Bill Paxton directed three feature films during his too-short life. His directorial debut was a tragically underappreciated horror movie called Frailty, and it’s one I always recommend to my fellow horror fans. Now Frailty, which originally released in 2001, will be available for the first time in 4K, and it is chock full of great extras.
In Frailty, young brothers Fenton and Adam Meiks live an ordinary life with their loving widower father (played by Paxton), but their lives change drastically one night when Dad claims to have been visited by an angel. Dad says this angel told him it is now the Meiks family’s divine calling to identify demons who are in human form. And once these demons are found, they must be killed.
Imagine enlisting two children to help you slaughter human-appearing beings with an axe. That’s what happens in this film, and so great are the acting performances of Paxton, Matt O’Leary (young Fenton) and Jeremy Sumpter (young Adam) that we feel every moment of the confusion and horror the boys are experiencing.
Fenton is in immediate disbelief of his father’s claims, but the younger Adam, eager to please, claims he shares Dad’s visions. Throughout, Dad remains calm, and even as he punishes Fenton for his lack of faith, we can see the sorrow it causes him to do so.
The rest of the story is set in the near future, when a man (Matthew McConaughey) shows up at FBI agent Doyle’s (Powers Boothe) office, saying he is Fenton Meiks and that his brother Adam is the God’s Hand serial killer. Adam has now taken his own life, and Fenton agrees to take Agent Doyle to the rose garden where he suggests his brother’s victims are buried.
Frailty is an incredible, very moving story, powered by emotional performances – and it’s also scary. It’s a film I always recommend, one that has a couple of great twists that you probably won’t guess in advance.
Lionsgate is releasing Frailty on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy SteelBook on July 15
The Special Features will include:
- Frailty in 4K Dolby-Vision
• Art by Justin Erickson of Phantom City Creative
Lionsgate limited extras include the following featurettes:
• Father Figure
• Establishing Shot with David Blocker
• More Stories from the Frailty Set
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
Legacy Special Features:
• Audio Commentaries with Director Bill Paxton and Writer Brent Hanley
• Production Audio Commentary with Editor Arnold Glassman, Producer David Kirschner, and Composer Brian Tyler
• Anatomy of a Scene Featurette, courtesy of Sundance Channel
• The Making of Frailty Featurette
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Director Commentary
• Storyboards
• Photo Gallery
• TV Spots
The suggested retail price for the set is $44.99.