The Frighteners (1996)
Horror, Comedy • 1h 50m
Overview
Once an architect, Frank Bannister now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his "special" gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent.
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, Troy Evans, Julianna McCarthy, R. Lee Ermey, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Angela Bloomfield, Desmond Kelly, Jonathan Blick, Todd Rippon, John Sumner, Michael Robinson, Jim McLarty, Anthony Ray Parker, Paul Yates, Melanie Lynskey, John Leigh, Nicola Cliff, Ken Blackburn, Stuart Devenie, Genevieve Westcott, K.C. Kelly, Leslie Wing, Leslie Klein, Frank Edwards, Alan O'Leary, Danny Lineham, Charlie McClellan, William Pomeroy, George Port, Billy Jackson, Sophie Watkins, Taea Hartwell, Max Grover, George Grover, Tony Hopkins, Lewis Martin, Clay Nelson, Matthew Chamberlain, Vivienne Kaplan, Liz Mullane, Matt Aitken, Grae Burton, Michael Elsworth, Nic Farra, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh
Director: Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson
WB 4K Blu-ray, caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 4K Blu-ray, caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 4K Blu-ray, caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray (the one without the green tint) may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
The 2011 Blu-ray notoriously had a green tint, the 2020 one removes it.
WB 4K Blu-ray, caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray (the one without the green tint) may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
The 2011 Blu-ray notoriously had a green tint, the 2020 one removes it.
4K Blu-ray caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
4K Blu-ray caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Fritz Kiersch
More Horror on Blu-ray
Director: André de Toth
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: André de Toth
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray > US Paramount 4K Blu-ray for the US Cut.
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray, is significantly better than the US Paramount 4K Blu-ray (even with FEL Baked in and Dolby Vision), with more grain retention and detail
SDR Comparisons: International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray vs US Paramount 4K Blu-ray: https://slow.pics/c/TEPHtKjl
HDR Comparisons: International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray vs US Paramount 4K Blu-ray: https://slow.pics/c/hIFe11Hx
Comparisons in SDR using L8 Trim from CM v4.0 (both UHDs can use CM v4.0): Remux vs USA UHD: https://slow.pics/c/mkrhVtpl
The International Cut, which contains alternate, more violent shots in the final act, hasn't been released on home video to date.
International Cut contains alternate, more violent shots in the final act.
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray > US Paramount 4K Blu-ray for the US Cut.
International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray, is significantly better than the US Paramount 4K Blu-ray (even with FEL Baked in and Dolby Vision), with more grain retention and detail
SDR Comparisons: International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray vs US Paramount 4K Blu-ray: https://slow.pics/c/TEPHtKjl
HDR Comparisons: International Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray vs US Paramount 4K Blu-ray: https://slow.pics/c/hIFe11Hx
Comparisons in SDR using L8 Trim from CM v4.0 (both UHDs can use CM v4.0): Remux vs USA UHD: https://slow.pics/c/mkrhVtpl
The International Cut, which contains alternate, more violent shots in the final act, hasn't been released on home video to date.
International Cut contains alternate, more violent shots in the final act.
Director: Wes Craven
France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
France M6 Video - Geoff D review.
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray disappointing - Avoid. Terrible release. Another Kino-grade encode with a huge DV layer. The Lionsgate Limited Steelbook has a different disc with exclusive bonus discs and apparently another poor encode but they also messed up the DV metadata and made that disc unwatchable with DV enabled.
US releases for the original audio
Pay per view version audio is on the UK Entertainment in Video Blu-ray and the France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray has exclusive extras
Director: Wes Craven
France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
France M6 Video - Geoff D review.
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray disappointing - Avoid. Terrible release. Another Kino-grade encode with a huge DV layer. The Lionsgate Limited Steelbook has a different disc with exclusive bonus discs and apparently another poor encode but they also messed up the DV metadata and made that disc unwatchable with DV enabled.
US releases for the original audio
Pay per view version audio is on the UK Entertainment in Video Blu-ray and the France M6 Video 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray has exclusive extras
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Lionsgate retains more detail, but Second Sight might be better in motion. Both are very close. Caps
Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou
Lionsgate retains more detail, but Second Sight might be better in motion. Both are very close. Caps
Director: Peter Medak
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
Director: Peter Medak
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
Director: Roger Donaldson
88 Films & Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
88 Films tied with Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray (88 Films is FiM encoded)
88 Films and Scream Factory have exclusive extras
Director: Roger Donaldson
88 Films & Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
88 Films tied with Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray (88 Films is FiM encoded)
88 Films and Scream Factory have exclusive extras
Director: Gordon Douglas
Director: Gordon Douglas
Director: George A. Romero
Mono: 35mm scan, old Shout! Factory and Australia Umbrella Blu-ray sounds better than the rest of the discs, but has noise reduction
Stereo: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has a transfer of the 1986 Japan LaserDisc Stereo
Director: George A. Romero
Mono: 35mm scan, old Shout! Factory and Australia Umbrella Blu-ray sounds better than the rest of the discs, but has noise reduction
Stereo: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has a transfer of the 1986 Japan LaserDisc Stereo
Director: Tod Browning
Director: Tod Browning
Edit History
3/21/2026
3/1/2026
Best Audio Release
Added
Cinema DTS
Added
Cinema DTS
2/27/2026
Upcoming Release
From
Arrow 4K Blu-Ray teased for many years
To
Arrow 4K Blu-ray teased for many years
From
Arrow 4K Blu-Ray teased for many years
To
Arrow 4K Blu-ray teased for many years
2/27/2026
Upcoming Release
Added
Arrow 4K Blu-Ray teased for many years
Added
Arrow 4K Blu-Ray teased for many years
12/23/2024
