The Frighteners
Jackson and Walsh conceived the idea for "The Frighteners" during the script-writing phase of "Heavenly Creatures". Executive producer Robert Zemeckis hired the duo to write the script, with the original intention of Zemeckis directing "The Frighteners" as a spin-off film of the television series, "Tales from the Crypt". With Jackson and Walsh's first draft submitted in January 1994, Zemeckis believed the film would be better off directed by Jackson, produced by Zemeckis and funded/distributed by Universal Studios. The visual effects were created by Jackson's Weta Digital, which had only been in existence for three years. This, plus the fact that "The Frighteners" required more digital effects shots than almost any movie made until that time, resulted in the eighteen-month period for effects work by Weta Digital being largely stressed.