Michael J. Fox's Only Real Horror Movie Was A Box Office Flop That's Now Beloved

Some stars are bound to a single role, and if they're lucky, that role happens to be a great one. That was thankfully the case when it came to Michael J. Fox, the star of the "Back to the Future" trilogy, where he took on the part of Marty McFly and rode the coolest time machine in history. One gig that didn't get nearly enough attention and deserved quite the opposite, however, was in the 1996 horror-comedy "The Frighteners," which was, back then, directed by a relatively unknown up-and-comer named Peter Jackson.

Co-written by Jackson and his wife, Fran Walsh, and produced by "Back to the Future" helmer Robert Zemeckis, "The Frighteners" planted Fox as a paranormal investigator with an inside track on the pests he was getting rid of. Gifted with the ability to see and communicate with the dead, Frank Bannister (Fox) was in cahoots with the spooks who would haunt homes, teeing up the scam artist to turn up and save the day. Things take a sinister turn for the worse, though, when the ghost of a serial killer who plagued the town years before returns from the grave to continue his murderous spree, whether his victims are living or not. Plastered with impressive special effects for its time and loaded with an equal amount of giggles and ghosts, "The Frighteners" had all the makings of a hit. Audiences, unfortunately, had a different opinion.

Earning a commendable 65% on Rotten Tomatoes, "The Frighteners" was praised for its impressive CGI and decent scare factor. Ben Falk of the BBC said, "Full of special effects, but still strangely 'indie', the movie has a unique sensibility," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "Fortunately, director Jackson, at home with all kinds of excess, keeps everything spinning nicely, not even losing a step when the mood turns increasingly disturbing." Empire also deemed it to be "Huge ghostly fun, and a fine achievement from the early days of CGI."

Unfortunately, even with critics on the side of Jackson's creepy little comedy, there was simply too much working against the film to make it a success. For one, Michael J. Fox and his gang of ghosts were going up against some big contenders. Besides the brilliant alien invasion movie, "Independence Day" arriving in theaters two weeks prior and still dominating the box office that year, there was also the calendar clash of the Atlanta Summer Olympics to contend with. Jackson himself was quoted in Brian Sibley's book, "Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey," for highlighting the issue to the studio, which assured him it wouldn't make an impact. "And I just thought, how the hell do they know? There had only ever been three Olympic Games held in the United States in one hundred years!" Regardless of what happened, the film gave Jackson the opportunity to work with John Astin before he would coincidentally work with the actor's son in a project that would define his career.

Besides Michael J. Fox taking the lead, "The Frighteners" also featured a great collection of stars as the spooks. Joining him on the scarefest were Jake Busey as former mass murderer turned terrifying specter Johnny Bartlett, and R. Lee Ermey as a deceased master sergeant, Hiles, who keeps the local cemetery in order. One impressive addition, however, came in the form of The Judge, a decaying gunslinger who became one of Bartlett's first victims from the afterlife, proving how dangerous the film's villain was. An incredible creation from special effects master Rick Baker, The Judge's barely existing body and detachable jaw concealed television legend and original Gomez Addams, John Astin. It was a great performance from the star in the short amount of screen time he had in the film, but it was also Jackson's first link with the Astin acting family before he'd look to the next generation in a future project.

Five years after "The Frighteners," Jackson would helm a trilogy that would mark him as one of the great directors of our time with "The Lord of the Rings." Coincidentally, it was there that Jackson would hire John Astin's son, Sean Astin, to play Samwise Gamgee, the loyal friend of Frodo Baggins and a dedicated gardener. Given this, it feels safe to say that without Jackson's kooky, spooky comedy, we might never have had Jackson's game-changing trilogy, and Sean Astin cooking "PO-TA-TOES" as the unsung hero of Middle-Earth.