Cady's Take:

Paxton tells his boys that they will be provided with three weapons to defeat the demons. The weapons turn out to be an axe named 'Otis,' a pair of work gloves, and an iron pipe. Fenton is convinced his father has gone mad, and struggles to find the courage to stop his insane killing spree, before his younger brother is completely brainwashed.

The movie spends most of its time in 'flashback', while the audience gets to know the characters. As it progresses it gets continually darker and draws us deeper into the psychology of the movie. What makes "Frailty" especially disturbing is the way Paxton so seamlessly weaves the perfect dad with the demon killer.

Frailty is one of those special movies that can make you squirm at the horror you never see. This flick is top-of-the-line, and definitely a lot more than just blood and guts serial killer horror. It shows an intelligence and sophistication by turning the cameras away during murder scenes and an overall restraint typical of horror filmmakers, leaving the terrifying possibilities of the victims demise to swim in our heads.

Frailty is more than just a mind blowing ending, it’s a slow and inevitable build up that is every bit as rewarding as the film’s final payoff itself. And just when it seems the film is about to denounce so-called religious zealots, it turns around and validates them. Mind Boggling suspense thriller- don’t miss this one!

Make sure there is someone to walk you to your car after you watch “Frailty.” This movie is unsettling, thought provoking, subtle, and smart. Not a scary movie in the Halloween sense, nor is it cheap and full of dead ends (i.e. “The Ring”). This first movie directed by Bill Paxton is a hands-down must-rent. “Frailty” takes chances and they pay off.

Bill Paxton plays a loving, caring father raising his two young sons Fenton and Adam (Matthew O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter) alone. One night an angel visits Paxton, and he tells his sons that the angel has directed him to kill demons on earth – demons that are disguised as humans. A grown Fenton (McConaughey) tells the story to FBI Agent Doyle, played by Powers Boothe, in a series of flashbacks. We learn that the younger son, Adam, is persuaded by his father that this is in fact God’s plan, however Fenton is not a believer, and refuses to assist his father in this series of murders, which his father tries in vain to explain are not murders, but God’s plan. We follow this family through a series of truly gruesome murders – not gruesome and graphic mind you, but Paxton shows just enough to scare you and nothing more. Hitchcock employed that same theory in his films – the less you show, the scarier it is. McConaughey as a grown Fenton is really quite masterful, as he makes you believe, and then makes you believe something else. The movie does not treat Paxton as a crackpot, but as an intelligent, religious man who is quietly assured that he is doing God’s work.

The really great thing about “Frailty” is that it fulfills my First Rule for All Movies: Don’t Cheat. “Frailty” follows each storyline out to a logical conclusion – sometimes that conclusion leaves us with more questions, but they are always logical questions. The ending will not only surprise you, it will in a way enlighten you, and leave you questioning everything you thought until the very end.