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Fairwater Residents
Frank Bannister
- Played By: Michael J. Fox
A former architect who lost his wife, Debra, in a car accident and gained the ability to see and communicate with spirits which he uses to con unsuspecting townsfolk by having two of his ghostly cohorts, Cyrus and Stuart, cause havoc in their homes. When a handful of Fairwater's residents begin dying of mysterious heart attacks and he becomes the main suspect, he must clear his name and put a stop to the true culprit.
- The Alleged Car: His yellow Volvo, which Cyrus isn't all too impressed with.
- Anti-Hero: Whilst he does ultimately defeat the monster responsible for the years-long supernatural killing spree in Fairweather, he's honestly kind of a jerk, at least in the early part of the movie, where he exploits the ghostly trio who've chosen to hang out in his home, fakes hauntings for money, and even sneaks into funerals to try and drum up business for himself.
- Back from the Dead: This happens to him twice in the film.
- Character Development: Frank starts out using his psychic gift to con people out of their money; he even gets told by The Judge that "Death is no way to make a living." Gradually, as he works to put a stop to the Soul Collector/Bartlett, he finds himself trying to protecting lives and, by the end, starts living his life again.
- Con Man: How he makes a living at the start of the film.
- Drives Like Crazy: He doesn't stay on the road when driving and, at one point, takes his eyes off the road to look at his business cards. In the Director's Cut, he cuts through a funeral procession.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After the final confrontation, he demolishes his half-finished house as a sign that he's ready to move on with his life, and is shown starting a new relationship with Lucy.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Frank can see and talk to spirits, and he fights to stop a malevolent spirit posing as The Grim Reaper. This gets averted whenever he becomes a spirit himself.
- Go into the Light: In the final act, he, as a spirit, rips Patricia's own spirit out of her body and drags her into the portal to Heaven, drawing Bartlett along with him.
- Heroic BSoD: He undergoes this halfway through the film after failing to save Magda from the Soul Collector.
- I Have Your Wife: Pulls Patricia's spirit out of her body and holds her hostage to draw Bartlett into the portal to Heaven.
- Mean Boss: Especially in the Director's Cut. Frank jeers at his ghostly hirelings, insults them to their face, scolds them for not doing what he thinks is a good enough job, and dismisses their requests and pleas.
- Monster Protection Racket: Since real hauntings are apparently not very common, despite the graveyard being full of ghosts, he makes most of his money by sending his ghostly sidekicks to create blatantly supernatural stunts at houses, then shows up and performs a phony exorcism for cash.
- Moving Beyond Bereavement: Wracked with Survivor Guilt over escaping the accident that (supposedly) killed his wife, Frank spends most of the film basically stuck in the moment after his wife's death. In the end, Frank sees his wife one final time in his Afterlife Welcome, only for her to return him to life. Her final farewell, encouraging him to be happy, is enough to help him move on and form a new life with a new Love Interest.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: In the final act, he's strangled to death by Patricia, but his spirit comes back moments later to save Lucy from being mutilated by Patricia.
- Red Is Heroic: He's often seen wearing a red shirt, even if he's in a suit.
- Relationship Upgrade: By the end of the film, he ends up with Lucy.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: After he dies a second time at Patricia's hands, Frank, once again a spirit, grabs her and tears her own spirit out of her body.
Dr. Lucy Lynskey
- Played By: Trini Alvarado
A doctor who moved to Fairwater with her husband, Ray, three months prior to the film's events and works at the local medical center. She becomes a widow after Ray dies of a suspicious heart attack and, not long after, finds herself a target of the Soul Collector.
- Alliterative Name: At least her married name, as her maiden name isn't mentioned in the film or the novelization.
- Awful Wedded Life: She admits that her and Ray's marriage was honestly pretty bad to Frank during their seance at the restaurant.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She threatens Dammers with a scalpel at one point.
- Damsel out of Distress: She is one of the Soul Collector's targets, but rallies to help Frank confront the ghost on his own terms.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After the final confrontation, she is shown starting a new life with Frank, now also able to see ghosts.
- Hospital Hottie: She's an attractive doctor.
- The Ingenue: Played with. While she does fit the idealistic and wholesome traits of this archetype, she's definitely not helpless.
- Near-Death Clairvoyance: In the film's epilogue, she reveals that everything she underwent in defeating Bartlett and Bradley has unlocked her ability to perceive ghosts as well.
- Nice Girl: Lucy is, by all accounts, a kind and caring woman.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's a beautiful woman who has black hair and light skin.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a short but harsh one to Frank when trying to convince him that he's innocent.Lucy: [to Frank] Do you think you're the only person who's ever lost somebody? You walk around like you don't have any feelings, but the truth is, you're scared!
- Relationship Upgrade: She ends up with Frank by the end.
- Tuckerization: She's named after Melanie Lynskey, who starred in Heavenly Creatures, Peter Jackson's previous film.
Ray Lynskey
- Played By: Peter Dobson
Lucy's husband who immediately develops a grudge against Frank after the latter crashes into his yard (and runs over one of his lawn gnomes). He is later killed by the Soul Collector and is forced to rely on Frank.
- Hate at First Sight: He almost immediately hates Frank after the latter crashes into his yard.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the novelization, when he sees the Soul Collector coming for Lucy, Ray attempts a You Shall Not Pass! on the apparition who, in turn, draws his scythe and slices Ray up something fierce. Though he ultimately doesn't survive, it's a lot better than his death in the film, in which he's rather unceremoniously Killed Off for Real by the Soul Collector, who drops his mangled ectoplasmic corpse on his wife's car where she can't even see it.
- Jerk Jock: He's very big on physical health and fitness, but also self-centered, arrogant, pushy, and kind of domineering.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being a jerk to Frank when they first meet, he deeply loves his wife.
Mrs. Bradley
- Played By: Julianna McCarthy
Patricia's mother who keeps her daughter locked in their house.
- Asshole Victim: She's found stabbed to death by her own daughter, although considering that Patricia was Bartlet's accomplice her actions may have been justified.
- Evil Old Folks: Well, she's not necessarily evil; just mean and creepy.
- Red Herring: We're led to suspect that she's been abusing Patricia ever since Bartlett's execution, but considering Patricia's status as Bartlet's accomplice she may have at least believed she was doing it for the right reasons.
Magda Rees-Jones
- Played By: Elizabeth Hawthorne
The editor-in-chief of the Fairwater Gazette who has it out for Frank.
- Asshole Victim: There's not much sympathy to be had for Magda when she is killed by The Soul Collector.
- British Stuffiness: Speaks with a British accent and is a complete bitch to Frank.
- Da Editor: Of the Fairwater Gazette.
- Jerkass: In a vein similar to J. Jonah Jameson, as she fixates on the idea of Frank as a criminal even though the worst thing he does is stage fake hauntings without ever actually harming anyone. Even after she's killed by the Soul Collector, Magda's soul condemns Frank as a criminal and the one who actually killed his wife even as she ascends to the afterlife.
Sheriff Walker Perry
- Played By: Troy Evans
The police chief of Fairwater. He and Frank seem to know each other and be on fairly friendly terms, and he's also one of the people most open-minded towards Frank's Psychic Powers.
- I Should Write a Book About This: Suggests that he and Frank team up to write a book about the film's events, though Frank politely declines.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He recognizes that Frank is a Con Man, but also knows that Frank may have some idea of what's going on around town. He's certainly more sensible than Dammers, if anything.
Spirits
General Tropes
- Invisible to Normals: Only psychics like Frank can see or hear them.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: They appear wearing the clothes they died in.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: They're created when a dead human's soul choses not to go into the afterlife, appear as translucent versions of the people they were in life. They can interact with the physical world to a degree, but are largely intangible and can't change major aspects about their appearance. It's implied that being a ghost causes their appearance to physically decline, but it's unclear; Cyrus and Stuart look pretty normal, as do all the ghosts in the Fairweather cemetary, but the Judge visibly looks like a rotting husk of a man who is mostly bone with some leathery skin still lingering on his face and torso, whilst Ray's face visibly starts rotting after he's been a ghost for a day or two. If they miss their chance to go to the afterlife upon death, they get a second chance a year later (it's unclear if this is their only second chance), but can also move on to the afterlife by either following a newly departing soul or by having their remains brought onto holy ground. If the scythe of The Grim Reaper is used on a ghost, it is "killed", but this transports them from Earth to the afterlife.
Cyrus
- Played By: Chi McBride
- Afro Asskicker: Takes on the Reaper after Stuart is killed.
- All There in the Manual: The novelization gives his surname as "Parks."
- Cigar Chomper: He complains to Frank about not being able to smoke cigars since he's dead. When he's seen in Heaven, he's smoking a cigar.
- Disco Dan: Zigzagged; he's stuck in the disco outfit he was wearing when he was killed as a ghost, but he's well aware that disco as a trend is dead and he finds it embarrassing.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Takes on the Soul Collector to buy Frank and Lucy time to flee.
Stuart
- Played By: Jim Fyfe
- All There in the Manual: The novelization gives his surname as "Harper" and mentions that he was a computer tycoon who died young.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Strongly implied to be the case in Heaven.
- Nerd Glasses: He wears a big, thick-rimmed set of glasses, to complete his "nerdy" aesthetic.
The Judge
- Played By: John Astin
- Badass Longcoat
- Cool Old Guy: The oldest ghost shown in the film, and while his condition has deteriorated so that his face looks a bit skeletal, he can still pull himself together enough to drive the Soul Collector back for a few moments.
- Dirty Old Man: When he sees an x-ray display of a female Egyptian mummy in the museum, he starts leering lasciviously at it, observing that he likes it when a woman still has her own teeth. Then he jumps into her coffin and very obviously has offscreen sex with it, lustfully commenting on how he likes it when they lie still after he's done.
- Dual Wielding: Wields his six-shooters this way.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Courtesy of the Soul Collector's scythe.
- I Love the Dead: He has sex with the thousand-year-old corpse of an Egyptian woman.
Hiles
- Played By: R. Lee Ermey
The spirit of a drill sergeant who rules over the spirits of the Fairwater Cemetery with an iron fist.
- Asshole Victim: Hiles spends his screentime insulting everyone he comes across, so it's hard to feel sorry for him when the Soul Collector gets him.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: It is R. Lee Ermey, after all. What did you expect?
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The Soul Collector cuts him in half vertically.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to Frank:Hiles: I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR SHITTY LITTLE EMANATIONS, BANNISTER! YOU CANNOT PUSH SPIRITS AROUND! YOU ARE [THE WORST KIND OF] SCUM [I HAVE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF KNOWING], USING YOUR SPOOKS TO PUT THE FRIGHTENERS ON PEOPLE! THAT MAKES ME PHYSICALLY [AND SPIRITUALLY] ILL [AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT]!
- Take Up My Sword: Involuntary example, when he's killed by the Soul Collector, Frank uses his M60's to better effect.
- Title Drop: Does this during his "Reason You Suck" Speech to Frank.
The Soul Collector
- Evil Slinks: Rather than standing, the Soul Collector tends to scurry along the ground on all fours like an animal, or partially phase into the floor or walls and slide through them like a worm.
- The Grim Reaper: His general appearance is a looming, vaguely humanoid shape enveloped in a shapeless hooded cloak with two skeletal hands poking out from within it. It can also deploy the traditional scythe.
- In the Hood: Which makes him all the more menacing and creepy.
- Knight of Cerebus: The already darkly comical film shifts to a much more dire tone when the Soul Collector directly appears.
- Nightmare Face: A Freeze-Frame Bonus when he goes right through Frank's car shows this.
- Sinister Scythe: To go hand-in-hand with his look.
- The Voiceless: Save for a couple of unearthly howls and screeches, it doesn't have a single word of dialogue. At least, until it defaults to Bartlett's form.
- Wormsign: One of his iconic gimmicks is to partially phase into a floor, wall, or similar surface and move under it, creating a vaguely humanoid bulge. He also likes to mock-lunge out of the surfaces, creating an impression of a head and hands stretching through the surface without quite breaking through — until he does.
Antagonists
John Charles "Johnny" Bartlett
- Played By: Jake Busey
An orderly who went on a rampage at Fairwater Sanatorium in 1964 and was executed for his crimes. He comes back from Hell to claim the largest body count of any serial killer yet.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Along with Patricia, Johnny is one of the main antagonists of the film.
- Body-Count Competition: After the shooting, Bartlett brags he had killed more people than Starkweather. After returning from the grave, his main goal is to get the largest body count of all serial killers because he feels that honor belongs to an American instead of some Russian.
- Eagleland: He's dismayed that a Russian serial killer (implied to be Andrei Chikatilo, through he was Ukranian, not Russian) holds the biggest body count and tells Patricia that that record should be held by an American.
- Foil: To Frank. Bartlett and Frank both try to use death to make a living, to paraphrase the Judge. But whereas Frank uses his ability to see ghosts to make money, Bartlett takes on the form of The Grim Reaper and goes about killing people to rack up the highest body count. Frank also slowly regains his humanity, while Bartlett remains a monstrous killer to the very end.
- May–December Romance: Johnny was in his early/mid-twenties, whilst Patricia was only a teenager of 15 years. In the present, Johnny now is the ghostly remains of a twenty-something man, whilst Patricia has visibly aged and now looks a decade older.
- Outlaw Couple: In 1964, Johnny Bartlett went on a rampage through the Fairweather Sanatorium, gunning down a dozen people whilst egged on by his infatuated girlfriend, which ended with her in prison and him executed. Less than four years before the present, she summoned him back from hell to resume his killing spree.
- Plato Is a Moron: His goal throughout the film is to become the greatest serial killer who ever existed to rub it in the face of every other serial killer in Hell. His last words in life were even gloating that the Fairweather Sanatorium massacre had one more death than Charles Starkweather's rampage.
- Resurrected Murderer: The Grim Reaper that is killing people turns out to be the ghost of an executed serial killer named Johnny Bartlett. His equally deranged girlfriend used Ouija Boards to summon him back from Hell, and now he's continuing his quest to become the most prolific murderer in history.
- Serial Killer: He killed 12 people during his rampage. His only rational for going on a killing spree seems to have been for fun and notoriety. He returns as a ghost to resume killing, racking up twenty eight kills and change during the "less than four year" period directly before the movie starts. By the film's end, he's formally claimed 40 kills (plus the four ghosts he dispatched).
- Slasher Smile: Practically all the freaking time he appears. It's especially prominent in a black-and-white photo shown during a documentary detailing his crime.
Patricia Ann Bradley
- Played By: Dee Wallace
Bartlett's lover and Psycho Supporter who participated in the 1964 slayings at Fairwater Sanatorium but was spared the death penalty due to a combination of being underage at the time, being a girl, and the inability of the courts to prove she actively participated in the killing herself. Lives at home with her strict mother.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: She and Johnny serve as the main antagonists of the film.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: By the time Frank becomes aware of the Reaper, she presents herself as a scared woman living under the thumb of her emotionally abusive mother, when in reality she's a stone cold killer.
- Evil Old Folks: She's at least 45 years old, but she's still infatuated with her murderous boyfriend and is actively egging him on in murdering the denizens of Fairweather.
- May–December Romance: An odd example, this. She was 15 years old when she became romantically involved with Bartlett, who was at least a decade older than her at the time, but while Bartlett was executed and became a spirit that still looks young, she was spared the death sentence and grew to be in her forties.
- Outlaw Couple: Although it wasn't proven that she killed anybody herself, she was a willing accessory to Johnny's bloody rampage. At the movie's climax, through postcognitive visions, Frank learns she did shoot at least one of the victims, but she mostly focused on carving tally numbers into their foreheads. She's also the one who, upon being released into her mother's custody, acquired Johnny's ashes and used them in conjunction with Ouija Boards to summon him from Hell so he could resume his killing, starting with Frank's wife Ada.
- Serial Killer: It was never proven that she was involved directly in the massacre, but she was considered an accessory to the rampage, and so she spent twenty-five years in prison. She set Johnny free from Hell to resume killing, making her directly responsible for the people he killed as the Soul Collector.
- Self-Made Orphan: Murders her own mother near the end.
- Teens Are Monsters: She aided her boyfriend in his massacre at the Fairwater Sanatorium.
Milton Dammers
- Played By: Jeffrey Combs
A FBI agent called in to investigate the mysterious deaths occurring around Fairwater. He immediately suspects Frank is the culprit.
- Agent Mulder: He believes in some... bizarre things. Deconstructed, since he believes Frank to be the killer based on circumstantial evidence, tries to find "meaning" in meaningless details such as the number of knives Frank bought the day of his wife's death, and nearly ruins the investigation with his dogged pursuit of Frank and refusal to listen to the far more reasonable Sheriff. Furthermore, it's implied that he is deranged from being constantly sent by the FBI to do deep-cover work in cults and even less subtly implied (with a latter statement from the director that Milton had zero psychological support between missions) that the FBI hoped the cults would kill him or he would become so crazy he would be forced to retire.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Dammmers is a mentally unstable FBI agent antagonistic to Frank and even tries to kill him multiple times but he's nothing compared to Johnny and Patricia and the latter accidentally kills him without a second thought, cementing the real threat of the film.
- Black Eyes of Evil: His scleras are still white, but Dammers is a nasty guy with very dark eyes.
- Boom, Headshot!: He dies when Patricia blows his head off with a shotgun.
- Covered with Scars: His entire torso is covered with scars, tattoos, and other ritual markings, including a swastika on his palm.
- Defective Detective: He's a licensed FBI investigator, but it's very obvious from even slight interaction that there's something majorly not right with the guy. At first, he seems nebbish, distractible and milquetoast, but over the course of the film, he proves to be legitimately dangerous in his unhinged antics.
- Does Not Like Women: Due to some unexplained past trauma, he flinches away from physical contact with a woman and reacts to Patricia's screaming by panicking.
- Large Ham: So, so much. To say Milton has a tendency to get overly worked up would be an understatement. The guy chews the scenery like no tomorrow.
- Inspector Javert: He accuses Frank for the recent slew of murders in Fairwater.
- Occult Detective: He has infiltrated the worst cults imaginable, and pursued all manner of strange, seemingly supernatural crimes and criminals, all for the sake of his country.
- Psychological Projection: Dammers at one point accuses Frank of making this all about his own need for self-gratification, rather than acknowledging that he's the one who is really trying to justify himself.
- Rabid Cop: Dammers very quickly decides Frank needs to die, even arming himself with an Uzi to do the job at the climax.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Dammers' years of infiltrating cults have left him with a lot of personality quirks and a fairly tenuous grasp on sanity. Word of God is that he's received basically no deprogramming or support after his missions.
- Theory Tunnelvision: Dammers is fixated on the idea that Bannister is a serial killer and appears incapable of considering the idea that someone or something else might be responsible.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Dammers' past traumas in investigating other "supernatural" cases has left him thinking he's an Occult Detective who's tracked down a serial-killing psychic, not realizing that he's actually caught up in a battle between a Not-So-Phony Psychic and a serial-killing ghost.
