After getting his start in cult B-movie territory, Peter Jackson nonchalantly created the greatest trilogy of all time with The Lord of the Rings. Shot simultaneously from 1999 to 2001, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) rank among some of the best movies ever made. They raked in the box-office money, dominated awards seasons, and The Fellowship of the Rings even earned preservation by the National Film Registry. That said, it's no wonder Peter Jackson's name has become synonymous with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
However, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is far from the only thing on Jackson's resume. While his filmography might not be as lengthy as someone like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese, Jackson's contributions to film extend far beyond Middle-earth. Whether it's campy, splatter-heavy delights or critically-acclaimed dramas, Jackson makes the movies he wants to make. Here are the best Peter Jackson movies that aren't The Lord of the Rings, along with how to watch them on Prime Video, Tubi, and more.
Dead Alive (1992)
If you exist outside the horror genre, then perhaps the most shocking thing you can learn about Peter Jackson is his origins in B-movie horror and sci-fi. Truthfully, even some horror fans don't know about this part of Jackson's career because that's how cult these movies are. While Bad Taste (1987) came first, Dead Alive, also known as Braindead outside of the US, is truly a sight to behold… if you can stomach it.
This zombie romp sits firmly in the splatter subgenre and makes films like Dawn of the Dead (1978) and 28 Days Later seem PG. Exceedingly gory, extraordinarily bizarre, and, at times, downright tasteless, Dead Alive will only appeal to a certain type of audience. If you love Evil Dead II (1987) but thought, "What if this were grosser? I want to see that!" Then, hello. Welcome to the cult phenomenon that is Dead Alive.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
It's almost comical to think that just two years after Dead Alive, Jackson released Heavenly Creatures. Tone and genre-wise, it's a complete 360. Gone is Jackson's pitch-black comedy and splatter gore. Instead, Heavenly Creatures seeks to dramatize the real-life story about two teenage girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, whose intense relationship with each other resulted in the murder of Parker's mother. It was here that Peter Jackson went from cult director to an acclaimed creative.
Heavenly Creatures garnered attention and a Silver Lion at the 1994 Venice Film Festival before receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 1995. The movie also put Kate Winslet on the map, whose role as the teenage murderer preceded her big break in Titanic (1997). Whether you like true crime-inspired movies like Monster (2003) or darkly complicated sapphic stories like Eileen (2023), Heavenly Creatures is an engrossing watch.
The Frighteners (1996)
Despite receiving critical acclaim for the dramatic Heavenly Creatures, Jackson returned to his horror-comedy roots in 1996 with The Frighteners. Initially intended to be a Tales from the Crypt (1989) spinoff of sorts, The Frighteners puts an architect (Michael J. Fox) into a Sixth Sense-esque situation after a car accident gives him the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Although it stumbled at the box office, it has since become a cult favorite for those who appreciate good special effects littered throughout a fun and quirky but ultimately flawed narrative.
In many ways, The Frighteners has that trademark late '90s/early 2000s aesthetic that makes movies like Phantoms (1998) and Thirteen Ghosts (2001) so fun. Nowhere near as profound or critically acclaimed as Heavenly Creatures (or The Lord of the Rings trilogy), The Frighteners still has a certain charm if you're hungry for nostalgia.
King Kong (2005)
Remakes, sequels, and spinoffs of 1933's King Kong are nothing new. However, Peter Jackson's take on the giant, lovestruck ape remains a fan favorite—and for good reason. Jackson fuses his love for horror and fantasy to deliver a 187-minute film (yes, it's long!) that's packed with action, depth, and plenty of heart. As a longtime fan of Kong with the lifetime dream of doing this movie, Jackson didn't just make King Kong because he could; he made it because he desperately wanted to.
With dazzling cinematography and respectable CGI, Jackson's King Kong is well worth the time investment for monster movie fans. For many, including me, it ranks well above any Monsterverse entry, with, perhaps, its biggest competition being 1976's King Kong and the original, of course.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
If you're a millennial reading this, then I probably don't need to tell you about the phenomenon that was Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones in 2002. At the time, the story about a teenage girl helping her family solve her brutal rape and murder from beyond the grave was darkly fantastical, edgy, and wholly unique. That sentiment wasn't lost on Jackson, who secured the rights in 2004.
Unfortunately, The Lovely Bones movie didn't have quite the same spark as the source material. Although Jackson proved he knows how to direct a movie, it doesn't quite nail the tricky tonal balance of darkness and sentimentality. To be fair, though, that's the gray area the book also lives in. Whether you can get behind The Lovely Bones or not will largely depend on your taste. If you like complex teenage-centered stories like The Virgin Suicides (2000) or Thirteen Reasons Why (2017), The Lovely Bones just might scratch that same itch.
