[6]

In this horror comedy from director Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), Michael J. Fox stars as a charlatan ghostbuster who can communicate with the undead. After many of the local ghost community start disappearing, Fox gets roped into solving the mystery, which involves a 20-year old mass-murder at a nearby mental institution. If it sounds convoluted, it is. The narrative is over-complicated, involving too many characters and flashbacks, but there are enough elements here that you're likely to find at least some of them interesting.

Fox does a commendable job anchoring the film amidst a steady stream of visual effects and a large supporting cast. I liked John Astin (Gomez in the original Addams Family) as a ghostly wild west character called The Judge, and Dee Wallace gets to cut loose as a troubled woman with a spooky past. Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) just about steals the show as a super-strange FBI agent who’s spent way too much time living among religious cults. With Jake Busey and R. Lee Ermey, and a score by Danny Elfman.