October brings cooler weather, creepy vibes and horror movie marathons. If graphic horror movies aren’t your vibe, a horror comedy might be just the ticket for enjoying the spooky season without suffering nightmares in the process. One of my favorites is a cult classic that delivers scares alongside laugh-out-loud moments that set the pace perfectly.
Seemingly healthy residents are dropping dead in the fictional town of Fairwater, California, with no explanation, and no one but Frank Bannister knows the truth. Frank has the uncanny ability to see and interact with ghosts, and he’s noticed these deaths aren’t natural — a spirit masquerading as the Grim Reaper is hunting people down and carving spectral numbers into their foreheads after murdering them.
The 1996 supernatural comedy horror The Frighteners is streaming free on Tubi. The movie features Michael J Fox as spirit whisperer Frank Bannister and spins a story that bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Full of laughs and jump scares, it’s a fantastic mix of horror and comedy.
Thirty years before the movie takes place, a psychopath named Johnny Bartlett was executed after a mass murder at a local sanatorium. While he managed to kill 12 people, he wanted to be the most prolific serial killer of all time. His accomplice Patricia was originally locked up but has been recently released to her mother’s custody.
Frank Bartlett is a con man who works with a trio of helper ghosts. He instigates hauntings by his three friends, and then shows up to clear out the spirits… for the right price. When Frank tries to clear the house belonging to local doctor Lucy and her husband Ray, he notices that Ray seems to have a spectral number carved into his forehead. And none of his ghosts put it there.
Ray dies of an apparent heart attack soon after, and his spirit seeks out Frank for help. Frank attends his funeral, where he learns from the local sheriff that the recent spate of deaths all look as if their hearts had life crushed out of them.
While helping Lucy communicate with Ray, Frank notices a man with a spectral 38 carved into his forehead. Moments later, a dark shadow descends, reaches into the man’s chest and squeezes the life out of him before fleeing through a mirror. Frank notices the spirit rushing across town and follows as fast as he can.
At the police station, the cops believe Frank is the person behind the recent murders and decide it’s time to bring him in. They question Lucy, and new FBI special agent Milton tells Lucy about the death of Frank’s wife, a tragic incident that ended with her body being found with a 13 carved into her forehead and Frank wandering through the woods with no idea what happened.
Frank notices a light above the local museum and races toward it. He finds victim number 39 and notices the local newspaper editor has a spectral 40 shining on her forehead. The police burst in, prepared to take Frank into custody, but his spirit friends provide a distraction so he can flee. Frank winds up kidnapping the editor to try to save her from the reaper.
Frank flips his car, and the reaper descends and murders the editor, leaving Frank alone in the woods, in a scene reminiscent of the death of his wife. Frank chooses to turn himself in to the local police and is questioned by special agent Milton, who is disturbingly convinced that Frank is using psychic powers to kill people and make the deaths seem like heart attacks.
In the third act of the film, everything comes to a head. Lucy is tagged as the intended 40th victim, and Frank’s spirit friends barely manage to help her escape death. Patricia’s mother calls for help, saying that Patricia is trying to commune with something evil, and Frank decides to have a near-death experience to uncover who, or what, the reaper really is.
I won’t spoil the secret behind the murders, but all of the unexplained events happening in Fairwater are connected. You’ll have to watch for yourself to find out what’s really going on in this small town. The Frighteners has been delivering the perfect combo of spooky scares and laughs for almost 30 years, and it’s a fantastic pick for this spooky season. Stream The Frighteners free on Tubi to find out what’s really happening in Fairwater and why.
