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The Frighteners is a 1996 supernatural comedy horror film directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey and Jake Busey. The Frighteners tells the story of Frank Bannister (Fox), an architect who develops psychic abilities allowing him to see, hear, and communicate with ghosts after his wife's murder. He initially uses his new abilities to befriend ghosts, whom he sends to haunt people so that he can charge them handsome fees for "exorcising" the ghosts. However, an entity posing as the Grim Reaper appears, able to attack the living and the dead, prompting Frank to investigate the supernatural presence. Jackson and Walsh conceived the idea for The Frighteners during the script-writing phase of Heavenly Creatures. Executive producer Robert Zemeckis hired the duo to write the script, with the original intention of Zemeckis directing The Frighteners as a spin-off film of the television series, Tales from the Crypt. With Jackson and Walsh's first draft submitted in January 1994, Zemeckis believed the film would be better off directed by Jackson, produced by Zemeckis and funded/distributed by Universal Studios. The visual effects were created by Jackson's Weta Digital, which had only been in existence for three years. This, plus the fact that The Frighteners required more digital effects shots than almost any movie made until that time, resulted in the eighteen-month period for effects work by Weta Digital being largely stressed. Despite a rushed post-production schedule, Universal was so impressed with Jackson's rough cut on The Frighteners, the studio moved the theatrical release date up by three months. The film was not a box office success, but received generally positive reviews from critics. The film gained a cult following and is considered a cult classic in Jackson's catalog. Plot In 1990, Debra Bannister dies in a car accident. Her husband, Frank, abandons architecture, and his unfinished "dream house" sits incomplete. Following the accident, Frank gains the power to see ghosts, and he befriends three: 1970s street gangster Cyrus, 1950s nerd Stuart, and The Judge, an Old West gunslinger. The ghosts haunt houses so Frank can then "exorcise" them for a fee. Most locals consider him a con man. Soon after Frank cons local health advocate Ray Lynskey and his wife Lucy, a physician, Ray dies of a heart attack. Frank discovers that there is an entity, appearing as the Grim Reaper, killing people, first marking numbers on their foreheads that only Frank sees. Debra had a similar number when she was found. Frank's ability to foretell the murders puts him under suspicion with the police and FBI agent Milton Dammers, who is convinced Frank is responsible. The newspaper editor Magda Rees-Jones attacks him in the press. After Frank fails to save Rees-Jones from the Grim Reaper, he is charged with her murder. Lucy investigates the murders and becomes the Grim Reaper's target while visiting Frank in jail. They escape with the help of Cyrus and Stuart, who are both dissolved in the process. Lucy helps Frank have a near-death experience by putting him into hypothermia and using barbiturates to stop his heart. Dammers abducts Lucy, revealing that he had been a victim of the Manson Family. In his ghostly form, Frank confronts the Grim Reaper and discovers that he is the ghost of Johnny Bartlett, a psychiatric hospital orderly who was executed for killing twelve people in 1964. Newspaper reports reveal that his greatest desire was to become the most prolific serial killer. Patricia Bradley, then a teenager, was accused of being his accomplice, although she escaped the death penalty due to being underage. Lucy resuscitates Frank, and they visit Patricia. Unknown to them, Patricia is still in love with Bartlett and on friendly terms with his ghost. Patricia eventually kills her mother, who had been trying to monitor her daughter's behavior. Lucy and Frank trap Bartlett's spirit in his urn, which Patricia has kept. The pair make for the chapel of the now-abandoned psychiatric hospital hoping to send Bartlett's ghost to Hell. Patricia and Dammers chase them through the ruins. Dammers throws the ashes away, releasing Bartlett's ghost again, and Patricia kills Dammers. Bartlett's ghost and Patricia chase Frank and Lucy. Frank realizes that Bartlett's ghost, with Patricia's help, was responsible for his wife's death and the number on her brow, and that he is still trying to add to his body count (and infamy) even after his death. Out of bullets, Patricia strangles Frank to death, but Frank in spirit form rips Patricia's spirit from her body, forcing Bartlett to follow them. Bartlett grabs Patricia's ghost, while Frank makes it to Heaven, where he is reunited with Cyrus, Stuart, and wife Debra. Bartlett and Patricia's spirits claim they will now go back to claim more lives, but the portal to Heaven quickly changes to a demonic-looking appearance and they are both dragged to Hell by a giant worm-like creature. Frank learns it is not yet his time and is sent back to his body as Debra's spirit tells him to "be happy". Frank and Lucy fall in love. Lucy is now able to see ghosts as well. Frank demolishes the unfinished dream house and builds a life with Lucy. The morose-looking ghost of Dammers rides around in the Sheriff Walt Perry's car. Perry, who is also Frank's friend, approaches him and reveals that the police discovered a huge collection of Ouija Boards in Patricia's room. This causes Frank to realize that Patricia used them to bring Bartlett back to the world of the living. Cast Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a former architect turned ghost hunter after the trauma of his wife dying. Although Jackson and Walsh envisioned The Frighteners as a low-budget film with unknown actors, Zemeckis suggested casting his Back to the Future star Fox in the lead role. Fox became enthusiastic about working with Jackson when he saw Heavenly Creatures at the Toronto International Film Festival. Trini Alvarado as Lucy Lynskey, a physician that Frank meets. The character is named after Heavenly Creatures star Melanie Lynskey (who also cameos in The Frighteners). Peter Dobson as Ray Lynskey, Lucy's health-obsessed and comically hot-headed husband who dislikes Frank's tactics John Astin as The Judge, a decaying gunslinger ghost from the Old West with a penchant for mummies and firing guns at random. Jeffrey Combs as Milton Dammers, an eccentric FBI agent who has a vendetta against Bannister. A former undercover agent known for his work with cultists, which caused him to sustain multiple massive mutilations and drove him to the brink of insanity, he has a problem with women screaming at him. Jackson opted to cast Combs as Dammers because he was a fan of the actor's work in Re-Animator. Dee Wallace Stone as Patricia Bradley, inspired by Caril Ann Fugate. Bartlett's mental.... Discover the Patricia Bradley popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Patricia Bradley books.