Over the last several years, I have started to really like scary movies. I don’t mean gory, slasher type movies like the Friday the 13th movies. The type of scary movies I like are movies like The Sixth Sense and The Others, that are creepy and scary without showing a lot of blood and violence. A movie I saw recently, Frailty, is another movie of this type, though it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I still really enjoyed it. When I first saw the previews for Frailty, I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on in that movie. Then I read reviews here at Epinions, and decided to go see it. Well, it was one review, by scott29, that really convinced me I needed to go see this movie. His reviews have convinced me to see a few different movies that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

My friend and I went to see this on a Wednesday afternoon. No one else was there for that show, so we didn’t have to worry about anyone sitting in front of us. There was a small problem though. Before the movie started, I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and when I looked, there was a mouse running around across the aisle from me. I’m not terrified of mice or anything, but I don’t particularly want to have one run across my feet, especially during a scary movie. Thankfully, the mouse stayed away from us. We did go tell an employee, but they didn’t seem too concerned.

CAST

Bill Paxton - Dad (Mr. Meiks)
Matthew McConaughey - Fenton Meiks
Powers Booth - Agent Wesley Doyle
Matt O’Leary - Young Fenton
Jeremy Sumpter - Young Adam

Bill Paxton also directed Frailty. This is the first movie he directed, and I think he did a very good job. Over the years, he has been in many movies and worked with some very talented directors. It is obvious that he was paying attention and learned some things from those directors.

The movie is rated R for some violence and language. Parts of the movie are scary, so people who don’t like scary movies shouldn’t see Frailty. No children of any age should see this movie.

PLOT

FBI agent Wesley Doyle is trying to catch a serial killer that is known as the God’s Hand Killer. The FBI has no leads in the case. A man, Fenton Meiks, shows up wanting to talk to Agent Doyle about the case. Fenton claims that he knows who the killer is and where the bodies are. Fenton says that his younger brother, Adam, is the God’s Hand Killer. Agent Doyle doesn’t seem to believe him, so Fenton starts talking about his childhood.

Fenton and Adam lived with their father, Mr. Meiks, in a small Texas town. Their mother died when Adam was born, so it was just the three of them. The boys had a normal childhood until one night in 1979 when their father woke them up in the middle of the night. Mr. Meiks said he had just had a vision from God. According to the vision, the world is full of demons disguised as regular humans. The Meiks family has been chosen by God to kill the demons. Mr. Meiks will have more visions later, showing him the special weapons he is to use, and a list of names of the demons.

Fenton thinks that his dad just made up the business about the vision and demons, but Adam completely believed it. Fenton tried to forget about the demon talk, and he did for a while. Then one day, his dad came home with an ax and a pair of old work gloves. Mr. Meiks said he had another vision. The ax, which has the name Otis on it, is what he is supposed to use to kill the demons. The gloves are special gloves that will help him with the demons. Mr. Meiks also has a lead pipe that it is to be used on the demons too. Fenton was horrified by what his father said, but Adam was very accepting, and seemed to be looking forward to hunting and killing demons. Fenton kept hoping his dad would stop all the talk about demons, but it didn’t happen. One day Mr. Meiks came home from work with a list of names. He had another vision while at work, and the names are the demons they are to go after. Adam was very wrapped up in the demon talk.

Fenton continued to think his dad was just making up the visions and the demons while Adam continued to believe their father. Adam didn’t understand why Fenton didn’t believe. Fenton thought that his dad had really lost it when he came home one night with a woman he said was a demon. Mr. Meiks wanted Fenton to participate, and he seemed pleased when Adam came out to see what was going on. Adam was very excited. Fenton was horrified by what happened that night. Mr. Meiks believed he was doing what God wanted, and Adam also believed that. Fenton thought his father was turning into a murderer. Fenton and Adam had many disagreements over the actions of their father. Many more things happen in the movie, so if you want to find out how it turns out, you have to see the movie.

**End of plot discussion**

Frailty is a suspenseful, somewhat scary movie. There were a few things that I thought were predictable about the movie, but overall, it was very unpredictable. I thought the plot of Frailty was unique, though it did remind me of a Dean Koontz book, Twilight Eyes. In the book, there are demons disguised as humans. The main character can see who the demons are, and he kills the ones he encounters. He meets up with a few other people who know about the demons, and who can also see them. There were no visions from God in Twilight Eyes. The demons disguised as normal humans is the main similarity between Frailty and Twilight Eyes. There are different explanations for the demons in the book and the movie. The book and movie are different, so it’s not like Frailty is based on Twilight Eyes. People who enjoyed Twilight Eyes may enjoy Frailty. It has been a while since I’ve read the book, so I’m going to have to get it out and re read it now.

Much of Frailty is shown as a flashback to the childhood of Fenton and Adam. Occasionally, during the flashbacks, the voice of the adult Fenton is heard narrating. Some of the other scenes take place in the present day, when Fenton is telling his story to Agent Doyle. The flashbacks blended seamlessly with the present day scenes. Some movies that have flashbacks in them have been confusing and hard to follow. That is not the case with Frailty. There are a few plot twists here and there in the movie. Some of those twists, and some other things that happen in the movie will make you think once the movie is over. I can’t really be any more specific about what will make you think, because then that would spoil things that happen near the end of the movie.

There is some violence in Frailty. Most of the truly violent scenes take place off camera, allowing your imagination to kick in and fill in the gaps. Many times, that ends up making a movie much scarier than if the violence had been shown. There are some violent scenes shown on camera, so if you don’t like those types of scenes, you should avoid Frailty. There is some swearing in the movie, but it isn’t as excessive as in some other movies. There is no nudity or any sexual situations in the movie, so if you don’t like to see movies with nudity or sexual situations, you don’t have to worry about that with this movie.

There is a creepy atmosphere throughout Frailty. That atmosphere is established right from the beginning of the movie, with the opening credits. Some creepy sounding music plays during the opening credits, which show some newspaper clippings related to the God’s Hand Killer. There are some creative camera angels used a few times, as well as some creative lighting in some scenes. Shadows are used effectively to add to the overall atmosphere of the movie. It is similar to Hitchcock movies in which the tension and suspense are built throughout the movie without violence and gore being shown on camera. I think Bill Paxton did a good job directing.

The acting in Frailty was very good. Bill Paxton is believable as the father. Paxton goes through many different emotions as Mr. Meiks in the movie. Matthew McConaughey didn’t have a lot of screen time, but he was good in the role he did have. Since the majority of the movie is focused on the childhood of Fenton and Adam, Matthew isn’t in any of those scenes. He just has a few at the beginning, ending, and a few throughout the movie, but he was very good in those scenes.

Powers Booth, who also had only a few scenes, was good as the FBI agent who was skeptical about Fenton’s story. The two child actors, Matt O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter, were great as Fenton and Adam. They each expressed some emotions during the movie without coming across as annoying and whiney like some child actors do.

CHARACTERS

Fenton Meiks - He shows up at the FBI office in Dallas saying he knows who the God’s Hand Killer is. He tells a story about his childhood to convince Agent Doyle. Fenton had a normal childhood until his father said he was seeing visions from God. Fenton didn’t believe that his father received visions from God or that the people were really demons. Fenton starts to put distance between himself and his father and brother.

Adam Meiks - Fenton’s little brother. Adam believed their father when he said he was seeing visions from God. He believed they were chosen to take care of the demons hiding as regular humans. He is upset with Fenton for not believing.

Mr. Meiks - Fenton and Adam’s father. He had been raising his sons himself because his wife died while giving birth to Adam. Mr. Meiks told his sons that he was seeing visions from God. They had been chosen to take care of demons on Earth that are disguised as normal people. Mr. Meiks wants both his sons involved in the demon hunting.

Agent Wesley Doyle - FBI agent that has been working on the God’s Hand Killer case for a while. He talks to Fenton, but doesn’t believe his story at first. Doyle seems to become more convinced as the movie goes on.

Frailty is a very good, suspenseful movie. Most of the violence takes place off camera, so the viewers have to imagine what is happening. The movie has a very creepy atmosphere throughout. People who enjoyed The Sixth Sense and The Others may also like Frailty. It is worth checking out.






Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age