"Frailty" tells the story of two boys, Fenton and Adam, who live with their father (director and actor Bill Paxton) who, one night, has a vision coming from God that guides him to a path of killing. He has to kill demons that live among humans, and that have the aspect of human beings. The two boys are forced to witness and participate to the slayings, but the oldest, Fenton, has a different opinion on all that...Seems very simple? I'm not telling you more than that, because any other detail about the plot would be too much...and let me tell you that the film is much more than that, really. There is an impressive amount of sub-plots and it truly is one of the most complicated films since Curtis Hanson's "L.A. Confidential".
Directed by Bill Paxton, known for his roles in James Cameron's "Aliens" and Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" among many others, this man proves that he's not only a good actor, but also a very promising director. Paxton's film is dark, hypnotic, it truly has a creepy atmosphere that reminds of Danny Boyle's "Shallow Grave". The film is structured in two different periods of time, one is the sons' youth, and the other is their adulthood, but both of them are haunting and amazingly moody and well-done.
The acting is really great too, and the boys surprised me...personally, except for Danny Lloyd in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and a couple of other young actors that did a good job, I didn't see god young actors very often...but these guys are very good. Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe all made an extremely good job acting, especially Paxton, who plays a very believable and likeable father that is tormented and deranged but still believes in what he does. His character is full of dilemmas, goodness, and a part of evil (that borrows the name of good in the film). McConaughey reminds me of Kevin Spacey's character in Brian Synger's "The Usual Suspects". You'll have to see the film to understand what I just said...really. Powers Boothe is great too, with another character that brings plot twists, even though that could be the last thing you'd expect. Great acting.
And now, a very strong element in this film, the scenario. It is really good. It takes the skeleton of an horror movie, to which rich plot twists are added in addition of interesting characters we TRULY care about. And that's a rare thing in an horror film. The dialogues are quite good, and the story, even though it may first sound pretty simple is very developped and complex. Brent Hanley (the man that wrote the film) is close to Christopher McQuarrie (the scenarist of "The Usual Suspects") and I'd even say he (kind of) has more merit because he made an HORROR film scary and truly intelligent taking a different path than Stephen King with "The Shining", which has intelligent horror based on insanity..."Frailty", somehow, took this path, but wrote a scenario that could still make sense in a Crime film or Film-Noir...and he still gave a scary flavor to his story, and Paxton enriched it with his nice directing. Hanley is the Ray Bradbury of these days, really.
Overall, those who are tired of recent horror films (the boring "Resident Evil", the ridiculous "Queen of The Damned", or the fundamentally awful "Valentine", among others) will be pleased. People who think horror movies are stupid will be stunned. People that believe horror movies contain gallons of blood will be speechless. This film is very good. Very good. It is entertaining, but not in the usual Hollywood way to be entertained...there are no special effects, no CGI, no creature effects, no gore...but that's not the point! This is an (unfortunately) unusual way to make an horror movie...this film is original, simple but at the same time very complex (you may need more than one viewing to catch it all). You'll watch five minutes of it, and you'll be hooked until the very uncommon and GREAT ending. Some scenes are disturbing for the characters, but not for the viewer, the nuance is that the viewer feels how disturbed the characters are, and we feel really close to them...that's how an horror film should work! Also, there are many discussion topics in this film, and they question many things and believe me, this film will make many think...especially about religion. "Frailty" criticizes religion, especially the way believers understand it. "Frailty" has many faces, it's a rich film, and it is very enjoyable, especially for those who love horror films. But the range of viewers is much wider than that. Haunting film. Great directing and scenario. Oh yeah, and acting too. Thanks a lot Mr.Paxton, you delivered a very good horror film. 8.5/10
Directed by Bill Paxton, known for his roles in James Cameron's "Aliens" and Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" among many others, this man proves that he's not only a good actor, but also a very promising director. Paxton's film is dark, hypnotic, it truly has a creepy atmosphere that reminds of Danny Boyle's "Shallow Grave". The film is structured in two different periods of time, one is the sons' youth, and the other is their adulthood, but both of them are haunting and amazingly moody and well-done.
The acting is really great too, and the boys surprised me...personally, except for Danny Lloyd in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and a couple of other young actors that did a good job, I didn't see god young actors very often...but these guys are very good. Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe all made an extremely good job acting, especially Paxton, who plays a very believable and likeable father that is tormented and deranged but still believes in what he does. His character is full of dilemmas, goodness, and a part of evil (that borrows the name of good in the film). McConaughey reminds me of Kevin Spacey's character in Brian Synger's "The Usual Suspects". You'll have to see the film to understand what I just said...really. Powers Boothe is great too, with another character that brings plot twists, even though that could be the last thing you'd expect. Great acting.
And now, a very strong element in this film, the scenario. It is really good. It takes the skeleton of an horror movie, to which rich plot twists are added in addition of interesting characters we TRULY care about. And that's a rare thing in an horror film. The dialogues are quite good, and the story, even though it may first sound pretty simple is very developped and complex. Brent Hanley (the man that wrote the film) is close to Christopher McQuarrie (the scenarist of "The Usual Suspects") and I'd even say he (kind of) has more merit because he made an HORROR film scary and truly intelligent taking a different path than Stephen King with "The Shining", which has intelligent horror based on insanity..."Frailty", somehow, took this path, but wrote a scenario that could still make sense in a Crime film or Film-Noir...and he still gave a scary flavor to his story, and Paxton enriched it with his nice directing. Hanley is the Ray Bradbury of these days, really.
Overall, those who are tired of recent horror films (the boring "Resident Evil", the ridiculous "Queen of The Damned", or the fundamentally awful "Valentine", among others) will be pleased. People who think horror movies are stupid will be stunned. People that believe horror movies contain gallons of blood will be speechless. This film is very good. Very good. It is entertaining, but not in the usual Hollywood way to be entertained...there are no special effects, no CGI, no creature effects, no gore...but that's not the point! This is an (unfortunately) unusual way to make an horror movie...this film is original, simple but at the same time very complex (you may need more than one viewing to catch it all). You'll watch five minutes of it, and you'll be hooked until the very uncommon and GREAT ending. Some scenes are disturbing for the characters, but not for the viewer, the nuance is that the viewer feels how disturbed the characters are, and we feel really close to them...that's how an horror film should work! Also, there are many discussion topics in this film, and they question many things and believe me, this film will make many think...especially about religion. "Frailty" criticizes religion, especially the way believers understand it. "Frailty" has many faces, it's a rich film, and it is very enjoyable, especially for those who love horror films. But the range of viewers is much wider than that. Haunting film. Great directing and scenario. Oh yeah, and acting too. Thanks a lot Mr.Paxton, you delivered a very good horror film. 8.5/10