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Frailty on DVD (2002)

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Average rating: 65%
1214920141926
3.0
from 728 members
 
Starring: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe, Matt O'Leary, Luke Askew, Missy Crider
Director: Bill Paxton
Studio: PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 96 mins
Certificate: 15
Collections: 100 Top Thrillers
User collections: The Good Stuff, Movies that have you thinking, Thrillers & Horrors.....the good and the bad
Genres: Thriller
Languages: English
Hearing-impaired: English
Released: 03/03/2003

Brief synopsis of Frailty

Actor Bill Paxton's directorial debut, FRAILTY, has been hailed for its originality by author Stephen King and director Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD). The film opens on a stormy night when an intense man (Matthew McConaughey) walks into FBI headquarters in Dallas and tells Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) that he knows who the "God's Hand" serial killer is. He tells a compelling tale, shown in flashback, of how he and his brother lived with their kind widower father (Bill Paxton), a mechanic. One night, their father woke them up to tell them he'd had a vision, and that God had commanded the family to slay demons in human form. The older brother, Fenton (Matt O'Leary), doesn't believe a word of it, and assumes their father has gone mad. The younger brother, Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), is more easily swayed. Soon the father is bringing people home, supposedly chosen by God for them to slay. When Fenton tries to resist his father's plan, he finds his own life in danger. Eschewing graphic gore in favor of more subtle chills, Paxton's suspenseful and creepy film harkens back to the wholesome surface and underlying depravity of classics like NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 3 stars out of 5 Radio Times

Actor Bill Paxton (Aliens, Titanic) made his directorial debut with this haunting, richly textured tale about a family torn apart by religious fanaticism and madness. Texan Fenton Meiks (a career-best performance by Matthew McConaughey) tells FBI agent Doyle (Powers Boothe) that the serial killer he is looking for — an axe murderer known as “God's Hand” — is his brother and relates, in flashback, their horrifying family history. Raised by a loving widower (played by Paxton), the two young boys are awakened one night by their father who informs them that God has chosen the family for a mission: to rid the world of demons that disguise themselves as human beings. Using the “less is more” maxim — no gore, just powerful imagery, a chilling “Southern Gothic” atmosphere and shattering sound effects — Paxton's remarkably assured, if morbidly bleak, creepshow is directed with artful precision. Every frame is filled with dark foreboding and the menace is sustained to the shattering climax. This thoughtful, yet chilling, horror really gets under the skin and is an extraordinary achievement for the first-time director.

Rating of 1 stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

Chilling little horror story of fundamentalist religion gone mad, stylishly made.

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 4 starsSheer story-telling class

Melon from East Sussex , 11/07/2004

A man tells an FBI agent that his brother is the 'God's Hands' serial killer, and then relates the story of their tumultuous childhood with a father who believed he was a demon-slayer. This is a truly great little film that completely grips not with trick photography, effects, cheap shocks or gore but with the power of it's storyline. It sucks you in and doesn't let go until the end.

Nothing in this film is overdone, with good actors bringing realism to every scene by doing as little as possible. That's why this film succeeds where so others fail. It never does anything that detracts from simply telling the story. A genuine minor classic.

(I'm just reluctant to give any film 5 stars.)

  13 out of 14 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsBetter twist than 'The Sixth Sense'

Ewan Morgan from Glasgow , 10/04/2004

This is a gem of a film that will have you on the edge of your sofa. There is very little action but that adds to the overall sinister effect. Oh, and watch out for the brilliant twist at the end.

  7 out of 9 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 3 starsMakes you very uneasy

sundance1 from Durham , 02/04/2004

I ordered this believing that it would be scary. It’s not on the edge of your seat scary but makes the viewer very uneasy.

Matthew McConaughey plays the role extremely well which made the film.

Not one to watch alone if you’re easily unnerved.

  6 out of 7 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 4 starsA disturbing film

lucifer from LONDON , 01/03/2004

This is such a disturbing film - not that scary but there is something really freaky about it! Matthew McCougheny is fantastic and has easily made the transition into a really creepy role. I wouldn't recommend watching this before going to bed!!

  5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 4 starsSheer story-telling class

Melon from East Sussex , 11/07/2004

A man tells an FBI agent that his brother is the 'God's Hands' serial killer, and then relates the story of their tumultuous childhood with a father who believed he was a demon-slayer. This is a truly great little film that completely grips not with trick photography, effects, cheap shocks or gore but with the power of it's storyline. It sucks you in and doesn't let go until the end.

Nothing in this film is overdone, with good actors bringing realism to every scene by doing as little as possible. That's why this film succeeds where so others fail. It never does anything that detracts from simply telling the story. A genuine minor classic.

(I'm just reluctant to give any film 5 stars.)

  13 out of 14 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 stars

Eva#5 from GLASGOW , 30/06/2004

This is simply a brilliant movie. A seemingly normal man comes home and tucks the kids into bed and then has a vision. Only nothing is as it seems or is it? Part murder mystery, part supernatural suspense and part something entirely unique. Bill Paxton who stars in and directs this film deserves all the priase he can get. For this is a truely original horror film which suprises on multiple levels. Well worth a watch and then a watch again to see all the things that you missed the first time round. You won't regret renting this one.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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