Before Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson Made Scary Movies, and His Best Is Streaming Free on Tubi

October brought cooler weatherscary vibes and horror movie marathons. If graphic horror movies It’s not your vibe, a horror comedy might be just the ticket enjoy spooky season without suffering nightmares in the process. One of my favorites is a cult classic that delivers scares as well as laugh-out-loud moments that set the tone perfectly.

Seemingly healthy residents die in the fictional town of Fairwater, California without explanation, and no one but Frank Bannister knows the truth. Frank has the uncanny ability to see and interact with ghosts, and he has noticed that these deaths are unnatural: a spirit posing as the Grim Reaper stalks people and carves spectral numbers into their foreheads after murdering them.

The 1996 supernatural horror comedy The Frighteners is streaming for free on Tubi. The film features Michael J Fox as spirit whisperer Frank Bannister and tells a story that bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Full of laughs and scares, it’s a fantastic blend of horror and comedy.

Thirty years before the film was set, a psychopath named Johnny Bartlett was executed after a mass murder at a local sanitarium. Although he managed to kill 12 people, he wanted to be the most prolific serial killer of all time. His accomplice Patricia was initially incarcerated but was recently released into the custody of her mother.
Frank Bartlett is a con artist who works with a trio of ghost assistants. He causes hauntings among his three friends, then shows up to chase away the spirits… for the right price. When Frank tries to clean the house owned by local doctor Lucy and her husband Ray, he notices that Ray appears to have a spectral number etched into his forehead. And none of his ghosts put it there.

Ray dies of an apparent heart attack soon after, and his spirit asks Frank for help. Frank attends her funeral, where he learns from the local sheriff that the recent spate of deaths makes it seem like their hearts have been broken.

While helping Lucy communicate with Ray, Frank notices a man with a spectral 38 etched into his forehead. Moments later, a dark shadow descends, enters the man’s chest and squeezes the life out of him before fleeing through a mirror. Frank notices the spirit rushing through town and follows it 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 being found with a 13 carved into her forehead and Frank wandering the woods with no idea what happened.

Frank notices a light above the local museum and rushes towards it. He finds victim number 39 and notices that the editor of the local newspaper has a specter 40 glowing on her forehead. The police burst in, ready to arrest Frank, but his spiritual friends provide a distraction so he can escape. Frank ends up kidnapping the editor-in-chief in an attempt to save her from the reaper.

Frank overturns his car and the Reaper comes down and murders the editor, leaving Frank alone in the woods, in a scene reminiscent of his wife’s death. Frank chooses to turn himself in to the local police and is questioned by Special Agent Milton, who is worryingly convinced that Frank is using psychic powers to kill people and make the deaths look like heart attacks.

In the third act of the film, everything changes. Lucy is considered the 40th intended victim, and Frank’s spiritual friends barely manage to help him 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 find out who or what the Reaper really is.
I won’t reveal the secret of the murders, but all the unexplained events that happen 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 combination of scares and bone-chilling laughs for nearly 30 years, and it’s a fantastic choice for this spooky season. Stream The Frighteners for free on Tubi to find out what’s really going on in Fairwater and why.