Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Prisoner No. 6 actually wrote to me before he made his escape from The Village to ask if I wanted to meet him for this screening of FRAILTY. I wanted to go, since this is one of those films I really want to get a look at as soon as possible, but circumstance kept me from going.
Thankfully, Prisoner No. 6 sent in the following review. I'm still interested in checking it out for myself, but he makes some good points. Check this out:
So I finally had an opportunity to see FRAILTY and all in all, I must say, I was disappointed. I had expected so much more from the film.
I think knew I was in trouble when the web site had quotes from Stephen King, James Cameron and Sam Raimi touting that FRAILTY was "The most frightening horror picture I've seen since The Shining." Well that sets some high expectations.
The film starts to roll and I get suckered by the opening title sequence, very creepy and cool. Too bad the rest of the film did not live up to it.
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
A man, Fenton Meeks (McConaughey) comes forth to tell the FBI that he thinks his brother Adam may be a serial killer the FBI is looking for. The film uses flashbacks to tell the story of Meeks' disturbing childhood at the hands of a father (Paxton) who believed he was on a divine mission to destroy demons that inhabit human bodies.
I must admit the story concept is a good one and there is a good deal to potentially work with here. Key word, potentially.
Turns out good old dad (mom died in childbirth) has a dream one night (out of the blue) where god tells him a war against demons on earth has begun and he and his boys must join the fight. Instead of having "Dad's" (Bill Paxton) revelation happen so suddenly, why not build up to this point. Not only would this create tension, but the ultimate revelation and communication of his vision to his boys would be slightly more believable. Instead, we have dad waking up in the middle of the night with this "mission from god".
Paxton's character is also given (through god's visions) a number of weapons. Here I was hoping for something original... something unique. Ok, so he gets an axe and a pipe. So much for some kick ass weapons (I admit, an axe named "Otis" ain't bad.)
The story is told by McConaughey in the present and we flash back to his childhood. In a number of cases the flashbacks last way too long. There were times where I was expecting to come back to the present day for some grounding. When this did not happen it gave the impression that the film was dragging on.
Some of Paxton's performance borders on a cheesy, almost comic madness. At times the over the top mad drive to complete gods mission coupled with his Ward Cleaver "#1 Dad" character garnered chuckles from the audience instead of the intended creepiness.
And where are the horror thrills? Anticipation is never really built and the most "frightening" moments are achieved through quick flashing overexposure cuts accompanied by loud sound effects.
So ya want some yuck? Blood and guts? In one scene, Dad and the two sons are disposing of a very chopped up victim. One son decides to dump a garbage bag (presumably filled with chopped up parts) into the grave. Dad (Paxton) instructs him in the correct way to go about doing this which means opening up the bag and emptying the contents into the grave. This was not a moment for "The most frightening horror picture I've seen since The Shining." It was simply a case of gross out, that left the audience groaning as we heard chunks of bodies cascade into the earthen hole.
Another big flaw is the giving away of the "reality" behind the visions. I wish I had left the room wondering.... Are these really demons he is killing? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Instead, the film shows us, through his visions and the visions of his son, that these victims are all evil murders, child molesters or wife beaters.
As far as the "twist" in the film... it was quite obvious and no big surprise. Then again, I called the twists in THE 6TH SENSE and THE OTHERS in the first 15 minutes. So if those films sucked you in maybe this will too.
The final scene of the film also bugged the "demons" out of me. It shows the only living and believing son (guess who that is) in a position of judgement and enforcement (sheriff) and his newly pregnant wife (can you say son of demon slayer) seems to be in agreement with his unique world view. Ooo ahh!
When all is said and done, the biggest flaw here is that the amount of story in FRAILTY could make a good X-Files episode, but it is a stretch for a 100 minute film. We see the same thing too many times! I get it! He sees demons, he kills them! How about the other victims we don't hear about, what exactly has happened between 1979 and now? I just wanted so much more.
My recommendation is skip FRAILTY and go spend $5 to rent SESSION 9 which delivers on the fear element, never comes close to cheese and leaves you guessing till the end.
The anti Ebert!
Prisoner Number 6
Thanks, man. I guess we'll get a chance to see when Lions Gate rolls the film out later this year.
"Moriarty" out.
