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The Frighteners

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2026 1:59 pm
by Finch
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Before The Lord of the Rings made him a household name, Peter Jackson delivered The Frighteners - a wildly inventive blend of supernatural horror and dark comedy. Produced by Robert Zemeckis, it cemented Jackson's reputation as one of the most imaginative filmmakers of his generation.

Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future) stars as Frank Bannister, a small-town psychic who uses his ghostly friends to con unsuspecting locals - until a series of mysterious deaths points to a far darker force. Racing to uncover the truth, Frank realizes he's the only person capable of stopping a malevolent spirit from claiming more victims... even if it means facing his own haunted past.

As macabre as it is mischievous, The Frighteners blends chilling suspense with offbeat humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Stylish, spooky, and full of heart, this cult classic continues to thrill from beyond the grave.

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K restoration from the original camera negative
Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
Collectors’ booklet featuring Peter Jackson’s 1998 introduction to the LaserDisc release, original production notes, and two 1996 articles from American Cinematographer
DISC 1 – THEATRICAL AND DIRECTOR’S CUTS (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation of both cuts in Dolby Vision (HDR10/compatible)
Original lossless theatrical mix in DTS-HD MA 5.1 (theatrical cut only) and original lossless 2.0 stereo audio (both cuts), plus DTS-HD MA 5.1 home video mix (both cuts) and optional Dolby Atmos remix (director’s cut only)
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Optional English subtitles on all bonus materials
Audio commentary by co-writer/producer/director Peter Jackson (director’s cut only)
Peter Jackson’s 10th anniversary introduction to the film
Theatrical trailer
DISC 2 – OPEN MATTE VERSIONS (BLU-RAY)

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of both cuts, with the same audio/subtitle options and extras as Disc 1
DISC 3 – EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

No Way to Make a Living: A Look Back at The Frighteners, a feature-length documentary produced in 2022, featuring new interviews with actors Dee Wallace Stone and Jake Busey, cinematographer John Blick, production designer Grant Major, creature and miniat
The Making of The Frighteners, an exhaustive 225-minute documentary exploring every aspect of the film’s production, from script development and casting to post-production and release, produced in 1998 for the LaserDisc release, with a 2005 retrospective
"A Conversation with Richard Taylor and Alexandre Poncet", a 2022 interview with the man behind the film’s creature and miniature effects
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Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2026 3:01 pm
by Mark L.
Glad this is finally coming out, but I’m surprised that they couldn’t get Jackson on board for anything new! Considering how much he’s been teasing these and how into supplements he is, I would have thought he’d jump at the chance to at least do a new intro.

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2026 5:01 pm
by tenia
The German 4k release also had no new extras beside No Way To Make A Living, though it's a 95 min one !

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2026 5:21 pm
by dwk
I remember that old making of doc being so exhaustive, that I'm not sure what new extras would really add, other than a bullet point on the announcement/back of the packaging.

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:21 pm
by P-Rock
Wow, Arrow is getting really lazy on the extras these days. All I see is archival stuff on the latest releases. They used to be fantastic before The Hut Group takeover.

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:46 pm
by Ribs
I feel like 5 1/2 hours of material is plenty??

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 9:12 pm
by P-Rock
Ribs wrote: Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:46 pm I feel like 5 1/2 hours of material is plenty??
I'm talking about new extras. These are all recycled from other/earlier releases. And its not just this release. Guess it's more about the money these days than for the love of the medium and film.

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 9:31 pm
by CSM126
At some point it’s all been said and this certainly looks like a case of that. Four hour documentary and a director commentary alone is thorough, and they’ve got more than that here. I guess maybe they could have paid other people to say the same things again?

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 10:34 pm
by tenia
There's the humpteen hours doc, the audio com' and the recent 90 min doc.
How many times longer than the main feature the extras need to be ?

Re: The Frighteners

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2026 10:40 pm
by dwk
I'd add that they likely would have to get Jackson's approval for any new extras and the clock is ticking on the license. So they may just not want to have that extra delay on top of already having had to wait for the exclusivity period on the master to end.