The Frighteners (Arrow Video) 4K Blu-ray Review + Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Years after first teasing us, Arrow Video has finally released The Frighteners on 4K Blu-ray. Was the wait worth it?

Studio: Arrow Video
Release Date: July 19th, 1996 (theatrical) / October 27th, 2026 (4K blu-ray)
Run Time: / 2 hours 2 minutes 36 seconds (director's cut)
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 3 (1 BD-100, 2 BD-50)
Picture: 2160p (2.39:1 aspect ratio) (theatrical and director's cuts found on disc 1), 1080p (1.78:1 aspect ratio) (theatrical and director's cuts, open matte presentations found on disc 2)

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Sound: English DTS-HD 5.1 (director's cut home video mix), English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1)
Subtitles: English SDH
Slipcover: Yes (a metallic one)
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, Jake Busey
Written by Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson
Directed by Peter Jackson
Rating: R (terror/violence) (theatrical version) / Not Rated (horror violence and language)

NOTE: I do not have the means of being able to capture screenshots from a 4K Blu-ray disc. So, there are no screenshots from that disc but I have included screenshots from the other two discs. The open matte disc features the exact same menu and special features/tech selections so you can see what the 4K menu and selections would be.

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Poster

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What's It About?

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. (taken from the back of the Arrow Video 4K blu-ray box)

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Video/Audio

We get two different presentations of THE FIGHTENERS featuring both versions of the film. The 4K disc presents the film in it's original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and looks amazing. This restoration was first seen in 2022 on the German 4K Blu-ray release from Turbine Medien. This transfer and restoration has been praised and rightfully so. While I did see the film in the theater on opening day, I can not rightfully tell you if this transfer matches what my 30 year old memory tells me. In my mind, it does, but this is just a memory and not fact. Here are the facts: this thing looks amazing. Very film-like presentation here. Film grain is here which I am sure some would have been afraid was going to be taken away given Jackson's seemingly hatred of it (based on that Beatles doc he did a few years ago), but I am happy to see it here. Skin tones look just right and the colors (thanks to the HDR) bounce off the screen. Blacks are also incredibly deep. I have been watching THE FRIGHTENERS for the past 30 years and this is the best it has ever looked.

As for the open matte presentation. I don't understand why anyone would want to watch a film out of it's original aspect ratio. Speaking for myself, once I discovered widescreen and OAR, I decided that was the only way to watch a film. Sure, sometimes a film was only released on home media outside of it's OAR, but those are limited cases. When a film is available in its OAR, I don't see the point in an open matte presentation outside of seeing the stuff that was matted out. Look at a film like DOLEMITE. The open matte version shows off all kinds of things we weren't supposed to see like dolly tracks and boom operators. Sure, that makes DOLEMITE an interesting watch for those who view the open matte version, but for a film like THE FRIGHTENERS? You get to see more of the effects, so I guess that is a decent enough reason for the open matte presentation to exist, but I don't find any value in it outside of a curiosity piece. The film also has a cheaper feel to it. I will have to say it's down the framing. After this review, I will never watch the film this way again.

The picture quality is great. Everything I said about the 4K presentation is valid here except for the mentions of the HDR. There were some compression issues early on but those went away the further into the film you get. Those who find value in the open matte stuff will love what they see.

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Extras/Packaging

Disc 1: The Frighteners 4K

Commentary by Peter Jackson - What a wonderful track. I loved listening to this in the 90s on the LaserDisc. I loved listening to it on the DVD. I loved listening to it on the Blu-ray. I can now say I love listening to this on the 4K release. Jackson covers the making of the film from both a technical aspect as well as a personal one. You don't find very many tracks that are this good.

Peter Jackson's 10th Anniversary Introduction (2m 41s, SD, 1.78:1) He looks back fondly on the making of the film, everything it took to get it done, and what came from it. This intro first appeared on the double sided DVD called "Peter Jackson's Director's Cut" that came out in 1995. It wasn't recorded as a 10th Anniversary intro. He never mentions any anniversary. He calls the release a "special edition" release. It's a great intro, though, and proof that Jackson was a master at special features.

Theatrical Trailer (2m 3s, HD, 2.39:1)

Disc 2: The Frighteners (Open Matte)

The special features on this disc are the same as the 4K disc.

Disc 3: Special Features

No Way to Make a Living: A Look Back at The Frighteners (1h 34m, HD, 2.39:1) A retrospective documentary produced by Tribune in 2022, featuring interviews with director of photography John Bick, production designer Grant Major, editor Jamie Selkirk, creature and miniature effects supervisor Richard Taylor, visual effects artist Wes Takahashi, and actors Dee Wallace and Jake Busey.

Where as the four-hour documentary that is included on this release was shot during production, this is a retrospective doc with the people involved looking back on the film and their time on it. There are some great stories told by everyone while also loving the film and everything about it. This was shot over Zoom with webcams of varying quality. It is a shame we don't get to hear from Peter Jackson, Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, or Jeffrey Combs. Still, this is a must watch for fans.

The Making of The Frighteners (4h 31m, SD, 1.33:1) An exhaustive four-hour documentary exploring every aspect of the film's production, from initial development to release, produced for the 1998 LaserDisc release.

This is the gold standard of behind the scenes making ofs. Where HEARTS OF DARKNESS is the gold standard for theatrically released behind-the-scenes documentaries, this is the same but for ones made directly for a film's home video release. This thing covers everything about the film and then some. Everyone involved with the film has been interviewed and we get so much fly on the wall footage. While we got the TERROR TAKES SHAPE documentary on THE THING first, this one surpasses it. That doc is amazing, but this one is more so. Even if you don't like THE FRIGHTENERS, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It lives up to everything ever said about it.

A Conversation with Richard Taylor (41m 21s, SD, 1.78:1) An interview with creature and miniature effects supervisor Richard Taylor, produced by ESC Editions in 2022.

Image Gallery (59 images)

Packaging wise, Arrow has done a great job with one thing I don't like.

The front cover features the film's original theatrical poster of the demonic face coming through the white background, only here the cover isn't white but metallic silver. It helps the release stand out from all of the other ones that have white covers. The double-wide 4K Blu-ray case features reversible artwork, with one featuring the same artwork as the slipcover while the reverse features artwork I have never seen before. It features Michael J. Fox standing in the middle of a black void with his arms crossed. We see the three main ghosts emanating out of his body. I do not like this artwork as it looks like cheap video artwork done quickly to meet a looming deadline. I am happy it's here but I don't like it.

Inside the case, we find a 40-page color booklet featuring Peter Jackson's Introduction that was found in the Signature Collection Laserdisc's own booklet along with the production notes as well. You will also find an article that was originally published in American Cinematographer magazine. Information about the transfers used for the film and credits finish out the booklet. I am actually kind of surprised there isn't anything new in this booklet. Maybe Arrow doesn't want to create new writings for all of their releases and just want to focus on some of them? Maybe, because there was already a wealth of written material from other releases, they could just recycle that? I don't know but I find it kind of weird.

What's also weird is the lack of post cards. It felt like every release from the last few years had their fairshare of post cards but there are none here. I am all for this because I don't like the inclusion of post cards unless they are being used to reproduce lobby cards. This is really what started the whole post card thing in the first place, but then spiraled into their inclusion to bolster the perceived value of a release. I used to like post cards but their inclusions were getting out of hand. I picked up both THE FRIGHTENERS and Arrow's A BETTER TOMORROW TRILOGY 4K Blu-ray releases and neither one of them have post cards.

The one thing that IS missing that I am not happy about is the poster. Since I started collecting Arrow Video releases, I have always looked forward to getting a poster. Not every release had them but many of them did. Arrow was always good at including them with their Limited Editions, but now it's kind of a crap shoot. The hard box ones still get them (except for their HELLRAISER: QUARTET OF TORMENT set) but its up in the air whether there is a poster or not. My copy of SWORDFISH has one but neither THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT nor UNDER SIEGE have one. I am especially sad that THE FRIGHTENERS doesn't have one as this is a favorite of mine and I would have loved to have been able to hang the poster in my movie room. Sure, I can buy a copy of the poster online, but Arrow's posters a small enough to be able to hang many of them in the same place one poster would go. This is, of course, not a deal breaker but it is a shame one was not included.

Finally, we have the three discs. We have 1 4K disc and 2 Blu-ray discs. For whatever reason, and I can not figure this out outside of laziness and being cheap, all three discs share the exact same artwork. Was it really too hard to make it less difficult to tell the discs apart? Sure, they tell you which is which, but it's in small print below the film's title. If you are just grabbing a disc to throw in and watch, you might grab the wrong disc and now you have to get up again and make sure you put the right disc in. Just a small complaint.

All three discs are REGION FREE

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Overall

THE FRIGHTENERS is a masterclass in how impressive CGI can be when it is done with care. This film blew away most of those who actually took the time to watch the film and it opened the door for Jackson and company to make the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. The film was a box office flop, barely making back it's budget. Critics didn't really like it either, with Roger Ebert giving the film one star (out of four), saying:

"But all of that incredible effort has resulted in a film that looks more like a demo reel than a movie–like the kind of audition tape a special-effects expert would put together, hoping to impress a producer enough to give him a real job."

I guess I can see his point but I think it a shallow way of looking at the film. I would go into more but I am working on a WAS EBERT RIGHT? on the film. I will say this: I love THE FRIGHTENERS. I was fortunate enough to see Peter Jackson's filmography in order. This is something not people outside of New Zealand can say, so it gave me a great build up to seeing THE FRIGHTENERS. Seeing Jackson go from making all of his make-up effects in his mother's oven to him having $30 million of Unversial Studios' money to create special effects the world had never seen before. THE FRIGHTENERS is a great film that more people need to see. I will link my article on the film in this review when I post it.

Arrow Video has done an amazing job with this 4K Blu-ray. The picture quality is top notch, for both presentations of the film and I love the different audio options we get because I did not know there as a different mix for the Director's Cut when it hit home video. I mean, it makes sense given Jackson's history with his films, but it is a surprise nonetheless. I love that all of the special features from the Signature Collection Laserdisc have been ported over along with giving us a few new features. This isn't a jam packed edition like we have come to know througout the years, but the features are a lot meatier than what we normally get nowadays. This thing has an actual making of documentary on it instead of a bunch on individual interviews with very little editing like companies have been giving us as of late. This is one of my favorite releases of 2026.

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Extras/Menus