Reviews

The Frighteners is on a base level just another slightly edgy 90s comedy, featuring all the trademarks of such a feature; washed up 80s celebrities, heavy handed dated CGI, pop-culture references galore and generic characters.

It's got some glaring issues that make it worse than many of its peers, but as just a 90s movie it's "alright". If you don't think about it from that angle too long, you might get a couple of giggles, but you'll probably spend more time scratching your head at the characters' irrational decisions or gawking at the blatantly reused special effects.

I'm sure though that in '96 it probably didn't particularly stand out and that the special effects weren't so glaringly bad.

But, it hasn't aged well for a lot of reasons beyond the CGI.

Although the movie has a lot going on - all of it presented poorly, none of it fully explored - the main plot concerns the ghost of a spree killer, who has come back to kill again and get a "higher score".

I'm sure this plot line was always kind of tasteless, especially considering how heavily it bases itself on the Nebraska Spree Killers, but in 2022 it just seems gruesome; a plot I don't think would get greenlit today.

I mean, the antagonist's goal kill count is lower than what some killers have gotten at this point in one night. We probably don't need to be menaced by a spectral trench coat mafia these days.

Perhaps if the movie was overall better - and not just sloppy slapstick - it wouldn't be as bad now, but since nothing hits, you're kind of just left feeling a little insulted and grossed out.

It's almost bad enough to be funny, but rides a line of blue-balling infuriation the entire time that keeps it from really hitting that "Good Bad Movie" level. Sloppy, restrained, and rocking abysmal production values, the movie just sort of limps along for 80 minutes, with nearly nothing happening.

The movie is a low-budget Walmart brand knock off of the original 1981 Heavy Metal, but not a remake; Heavy Metal Magazine envisioned a series of adaptions of their comics and this was their second attempt. Why they went with something that reads like bad fanfiction of the first, I don't know - but it's actually based on another comic from the late 90s and a supposedly original story.

But, I feel like if the same studio hadn't made both movies someone would have gotten sued for plagiarism.

The plot follows Tyler - the villain with the worst name ever - who finds a not-Locnar, a totally DIFFERENT glowing green evil, and becomes deranged and psychotic. After killing his coworker and half a ship's crew, he embarks on a mission for immortality, which takes him to the colony of Eden where he begins to harvest the lemon-flavored life energy from its inhabitants for immortality before going on a vengeance mission against Death.

He makes the mistake however of kidnapping Kerrie and pissing off her Not-Tarna sister, Julie. Julie is voiced and modeled after Playboy Bunny Julie Strain, who isn't somehow the worst voice actress here. Julie goes on a mission to keep Tyler from getting his dick wet (no one gets laid this entire movie!) to rescue her sister with a Germaine St. Germaine, a loser who is twice kidnapped.

Nothing much of note happens. A disgusting makeout scene with the Mucinex mucous stands out. The CGI is bad even for the era, but not really funny. The explosions are birdemic-tier, so that's funny. It rarely reaches anything memorable and is at best occasionally offensive.

The soundtrack is atrocious and barely audible - one friend said they wished it hadn't had a soundtrack, only for another to ask if there had been a soundtrack at all. Voice acting is lackluster at best. Rude but rarely gutsy. Many scenes are basically redraws of Heavy Metal 1981, with much lower quality animation somehow. It has no heart or pulse and is willing to offend your intelligence.

I wouldn't recommend it to fans of the original, but I wouldn't recommend it to fans of animation or movies either. Sometimes it gets a giggle or a groan but mostly you'll forget it.

*Contains Spoilers!*

I generally enjoy when a horror movie tries to add character depth or a plot to its gore - in fact, I usually find it pretty sad when a movie doesn't try at all, leaving you with a bunch of cardboard cutouts running around on an empty stage.

But Vile *should* have left that all out, with how little actually happens thanks to the "plot" and "character development.

Most of the movie is boring, with more gore happening off screen (or being left to the imagination) than happening /on screen/. You see girls scream and cry, covered in blood - but no context as to why. You see men claim they can take "no more", when all you see are a bunch of tools flying their direction. Only the first "gore" scene really shows/does much - beyond that, it's a scattering here and there of relatively tame gore (nothing like you'd see in Saw or one of the "name brand" horror movies).

Which would all be alright if it truly mastered the psychological angle. Instead, however, you get characters that come and go and exhibit no personality and a lousy twist ending that derails what little character development you do get.

Not to mention, the one girl (yellow shirt) had such an infuriating personality that it genuinely made the first half of the movie more unpleasant.

If you are looking for "pure horror", or 100% historical accuracy, this isn't the movie for you; simply walk away now. If you're a fan of foreign films, and don't mind a bit of confusion and tom-foolery when it comes to the plot, this may be the movie for you.

Sauna's beautifully filmed and acted; even though the subtitles on my copy were rather choppy (I believe mine was a "fan translation", as it was filled with typos, grammatical errors, etc.), I got the emotional feel of the movie the entire time, just via the beautiful acting. It has some gorgeous sets and costumes as well - although this isn't historically accurate at times.

As a horror movie, it fails. It isn't going to scare you while you watch it; it may be unsettling or unnerving at times, but you won't scream or wet yourself. I prefer this, personally. The end scene hit me, mostly because that sort of thing (I won't reveal much, as to not ruin it) terrifies me. In fact, it was after a nightmare related to that damned scene that I woke up and decided to write this!

If it was trying to be more than unsettling though, it failed.

The plot is confusing, and can be draggy. I think if someone sat down and gave this movie proper subtitles (it seems no one has yet), it would be less confusing, but not much so. Some of the "mysteries" never panned out, and there are a few plot holes that aren't exactly small. If this movie had had another 15 minutes of screen time (it's a very short movie, imo), it would of been much more creepy (and less tiring, trying to puzzle out those plot holes).

I would watch it again - for the acting, beautiful filming, and the occasionally unnerving scene. I wouldn't watch it for horror, or consider it the best movie ever made.