Questions about The Frighteners (1 Viewer)

[TimDoss]

**possible spoilers**

I really enjoyed this movie, but I have some questions that hopefully someone here

can help with. The whole beginning sequence confuses me...

was that Johnny in the walls attacking Patricia? And if so, why? And if not, who? Her father maybe?? And we know that

Frank had a traumatic experience that changed his perception, allowing him

to see the ghosts, but why can Patricia and her mother see them? And what was her mother yelling about her being "too young", and "sins of the flesh", or whatever it was

she was yelling??? And lastly, was there a reason that all of the

victims were somehow connected to Frank, or was that just a necessary coincidence?

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I really liked The Frighteners. It's on my list of DVDs to buy. I haven't watched it in awhile (I refuse to watch my VHS copy) so I can't remember much... but I believe, as far as Frank's connection to the victims go, his wife was a victim and the trauma connected with her death (or the car wreck) triggered his ability to see/converse with the dead.

 

[Julie K]

*spoilers* for the extended cut of Frighteners...

The whole beginning sequence confuses me... was that Johnny in the walls attacking Patricia? And if so, why?

Yes, it was Johnny. In the extended cut, you see that the chasing bit is a game between the two. They playfully chase each other around the hospital after their killing spree.

 

[TimDoss]

Thanks Julie... when I said "hopefully someone here can help", how did you know I was looking in your direction??

 

[Alex Spindler]

I think Julie nailed most of your questions. As for Franks connection to the victims, his wife was the first "afterlife" victim of the duo (#13 I think). After that, he only gets back into the scheme when they are at #38 I think. I think Johnny then begins to chase him around and tries to get him in trouble, probably because he knows that he can see him. That's why he goes for Ms. Reese-Jones. Later on he talks about how is was almost ruined by that damn psychic.
As to why his mother can see Johnny, I don't think she can. What she can see is the carpet being manipulated by Johnny, just like the painting later on.
I also took it later on that Johnny and Patricia are playing a game in the beginning, which the mother disapproves of. How she can talk about Sins of the Flesh when one partner is a ghost...

 

[Derek Miner]

I think the mother became aware of the relationship Patricia and Johnny had when he was among the living. The "too young" and "sins of the flesh" comments probably refer to that.

Alex has it right on the connection of the victims to Frank. I think Johnny wanted him out of the picture.

I love this movie... I hope Universal ports over the features from the Signature Collection laserdisc sometime soon, so I can finally buy this on DVD!

 

[Alex Spindler]

I finally gave in and am trying to trade for it. I saw it on cable and realized I can no longer wait. Please universal, make the right choice and give Peter "LotR" Jackson's films the respect they deserve!

 

[Julie K]

There was another thing that Jackson mentioned either in the commentary or the documentary. It is about something that he had always meant to be in the story to explain a certain event, but that it just never got filmed:



Patrica and Johnny (well only Patricia since Johnny was a ghost) put a fallen tree across the road in order to force Frank off the road when he's fighting with his wife in the car.

 

[TimDoss]

Is there anyway I'd be able to find this documentary without having a LD player?

Any nice person out there willing to put it on video for a fellow Jackson fan????

Has there been anything said or hinted about a new DVD?

 

[Alex Spindler]

That would help tie things together nicely, but I think it's acceptable the way it is. Thanks for the info Julie.

As far as rumors, only the lonely longing in the hearts of fans so far. I would have to hope that the LotR success has to increase the interest in the studio's to cash in, and the way to do that is to take existing product from the LD and put it on DVD as an "Ultimate Edition", one that would finally be deserving of the title. How much work would it be to lift it from an existing source?????? Please, please, please. I promise to buy The Watcher : Ultimate Edition if you do!

 

[Julie K]

I would love a Frighteners SE DVD. I'm a newcomer to those great big ol' clumsy LDs and would love to trade them in for the little shiny discs I'm so fond of
There was a petition going around a while back that got up to 1000 signatures (and it was not well promoted) before the site closed. I've heard rumors that there are problems with the rights to the LD extras and that's the reason we haven't seen an Ultimate edition of Frighteners.

 

[Derek Miner]

I don't think there would be any rights issues with the extras. Peter Jackson seems to have produced the entire disc himself, so there's no third parties to hold up any of the content. Plus, Universal probably negotiated the rights to put the material on DVD. The Frighteners Signature Collection set was one of the last gasps of new laserdiscs on the market. Universal had already begun their trend of simultaneous "special edition" releases on LD and DVD (American Graffiti, The Blues Brothers, National Lampoon's Animal House and others) by that point.

I think the problem lies in that the disc has FOUR hours of documentary/supplementary material and that would require something like a 3-disc DVD set, an expensive proposition. Combine that with a title that's likely considered to have only a "cult" following and you've got a long wait on your hands.

But if you combine the success of Lord of the Rings, the massive growth of the DVD market, lower costs for production and the increasing popularity of multi-disc sets, I think the time is coming where this would be a feasible release from Universal.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

No, I think that they could manage with a 2-disc set. Some of the minor supplementary material (trailers, etc.) could go on the disc with the movie. The documentary wouldn't need to be at a gutbustingly high bit rate, and wouldn't need bit-devouring 5.1 audio tracks either. I'd bet with a little creative shoehorning they could fit the whole thing onto two RSDL discs without any problem.

My money says that we'll see it sometime between now and September when Fellowship comes out on DVD (probably the same week). Universal does some goofy things (Ultimate Edition of Patch Adams? Who bought this? Who thought this was a good idea?), but they can smell money. All they need to do is put big stickers 'From the Director of Lord of the Rings!' on the package and they're in fat city.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Yeah, if what it takes to get it get it in our hands, they could design the cover like:
From the director of
The Lord of the Rings
The Frighteners
Works for me!

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I promise you, that is EXACTLY what it will look like!

 

[Nigel McN]

yeah I would say that is highly likely