Horror > Jackson, Peter Horror

Comedy horror

Advantages: Comical, Michael J Fox
Disadvantages: Overly silly at times

In the small town of Fairwater, strange things are afoot - healthy people are dropping dead like flies. Frank Bannister is thrilled by all this - he is a paranormal investigator and hopes to make a good living out of other people's misery. He works in conjunction with two ghosts, who visit his clients beforehand and pretend to be poltergeists, However, Frank is in over his head for once, because there is a more powerful force in Fairwater, and unless ...
...who recognises that Frank is the only person with the power to help. Will he take on the challenge? Or will it be too much for him? Produced by Robert Zemeckis and directed by Peter Jackson, I was quite surprised that I hadn't heard of this 1996 film before, particularly as it stars Michael J Fox. It was really good to see Fox again - he reminds me so much of my teen years, and although he is perhaps not the best actor in the world, he is certainly ...

sunmeilan 27.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Frighteners (DVD)

You would be 'Braindead' not to

Advantages: OTT gore, Humour
Disadvantages: Lionel's annoying voice (not the accent)

Think of the name Peter Jackson, you would assosciate him with massive blockbuster films such as The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and King-Kong. However in 1992, the same Peter Jackson, made a not so epic, low budget, very dated zombie film. Not to his dis-credit he did an excellent job. The story follows an infection brought to New Zealand, with the carrier being a Sumatran Rat-Monkey. Which then bites Lionel's mother and so the chain continues, ...
...is quite different. Lionel's mother was very upper class, before she got bitten that was, and she has a reputation to keep up. It couldn't have happened at a worse time for her. The very next day she had a meeting with someone who was very important, the leader of the New Zealand version of the W.I. The comedy starts just before dinner as she puts her make-up on and her skin starts to peel off, whilst she pretends there is nothing wrong, like a ...

lustba 13.11.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Braindead (DVD)

Aren't I lucky, I got a chunky bit!

Advantages: Great film, funny, action-packed, dark comedy
Disadvantages: Don't watch it if you don't like gore, violence

...his first full length film, Bad Taste, a revolting comedy sci-fi/horror film made to a shoestring budget. It was finished in 1987, but had been filmed over the course of several years. This review covers the film only, since my copy is on VHS. The plot The premise of this story is that aliens (lead by the evil Lord Crumb) have invaded the small New Zealand village of Kaihoro and have turned the local population into fast food. A visiting charity ...
...Background about the film Bad Taste was filmed over several years whenever they had enough money to do some more shooting. This is most noticeable in the special effects, which get gradually much higher budget towards the end of the film. Initially, the aliens just look like humans in denim because that is all that could be afforded. Towards the end, when more money is available, the aliens take on their true gruesome forms. The locations for ...

beckyXX 16.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Bad Taste (DVD)

Great comedy horror from Peter (King Kong) Jackson

Advantages: Funny and Scary in equal measures
Disadvantages: mushy ending, some dodgy CGI effects in places

...gold with adapting Lord Of The Rings then remaking and bettering King Kong. Fans of Jackson may want to check out this earlier effort before he was world famous, whilst not being on par with LOTR or KK it certainly has plenty of thrills to offer. Firstly a quick plot rundown: Frank Bannister (MIchael J Fox in probably his best role since Back To The Future) has developed the uncanny ability to see and communicate with ghosts ever since his car ...
...Rather than pass messages onto the living to help them find closure from the death of their loved ones, Frank is in cahoots with the spirits, and runs a pretty good scam too. It runs like this. The spirits invade a household causing all manner of chaos, floating furniture, smashed china, slamming doors, flying babies (that last one was not made up) etc.. Frank then turns up on their doorsteps posing as a modern day exorcist and promises to banish ...

jontyp56 05.02.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Frighteners (Special Edition) (DVD)

"I'm a Derek and Dereks don't run!"

Advantages: Twisted humor, highly imaginative, gory and inventive
Disadvantages: Amateurish filmmaking (although that's part of its charm). Niche

New Zealand filmmaking sensation Peter Jackson, who won over the hearts of the masses with his epic 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, started out in humble beginnings. Extremely humble in fact. His first film, 'Bad Taste' was originally conceived as a short that Jackson started making with his mates when struggling for things to do in their mundane, small town surroundings. It was a project that occupied the weekends, four years worth of weekends as it ...
...the week. He constantly added new elements to the story and before he knew it he was on his way to making a fully fledged feature and with a little help from the New Zealand Film Commission got funding to end his pet project in style. When the population of a small New Zealand town mysteriously disappears, the Astro-Investigation and Defence Service are called in to find out the cause. They send in 'The Boys'; a crack squad ready and equipped to ...

Markula 30.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Bad Taste (DVD)