Rating: 
Summary: Not your usual redneck rampage story
Review: The end of the world is coming. No one is safe.
Twelve-year old Fenton Meiks leads a normal life albeit the absence of a mother. He feels secure growing up in a small Southern town, looking after his younger brother Adam and being cared for by his loving, average-Joe widowed mechanic father. Until the night his father receives a visit from an angel. According to the 'angel', Fenton's father is assigned the divine mission of destroying demons. Demons, Fenton's father claims, walk this Earth in human form and commit acts of heinous evil. From that night, Fenton's life was never the same again. His father believed that he found the magical weapons he needed in a shed, and brought home an axe (with the name 'Otis' carved in its handle - most eerie!), a steel pipe of some sort and a pair of gloves. While at work, Fenton's father receives another visitation wherein the angel gives him a list of names of demons that he, as 'God's Hand', has to destroy. The first abduction and killing takes place that night and it is a grisly event witnessed by the two boys. Adam is a fervent believer while Fenton is skeptical and fearful as he watches his well-loved world crumble around him. Both child actors give not merely credible, but utterly compelling, performances. It is not until many, many years later that Fenton goes to the police, specifically, FBI Agent Doyle, with his sinister tale. The central imagery in this story is a rose garden that lies beside the Meik home. It is to this place that Agent Doyle is led, and another story unfolds. Is the boys' father a psychopath, or something else? Was the young Adam so impressionable that he had been brainwashed by his father into believing that their little family was chosen to be God's Hands? Is there no end to this terror, this series of seemingly mindless and unjustified murders that can neither be traced nor stopped? The element of horror in this movie is not of the scream-out-loud, in-your-face variety. Instead, it is a plot as quiet and dignified as it is disturbing and macabre. This is a tale that makes you rethink your classifications of good and evil. The excellent lighting, cinematography and flashback effect in the plot lends a mythical quality to this movie. A brilliant departure from the usual redneck rampage, axe-murderer story, 'Frailty' is a poignant movie with a sound storyline that will intrigue, frighten and haunt you.
Rating:
Summary: GOD MADE ME DO IT
Review: Matthew O'Leary. Remember that name. Although he'll probably be remembered most for his roles in the two SPY KIDS movies, this is a performance of rare depth and power from such a young man. He plays little Fenton Meeks in this richly layered directorial debut for Bill Paxton. Paxton co-stars as his father, who one day out of the blue is told by angels he must start killing "demons". Along with Jeremy Sumpter as brother Adam, he is coerced in helping destroy these demons. We find this out through the reminiscings of a now adult Fenton, played with controlled passion by Matthew McConaughey. Fenton has come to an FBI agent's office (the delightfully morose Powers Boothe) to tell him that he knows the identity of a current serial killer called "God's Hand Killer." The killer, he says, is his brother.
Brett Hanley's script is full of twists and turns, and a shocker of an ending. Paxton gives us some really disturbing imagery, including an angel that visits Paxton while he is working underneath a car; and some riveting scenes involving young Fenton's imprisonment in a cellar.
This is a dark and disturbing film, but is well made and sticks with you after you've seen it.
RECOMMENDED.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT FRAIL AT ALL
Review: Watch this without expectations, it has a plot like I've never seen before and handles it in a pretty credible manner (although some agnostic folks may cringe). Bill Paxton's character has apparently been chosen by an "angel" who appeared in his dreams to rid the world of demons, and his two young boys react differently to his newfangled agenda in life. One thinks he's gone off the deep end, while the younger son is all set in his father's ways. Through a fairly long-winded but gripping flashback, Mathew McConaughey explains to an FBI agent what it was like growing up witnessing this and he thinks his brother has grown up to be as crazy as their father. Some intriguing twists and turns follow, leading to a smokin' denouement. Definitely worth a cool Sunday afternoon viewing, and I suggest refraining from reading too many reviews. Spoils the fun for movies like this where the crux hinges on one little notion, a bit like Sixth Sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Be an angel and pass that axe, will you, sweety?
Review: Personally, I'm scared stiff of rural America. You never know when some innocuous looking town you've just entered may just be the murder capitol of America, nay the world. You know, just about everyone behind a counter is either a wife murderer, child killer, guilty of matricide or on a homicidal mission from God. And that's just the tourist office. They even kill the sheriff too and presumably solve the conspicuous car with flashing lights problem by burying it in the rosebed next to him. Killing people by starving them for weeks is a non starter, though. You won't even go blind nor lose a single lock of hair. No, the best method is still a trusty axe. Just remember to carve your name in the handle for easy forensic identification. Yup, just passing through. No time to visit the barber in case he cuts your throat. Sheesh, I'd rather walk around looking like the Uni-bomber. Or Grizzly Addams if you thought that was tasteless. Speaking of tastlessness, can I recommend a film called 'Frailty'? No, I can't really. Whenever visiting small town America, look out for Bill Paxton. If you see him, hit the gas. Film wise, Bill Paxton and the deep south definately don't mix. I'm not fond of films that mix kids up in adult sleaziness anyway, because you don't know what the psychological effects will be at such a tender age. Like 'Funny Games', this film crosses the line. Anyway, just passing through *GULP*.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting!
Review: Frailty is a horror movie that doesn't have to be
grossly graphic to be thrilling and entertaining.
Bill Paxton plays the loving and devoted father of
2 boys, who after being visited by an angel, is
convinced God has chosen his family to rid the world
of demons who are disguised as "regular people"
waiting for the final battle of good vs evil to
begin? While Adam, the younger son is convinced
his father is a hero? Fenton, the oldest figures
his father has lost his mind, and will do anything
to stop the killings. A surprisingly good ending
and several plot twists keep the story moving at a
fast pace. And strong performances by Paxton,
Matthew McConaughey, Matt O'Leary, & Jeremy
Sumpter make Frailty a fun, if not disturbing
thriller. Powers Boothe also co-stars.
Rating:
Summary: Frailty...Great Actor's... And Demon's Among Us?
Review: This is a great movie directed and starring Bill Paxton. I think that Matt O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter were outstanding in this movie. I am sure that Frailty is to be a classic that will be talked about for years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: It's Greek to Me
Review: I'd been wanting to see this movie because I haven't been able to find a review that tells what happened. Well, I've now seen the film, and I still don't know what happened. I'd never seen any of the actors before, so I didn't know who was playing whom. Now I see that Matthew McConaughey was Adam, but he told the FBI agent that it was his brother Adam who had killed all those people. I thought I understood what was going on during the boys' childhood, but during the grown-up scenes I became completely confused. My husband and I even watched the last part twice, but it didn't help. I guess I'll go to my grave without any answers regarding this film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most chilling films in recent memory
Review: Directed by and Starring Bill Paxton, FRAILTY is one of the scariest and most effective horror films I've seen in a long time.
A serial murderer known as the God's Hand Killer is terrorising Texas; but the police investigation into the slayings is throwing up nothing but false leads and dead ends.
This changes when a man named Fenton Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) shows up at the local police station claiming to know the identity of the killer: his brother Adam. FBI Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) listens to his story, with the principal portion of the movie told in flashback mode.
This takes us back to the Summer of 1979 in rural Texas where we meet the Meiks family: The young Fenton (Matt O'Leary), Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) and their Dad (Paxton) a mechanic, who is raising the boys on his own after their mother died giving birth.
At first glance the Meikses appear the epitome of a happy, loving family. But all that changes when one night Dad has a dream in which an angel visits him and warns him that demons are taking over the World to prepare for the forthcoming apocalypse. God will give Dad the power to be able to see inside people's heads to identify if they're demons or not, the Meikses will be the only people to know of this. If the people are demons, then Dad must kill them. He will receive automatic immunity from this because by disposing of them Dad is doing God's Will (What ever happened to Thou shalt not kill? Talk about hypocrisy!). Dad and his sons will be among the only survivors if they obey. Judgment Day is coming (minus Arnie).
So Dad gets to work. God's Will involves kidnapping "sinners" and imprisoning them in his barn; then forcing the boys to watch while he kills them with his trusty ax. (The murders themselves aren't shown). What a model father! Then Fenton and Adam are given the job of burying the bodies in the rose garden-a popular place for burying the deceased in the movies.
It becomes blatantly obvious that as the bodies pile up and Dad makes the boys start digging a shelter that will keep them safe from the end of the World; that their father has become a major league fruit cake, with extra nuts.
Criticism aside, in general I found FRAILTY to be a film about a man who loves his sons but is severely mentally ill, driven over the edge by mania; with his fundamentalist dogma psychologically scarring his sons for life. Thus creating the Adam who would go on to become the God's Hand Killer. (Personally I'd like to think God is jolly like Santa- but then again Santa is an anagram of Satan!!).
FRAILTY works brilliantly mainly because the horror it portrays is chillingly plausible, so kudos must go to writer Brett Hanley. It takes a little while for the viewer to get fully involved, but once it gets going FRAILTY is a great little horror/thriller with a climactic twist you won't see coming.
If you enjoyed movies like ROSEMARY'S BABY and JEEPERS CREEPERS you'll have a lot of fun with this one. FRAILTY is one of those movies that inevitably will anger fundamentalist Christians (Gee, I wonder who?). Thankfully, FRAILTY went to DVD in NZ with an R16 rating and no problems- maybe this film hit too close to home for NZ's self appointed moral "watchdogs"? Highly recommended. Give it a geezer!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable film.
Review: Some others have described the plot to you so I won't belabor the details. Suffice it to say that this is a disturbingly creepy film. You have 10 times the terror, suspence, and tension that you' d get from the run of the mill slasher film, without the gore. I'm not much into blood for the sake of it in films. There are some very disturbing scenes but the film's tension is based in the brilliance of the screenplay, cinematography, and the fabulous performance of the actors. I'd recommend Frailty to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Bill Suprises!
Review: Who would have thought that Bill Paxton could direct (& act) such a fresh, truly scary movie? No offence Bill, but my first instincts were, "This has got to be bad - He directed it?" I took a chance, Bill. I even made a coffee during the opening scene, assuring myself that this film was doomed. Suprisingly, it actually turned out to be very good. Paxton plays his best role to date & the younger actors here should both be oscar nominated for great acting. The direction & cinematography is superb. While it has it's flaws like alot of movies, it's got a good story & will keep you engrossed. Definately well worth viewing.
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