Passes the Bechdel test
The Frighteners
1996. Directed by Peter Jackson, written by Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 131. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
After a tragic accident, Frank Bannister uses his new psychic powers to con people into "exorcising" their houses. But when an evil spirit appears, Frank may be the only one who can stop this "Reaper" that can kill both the living and dead.
- Released
- 19 Jul 1996
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 17 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frank 95 lines, man
- Lucy 79 lines, woman
- Ray 61 lines, man
- Dammers 42 lines, man
- Patricia 29 lines, woman
- Sheriff Perry 24 lines, man
- Judge 21 lines
- Stuart 20 lines, man
- Old Lady Bartlett 17 lines, woman
- Cyrus 15 lines, man
Full cast, 57 people
- Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister
- Trini Alvarado as Lucy Lynskey
- Peter Dobson as Ray Lynskey
- John Astin as The Judge
- Jeffrey Combs as Milton Dammers
- Dee Wallace as Patricia Bradley
- Jake Busey as Johnny Bartlett
- Chi McBride as Cyrus
- Jim Fyfe as Stuart
- Troy Evans as Sheriff Perry
- Julianna McCarthy as Old Lady Bradley
- R. Lee Ermey as Hiles
- Elizabeth Hawthorne as Magda Rees-Jones
- Angela Bloomfield as Debra Bannister
- Desmond Kelly as Harry Sinclair
- Jonathan Blick as Steve Bayliss
- Todd Rippon as Deputy
- John Sumner as Deputy
- Michael Robinson as Deputy
- Jim McLarty as Deputy
- Anthony Ray Parker as Deputy
- Paul Yates as Deputy
- Melanie Lynskey as Deputy
- John Leigh as Bryce Campbell
- Nicola Cliff as Young Patricia
- Ken Blackburn as Dr. Kamins
- Stuart Devenie as Museum Curator
- Genevieve Westcott as TV Presenter
- K.C. Kelly as Doctor
- Leslie Wing as Mrs. Waterhouse
- Leslie Klein as Maid
- Frank Edwards as Resuscitating Man
- Alan O'Leary as The Waiter
- Danny Lineham as Barry
- Charlie McClellan as Reporter
- William Pomeroy as Jacob Platz
- George Port as Orderly
- Billy Jackson as Baby in Bouncer
- Sophie Watkins as Nursery Baby
- Taea Hartwell as Nursery Baby
- Max Grover as Nursery Baby
- George Grover as Nursery Baby
- Tony Hopkins as Hospital Patient
- Lewis Martin as Hospital Patient
- Clay Nelson as Passerby
- Robert McNeill as Passerby
- Matthew Chamberlain as Passerby
- Vivienne Kaplan as Nun
- Liz Mullane as Nun
- Peter Jackson as Man with Piercings (uncredited)
- Fran Walsh as Passerby (uncredited)
- Matt Aitken as Cowboy Ghost (uncredited)
- Grae Burton as Guest (uncredited)
- Michael Elsworth as Undertaker (uncredited)
- Jason Te Patu as Dr. Thomson (uncredited)
- Paul Kingdom as Museum Guest (uncredited)
- Nic Farra as Ray's Friend (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 131
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 17 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 12 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 20 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 13 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 to 36 | 2 | 5 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 17 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 31 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 24 |
| 46 to 48 | 7 | 8 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 5 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 16 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 12 |
| 58 to 60 | 5 | 19 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 1 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 4 | 8 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 27 |
| 79 to 81 | 13 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 7 |
| 91 to 93 | 10 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 6 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 1 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 7 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 13 |
| 118 to 120 | 20 | 6 |
| 121 to 123 | 9 | 6 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 1 |
| 127 to 129 | 8 | 4 |
| 130 to 131 | 2 | 16 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
OLD LADY BARTLETT: I was cutting the vegetables and the knife slipped. LUCY: A few stitches and you'll be fine ep 1°11 drive you to ER. OLD LADY BARTLETT: Impossible!
OLD LADY BARTLETT: Just clean it up and give me soe antibiotics. PATRICIA: If the doctor says you should go te the Emergency Room nother, you Bust go. OLD LADY BARTLETT: Patricial To your room!
LUCY: Just a minute ... LUCY: I’m not geing to hurt you. LUCY: Who did this? OLD LADY BARTLETT: I think you’d better geo now, Dr Lynskey.
PATRICIA: I’m tired all the time ... I feel dizzy and not able to concentrate ... I can’t aven read a book. LUCY: How long have you been faeling like this? PATRICIA: I «se I think it has got a lot worse since mother increased wy medication. j
LUCY: I could help you ... if you like. . PATRICIA That would be nice. PATRICIA: I’m making some coffee ... want sone? LUCY: We probably should be going ... PATRICIA: Oh, Mother takes forever. I won’t be long ...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
146 lines from women, 308 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 42 men in the cast. 7 women and 24 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 541.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 38 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 28% of the words (1,690), men 72% (4,354). Women have 32% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
12
Two men
34
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Jackson (man)
- Written by
- Peter Jackson (man), Fran Walsh (woman)
- Produced by
- Peter Jackson (man), Jamie Selkirk (man)
- Shot by
- John Blick (gender not listed), Alun Bollinger (man)
- Edited by
- Jamie Selkirk (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Grant Major (man)
- Costumes by
- Barbara Darragh (woman)
- Cast by
- Victoria Burrows (woman), Vivienne Kaplan (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 14 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Trini Alvarado 29, Dee Wallace 47
Men
Jake Busey 25, Peter Dobson 32, Chi McBride 34, Michael J. Fox 35, Jeffrey Combs 41, Troy Evans 48, John Astin 66
Exhibit H: the money
It made 98% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $29.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 131 scenes and 541 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
