blood spraying everywhere — it’s just hilarious. And that’s what I see in The Frighteners, a little bit of that cheekiness peppered throughout.”
I have a similar appreciation for the picture. In a retrospective for Dread Central, I called The Frighteners “a riotous good time, which serves as the perfect bookend to Jackson’s early horror period.” And it really does. It was so nice to see the director return to the genre after gaining notoriety from Heavenly Creatures.
Check out the trailer for The Frighteners:
But you don’t have to take James Wan’s word. Or mine, for that matter. You can stream The Frighteners for free (with ads) on Tubi as of the publication of this post. Check it out and draw your own conclusions. If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for?
The setup for this balls-to-the-wall horror comedy goes like this: Once an architect, Frank Bannister (Fox) now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his “special” gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. Ashe tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife (Trini Alvarado) of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent (Jeffrey Combs).
That’s all we’ve got for you. Stay tuned to the site for more recommendations from iconic filmmakers as we uncover them.
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