BILL PAXTON MAKES A HORROR MOVIE

A Video Review of "Frailty"

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

Bill Paxton makes a horror movie. To me this was an interesting proposition. In almost every movie he's been in Bill Paxton has been the would-be hero or the could-be hero… what the heck is he doing making horror movies, especially one that's been hyped as one of the best? We'll see.

Paxton's direction is quite good considering it's fairly obvious it's all a lot of clever shots and angles he's probably learned watching folks who've directed him in the past. His very able skills do save this fairly weak script by Brent Hanley though which is more like a 1960s Corman flick than a 21st century horror film with major distribution. The film moves slowly through a mish mosh of flashbacks and sometimes interesting special effects but comes across at most as monotonous.

Is it creepy? Yep. Is it disturbing? Yep. Surprise ending? Oh yeah. Is it a good horror movie? Not really, might've been a good William Castle flick in his day but this is nothing to write home about. The only frailty about Frailty is its inability to live up to its hype. Maybe Bill Paxton will direct something else soon, hopefully with a better script.