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The lines between faith, zealotry, and insanity are blurred in Bill Paxton's directorial debut, a contemporary psychothriller with nods to Alfred Hitchcock. Paxton himself stars as a single father of two who claims to have orders from God to destroy demons on Earth. Unfortunately, the demons he sees seem to be real people, his weapon of choice is an axe, and he forces his two young sons to help him with his bloody mission. Paxton carries the film with the refined subtlety of a master sociopath -- he seems totally sane despite the absurdity of his dogma. Matthew McConaughey costars as one of the sons, who as an adult recounts the clan's disturbing deeds in flashbacks to FBI agent Powers Boothe. For a first-time director, Paxton frightens with finesse, acknowledging the tried-and-true tactics of Hitchcock, most notably when one of the boys is confined to a basement and suffers a Vertigo-esque freak-out sequence. But be not mistaken: Just when Frailty may start to seem too straightforward or derivative, the movie throws a creepy curve and spirals downward. Whether it spirals into insanity or into Hell is the question, one that is answered in the unnerving twist of an ending. Tony Nigro

All Movie Guide

Actor Bill Paxton made his directorial debut with Frailty. The bulk of the story is told through flashbacks, as a mysterious man (Matthew McConaughey) tells a terrible tale to an FBI agent (Powers Boothe) investigating the "God's Hand" serial killer case. The man grew up in a small town in Texas, where he and his brother lived a bucolic life with their kindhearted widower father (Paxton). One night, the father awakens the two boys, Fenton (Matthew O'Leary) and Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), and tells them he's had a vision, and God has chosen him and his sons to help Him slay demons who walk the earth in human form. He tells the boys they can never tell anyone about this task. Before long, he comes home from work with a list of names that he claims an angel has given to him. He then begins abducting people, bringing them home, one by one, and having the boys watch while he lays his hands on them. After having proven, to his mind, that they are demons and not human, he chops them up with an axe while the boys look on. Young Adam is eager to participate, seeing his family as "kind of like superheroes," while the older Fenton is distraught, believing that his father has lost his mind. He contemplates running away, but is reluctant to leave his little brother behind. Eventually, he goes to the authorities, which results in disaster. As he tells the story, McConaughey takes Boothe out to the public rose garden near his old home, where he claims his brother, the "God's Hand" killer, buried the bodies. Paxton dramatizes the mayhem while leaving almost all of the gore offscreen, and Brent Hanley's script leaves the true motives of several characters unclear until the very end. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

New York Times

Paxton's Dad may be the most terrifying father to appear in a horror film since Jack Nicholson went crazily homicidal in The Shining. Stephen Holden

Chicago Sun-Times

Frailty is an extraordinary work, concealing in its depths not only unexpected story turns but also implications, hidden at first, that make it even deeper and more sad. Roger Ebert

Variety

A resoundingly old-fashioned and well crafted study of evil infecting an American family, Frailty moves from strength to strength on its deceptive narrative course. Robert Koehler

Product Details

• UPC: 031398811725
• Source: LIONS GATE
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:39:00
• Sales Rank: 13,929

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Saw (Unrated Alternate Cut) / Frailty

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