Directors Watch Podcast Ep. 98 – ‘The Frighteners’ (Peter Jackson, 1996) with Special Guest Brian Tallerico
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 98 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by Brian Tallerico, Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, to discuss the next film in their Peter Jackson series, The Frighteners (1996).
The critical success of Heavenly Creatures proved to put Jackson on the map, with Hollywood calling for him to start making bigger pictures. In writing a treatment in 1992 for an idea that would become The Frighteners, Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis viewed their idea as a chance to be a spin off to the television series Tales from the Crypt, centering on a small town private eye who can see and speak to the dead. In working with Jackson and Fran Walsh, Zemeckis liked the idea of the young director making the film, and thus became the last film he would make before the biggest project of his life. But is it good, is it successful, or is it a forgotten relic that doesn’t make sense within Jackson’s filmography. Ryan, Jay, and Brian debate where The Frighteners lands, the importance of Weta Digital, the career of Michael J. Fox, Jackson getting the movie filmed in New Zealand even though it takes place in America, and preview the start of the boys’ journey to Middle Earth over the next couple of weeks.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more.
This podcast runs 1h21m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Peter Jackson with a review of his next film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
- Director Watch Podcast Ep. 99 – ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (Peter Jackson, 2001) - May 16, 2025
- AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 287 – 78th Cannes Film Festival Preview with Special Guest Christina Birro - May 9, 2025
- Directors Watch Podcast Ep. 98 – ‘The Frighteners’ (Peter Jackson, 1996) with Special Guest Brian Tallerico - May 8, 2025
‘Love Letters’ Review: A Quietly Powerful Portrait of Queer Motherhood [B] Cannes 
‘A Useful Ghost’ Review: Vacuum Cleaner Love Story Doesn’t Suck [C+] Cannes 
‘Sirât’ Review: Óliver Laxe Takes Us on a Sisyphean Journey of Sound and Fury Road [A-] Cannes 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 99 – ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’ (Peter Jackson, 2001)