Frailty (2001) #414

In his first role as director, Bill Paxton delivers a complex and haunting film about two young brothers who witness their father's decline into madness as he comes to believe that he is performing God's work by killing demons in the appropriately titled "Frailty". The movie is riddled with the perfect amount of tension and suspense, with outstanding performances that drive the film forward by both Paxton and Matthew McConaughey. What could have been a straight forward "realistic" slasher turns out to be more involved and chilling than it is at first glance, with twists and turns that make the viewers almost feel sympathetic for the various characters and the crimes that they commit.

Fenton Meiks visits the Dallas FBI office, asking for Agent Wesley Doyle. Upon meeting the agent, Fenton begins to tell him how his brother is the serial killer "God's Hand" and how his brother came to become this wanted criminal. The story's roots take place when Fenton and his brother where much younger and living with their father, who one night came home and told his sons that he had a vision from God, telling him that he was chosen to kill demons that were hiding as normal people. Fenton and his brother then join their father as he sought out those that were supposedly demons, killing them with an axe named "Otis". While Fenton thought that his father had gone, his brother Adam fully believed in their father's work, continuing to finish the job that Dad Meiks was given.