American Cinematographer - August 1996 - 56

Scared
Director Peter

Alun

Silly

Jackson and tandem cinematographers

Bollinger and John Blick deliver both ghostly fun
and terror with The Frighteners.
by David E. Williams

INmaker,
HIS NASCENT
YEARS AS A Peter
FILMNew Zealand's
Jackson was so fascinated with hor¬
ror movies that he
began creating
his own makeups and special ef¬
fects. His initial short films, shot on

Super 8, were basically designed as
vehicles for his latest ghastly cre¬
ations. Jackson first gained wide
recognition in the United States

in the

33-year-old filmmaker's tal¬

relationship are The Frighteners, a
horror-comedy executive-pro¬
duced by Robert Zemeckis, and an
upcoming remake of the classic
monster movie King Kong.
The Frighteners begins
with an evil ghostly force arising in
a small town.
Appearing as the

rate, was).
"Our desire

(a.k.a. Braindead),
gory, Monty
Python-style
zombie comedy
that led audi¬

respond

both with dis¬

"Michael J. Fox interacts

ter. This twisted

in the

of humor
had also fueled
his two previ¬

by himself in many shots, deliver¬
ing his lines on the set to empty air,
just as the actors used to in Ray
Harryhausen's films. Then, weeks

features, the

16mm alien in¬

Grim

sion), the filmmaker attained solid

Frank Bannister

Alverado). John
Blick (lower
photo, at far

cult status and developed a style
that incorporated every visual tool
he could muster on limited bud¬

right with
incapacitated

gets. Trademarks of his emerg¬

fellow

cinematographer
Alun Bollinger)
notes that

lighting for
Alverado's

pale
complexion and
jet black hair
was a

dilemma

of contrasts. He
often kept the

ing cinematic approach included
maniacally mobile cameras, nearfisheye lenses theatrical lighting,
and plenty of in-camera effects.
Jackson and frequent co¬
writer Francis Walsh made

a

quan¬

leap forward by earning an
Academy Award nomination with
their screenplay for Heavenly
Creatures, a fantasy-tinged tale of
tum

so we

a

few

scenes

had to film him

months later, we would

Reaper, it

Lucy (Trini

Jackson and

film,

starts methodi¬

cally murdering

director Peter

ghosts for quite

or even

vasion spoof Bad
Taste and Meet the Peebles, a vicious
satire of the Muppet movies. With

these three pictures (each financed
by the New Zealand Film Commis¬

gets the drop on

a

gust and laugh¬

ous

Patricia (Dee
Wallace Stone)

to make

with

sense

Top: The
psychopathic

was

picture that featured ghosts as ma¬
jor characters as opposed to just
being effects," explains Jackson of
his general approach to the film.
"They have dialogue and do things
that affect the story, but just hap¬
pen to be dead.

a

to

body-count
double-digit terri¬
tory, he becomes a suspect in the
murders. Aided by his spooky
friends, his only chance to stop the
specter, and clear his name, is to
determine who this paranormal
killer really is (or, to be more accu¬
escalates into

with Dead Alive

ences

victim to victim. As the

ents. The first dividends of that

the locals. Enter

(Michael J. Fox),

semi-bogus
"spiritual in¬
vestigator"
a

who drums up
customers

among the be¬
reaved at the
local cemetery.
Bannister's

channels to the afterlife

are

legit,

but his ectoplasmic pals also haunt
the unsuspecting on his command.
For a modest fee, he performs im¬

shoot the actors

playing the ghosts
against bluescreen and use the
computers to combine them. So a
good portion of the film had to be

hideous real-life murder com¬
mitted by two young girls. Un¬

promptu exorcisms for the town's

duped denizens.

shot at least twice."
With a schedule of about

compensate for

der Jackson's inventive direction,
the critically acclaimed picture con¬

her

vinced Universal Pictures to invest

The only "living" witness
Reaper's crimes, Bannister
doggedly chases the demon from

130 days, The Frighteners was pho¬
tographed entirely in and around
Wellington, New Zealand. "I live

actress a

stop

under to

52

coloring.

a

American

Cinematographer

to the

August 1996
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