January 4, 2003 -- You've seen it all before. The Hollywood Bible killer movie. If there is a nasty serial killer in the movie, you just know his motive is going to have something to do with the Christian religion, like "Seven," a movie where the killer uses the seven deadly sins as a motif. "Frailty" starts out looking like another one of those typical Bible killer stories, but it turns out to be significantly different than most films with this theme.

"Frailty" stars, and is directed by Bill Paxton ("A Simple Plan") and it is a very good first effort at directing for the successful character actor. Paxton plays a father who is raising two boys alone. Everything seems completely normal until one day the father has a revelation. He tells his sons, Fenton (Matthew O'Leary of "Spy Kids 2") and Adam Meiks (Jeremy Sumpter), and tells them he has seen an angel. He tells them the angel said that the family's job is to kill demons disguised as humans. Fenton hopes it was all a dream, but his father persists in his belief that his family is about to become demon hunters. When the three actually become involved in murdering people, Fenton rebels, but his younger brother, Adam, believes his father's vision is true.

The story is told through flashbacks as years later Fenton tells FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe of "Men of Honor") that his brother Adam is the "God's hand" killer that Doyle has been hunting (the older brothers are played by Matthew McConnaughey of "The Wedding Planner" and Levi Kreis). He tells the story of his father's vision and his brother's continuing belief in the family's mission to kill demons. The tale Fenton tells is very disturbing, a misguided mission to kill demons ends up being multiple murders. The angel supposedly gives a list of names to the father, who then kidnaps the victims. When he lays his hands on the victim, their past sins are revealed to him, including murder and child molesting. The "demons" are then killed with an axe. The father uses extreme measures to recruit his unwilling son into the family demon-destroying enterprise.

This seems like the usual Bible killer plot, but it is not. It is a good deal more clever than that and it has more layers to it than you would expect. It will have you muttering to yourself long after the movie is over. The clever script was written by Brent Hanley, who was influenced by Hitchcock. Paxton's direction is marvelously understated. The murders and more gruesome details are mostly implied, not shown graphically. The bulk of the film is in the tradition of film noir with an ending like some Hitchcock films. The film is in the classic mold of Hollywood thrillers. It features excellent performances by Paxton, McConnaughey and O'Leary. Production values are good for this fairly low-budget film. It rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.