With us being in the midst of ‘Spooky SZN’ why not bust out a real low-key horror gem from 2001? I’m talking about the supremely underrated Frailty directed by and starring the late, great Bill Paxton. Along with ‘The Pax’ we also have Matthew McConaughey and Powers Boothe for star power but Matt O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter really shine through especially as young as they were for this flick.
The film focuses on a very religious father, Paxton, and his relationship with his two sons. Now I know that sounds more like a drama than horror but I haven’t mentioned yet that Paxton’s character has been, in his words, commanded by God to kill demons. Those demons just happen to be ‘disguised’ as normal people, which brings in so much for the older brother, played by O’Leary, to chew on.
At the time of filming, O’Leary would have been around 14 years old and Sumpter about 11, so the layers they bring at such a young age really make the film. Along with the performances of the young guns is a hell of a turn by Paxton as the “how crazy is this guy?” dad. We all have those roles that we know Pax from as that guy had so many heaters, but I assure you this film is without a doubt some Mt Rushmore shit from him. He takes that same warmth he was able to bring to so many other roles and uses it for some dark shit here.
Without giving too much away, the scene in which Pax is breaking everything down to the kids is something to behold. The interest of the younger brother with the sheer worry of the oldest all with the excitement of Paxton pouring out is the stuff Spooky SZN is made of y’all!
Frailty can be streamed over on Amazon Prime or you can watch for free with ads on YouTube!
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John Mosley is the Swiss Army Knife of SoBros Network and the independent wrestling correspondent. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor. Follow on Twitter: @moseKOBK
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