Frailty (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Thriller | Theatrical Trailer | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 95:53 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (56:09) | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Bill Paxton |
Studio
Distributor |
Paramount Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Bill Paxton Matthew McConaughey Powers Boothe Matthew O'Leary Jeremy Sumpter Luke Askew |
Case | ? | ||
RPI | $29.95 | Music | Brian Tyler |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Frailty slipped past me on its cinema release and I must admit to never having heard of the film before popping the DVD into my player. I should also point out that I am not a fan of Matthew McConaughey, so my expectations for the film were not high. Well, what a very pleasant surprise. This is an excellent thriller, tackling a highly original theme and doing it with mesmerising style, which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
The capable character actor Bill Paxton stars in, and ably directs the film. From the opening titles, this movie gripped me and held me fascinated from start to finish. In watching the title sequence, it is apparent that the law enforcement agencies are seeking a serial murderer, known as the God's Hand killer. The action begins as Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) returns to the Dallas FBI building late at night, having been called in to speak to a young man who waits in his office. The young man (McConaughey) introduces himself as Fenton Meiks, and claims that his younger brother is the fugitive killer. To convince the sceptical Doyle, he proceeds to recount an horrific tale of his twisted and murderous family...
Paxton plays Mr Meiks, the loving, widowed father of two young sons living a fairly frugal existence in Texas. Life appears to be fairly normal for the blue-collar Meiks and his god-fearing sons Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) and Fenton (Matthew O'Leary), until late one night Mr Meiks believes he is visited by an angel. The angel informs Meiks that he and his sons have a special mission - to act as the hand of God and destroy demons masquerading in human form. They will be provided with divine weapons to aid them in their crusade, and the angel will provide a list of demons who must be slain.
The younger and more religious Adam is convinced by the depth of his father's conviction, but Fenton worries that his dad may be suffering from a mental illness. This disbelief is seen as a lack of faith by the father, and Fenton is subjected to solitary confinement in the cellar, dehydrated and half-starved until he finally succumbs and "sees the Lord". Over the course of the next few months, the boys initially witness, and then assist in the kidnapping and dismemberment of the various people whom their father declares "demons".
I will not divulge the remainder of the plot as it would spoil your viewing experience. Let me say however, that there is a marvellous twist to the tale. The film manages to avoid excessive gore, using the glint of an axe and the thud of a body to set up the killings, allowing your imagination to fill in the blanks. Mixed in with the horror is a heartbreaking tale of a loving family man who becomes fixated on a delusional quest he believes to be ordained by God. The emotional damage done to the young boys is never meant with malevolence, with Meiks always the loving father, which makes this spooky story even more heart-rending.
Frailty is a genuinely creepy tale with a superb twist which will leave you stunned. Paxton does a commendable job with very tight direction and some very convincing acting. The sons are superbly portrayed by the young actors and the entire story is nothing short of riveting. McConaughey puts in his best performance yet with his understated delivery. If you want to see a truly scary tale that will leave you thinking about it long after the credits roll, then you could do much worse than rent this excellent film. A great movie which I heartily recommend.
The video quality of this transfer is very good indeed.
The video is presented 16x9 enhanced at 1.85:1 which is the original theatrical aspect ratio.
The blacks are deep and solid with no low level noise evident. Shadow detail is very good indeed, which is a relief as much of the film takes place in dimly lit conditions. There is no major grain evident and the overall transfer is very smooth and clear. Colours are cleanly rendered and bright on occasion (the rose garden scenes for instance) with no evidence of colour bleeding. Skin tones always look natural.
The transfer has no evidence of MPEG artefacts. The image has a slightly soft focus overall so the very rare touch of edge enhancement never became a distraction. Aliasing was not a concern, but can be seen as a mild shimmer if you look very closely, for example on the barn roof at 19:23, on the table at 25:22 or Mr Meiks' jumper at 56:57.
Film artefacts are rare in what is overall a fresh and clean transfer, with only the most minor of white specks flicking past on occasion. Telecine wobble was not an issue.
The English (for the Hearing Impaired) subtitles are well timed and easy to read. They follow the dialogue closely and describe the sound effects very well.
This disc is dual layered with the brief layer change cropping up at 56:09. It is well placed and not disruptive to the flow of the film.
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The overall audio transfer is very good and adds tremendously to the creepy atmosphere of the film.
The English audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround encoded at 448 kbps. It is clear and clean with no hiss, clicks or dropouts. Dialogue is always intelligible and audio sync is perfect.
The original music is credited to Brian Tyler who seems to have done much of his work in television, and is a suitably tense and ominous strings-driven orchestral piece. The overall sound mix is very good, with dialogue never overpowered by the often striking soundtrack.
The front speakers show some very good separation and panning effects that are complemented by significant use of the surround speakers to deliver a highly enveloping soundstage. The surrounds carry ambient effects (such as crickets chirping) and the musical score, but also provide some very good rear panning effects (for example the cars travelling past at 76:06).
The subwoofer is frequently used to deliver some striking bass effects which help to make the overall soundtrack very satisfying indeed. A good example is the appearance of the angel at 22:35.
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Overall |
There are negligible extras on this rental disc.
The main menu is a static picture of a hand holding a crucifix, accompanied by a loop from the ominous musical score. It allows the selection of playing the movie, choosing one of twenty-four chapter stops, subtitle activation and access to the theatrical trailer.
Running for 1:59 and presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (and therefore not 16x9 enhanced) with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 kbps.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I hope that the following swag of extras present on the Region 1 sell-through disc make it onto the Region 4 sell-through version:
Frailty came as a wonderful surprise. This is top-notch filmmaking with tight direction, solid acting performances and a tense, scary plot. This film requires a mature viewing approach - don't expect too many overt scares or oodles of gore. This is simply a great spooky story, very well told, which is sure to impress. Highly recommended.
The video transfer is very good with no major defects.
The audio transfer is very good, with a nicely enveloping soundstage.
The extras are negligible.
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Extras | |
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Harmony DVD Video/Audio PAL Progressive, using Component output |
Display | Panasonic TX-47P500H 47" Widescreen RPTV. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Onkyo TX-SR600 with DD-EX and DTS-ES |
Speakers | JensenSPX-9 fronts, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 surrounds, Jensen SPX-17 subwoofer |