The Frighteners
dir. Peter Jackson (1996)
While impossible to pigeonhole (there’s no doubt it left the Universal Pictures marketing team perplexed), The Frighteners remains a creepy, funny, offbeat and overdone treat for those on its wavelength. The effects stand up well without ever constituting the be-all and end-all.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
dir. Peter Jackson (2014)
Alternatively: There, a Feature-Length Fight Melange, and Back Again. Peter Jackson’s Gollum-esque craving to don the ring and turn New Zealand once again into Middle-earth gives Howard Shore’s impassioned score first billing while short-changing Martin Freeman. Too many armies, not enough hobbit.