Frailty - Lionsgate Limited 4K UHD

There are some actors who just have an “it” factor, and I don’t just mean some sort of Marilyn Monroe-esque magnetism or sex appeal. Some people are just likable. They have a face, they have a manner of speaking, a way about themselves, and they’re just charming. You want to see more of them. Bill Paxton has that “it” factor. He’s been in goofy comedies, and he’s been in serious thrillers. Whether he was s leading the picture, or boosting an ensemble cast, he never gave anything less than his A-game.

The story goes that when the production team behind Frailty were casting the picture, they wanted someone with that inherent likability. Out of a short list of names, including Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton was chosen because he had that everyman charm about him, but could also serve the darkness that was required of the script. So drawn was he to Brent Hanley’s screenplay that he auditioned himself to be the director.

Frailty is about an Old Testament God in a modern world. Is it the voice of God or the voice of insanity? A lesser film’s final reveal would hinge on a simple truth, but Frailty goes far beyond that. In Roger Ebert’s review of Frailty, he explains that only someone like Bill Paxton, a successful actor, who does not need his directorial debut to be a smash-hit success, could have directed such a movie, because he can always go back to acting if it flops. He’s completely right. Frailty is a disturbing movie on so many levels, and it is told with such intelligence, grace and, yes, even wit, that it doesn’t occur to us until later just how deeply, psychologically, messed up the whole twisted story is.

Bill Paxton, who, as I mentioned, also directed the film, stars as “Dad.” He doesn’t have a name beyond that. He’s the single father to his two children, Adam and Fenton, and his paternal role is his entire identity to them. He’s their protector. The person who should be guiding their morality. But, one night, he awakens them with chilling news: He has been visited by the Angel of Death.

The Angel of Death, Dad explains, has blessed him with special powers. The Lord will provide him a list of names of demons disguised as humans. He is supplied with an arsenal of magic weapons, one of which, in a darkly comedic moment, is simply a pipe used to bash unsuspecting people over the head. When he lays his hands on these demons, he will see their sins and their true, monstrous face beneath the human disguise.

“Maybe you’re sick,” Fenton, the oldest son intervenes. But Dad assures him that this is the real deal. Shortly thereafter, he arrives at home with the first demon “God” had sent on the list. It looks like a human, crying and pleading to be let go. Dad involves his children in the slayings, or murders, whatever you want to call them, helping him dispose of the bodies.

This is merely the starting point for the script’s many twists and turns, courtesy of Brent Hanley, who to date has only written one feature-length film. The movie tackles the blind devotion people have for both family and religion, but not simply by thumbing its nose at these sacred ideals. Frailty understands the power that they hold over us and explores them through an examination of undying devotion, even in the face of madness and murder. 

The God of Vengeance, the Old Testament God, who would torture Job, just to win a bet with Satan, is the potential God behind the scenes of Frailty. It isn’t enough that Dad is given a dangerous task to perform in this Holy War; He has to test the strength of his family, too. There are movies that are about disturbing things, and they seem to be beholden to those disturbing things. Frailty is not one of them. The plot is that of a serial killer who forces his children to help him murder, but it’s not about that. It’s about growing up in that moment, it’s about distinguishing right from wrong and having the courage to stand up for what you know is just. And then, at the end of the film, when all is said and done, it pulls the rug out from under us once again, and it’s chilling, masterfully, in how all of its macabre, serpentine twists come together. 

What a picture.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited’s release of Frailty includes the film and its supplements on two discs: One 4K UHD Blu-ray and one regular Blu-ray. The inside case that contains the discs has “Dad” and his two sons posing in a classic American Gothic pose, while the hardcase duplicates the image in a stained-glass Catholic-style image of a saint. Also included in the case is a reproduction of Bill Paxton’s shooting script, replete with handwritten notes in the margins.

Frailty was shot by legendary cinematographer Bill Butler, who perhaps most famously worked as the D.P. on Jaws. Frailty is a filmmaker’s dream film, filled with visual references to numerous projects, including Butler's own famous “Vertigo” shot, among other Hitchcockian references throughout. Paxton visualized his film as a 1950s southern gothic, so sequences set during the happier moments are bathed in gorgeous sunlight, and the horror elements are shot almost like an Evil Dead film, with twisted, exaggerated trees with gangly limbs and fog rolling beneath their trunks.

The film's restoration was supervised by its original telecine colorist, Kostas Theodosiou, who still had access to reference footage and notes from its original post-production schedule. The result is incredible. Graded in Dolby Vision HDR, Frailty has never looked better on home video. The blacks of the nighttime sequences are thick, inky black, while the greens of the grass and trees during the daylight sequences are oppressive and aggrandized, almost like a Lynchian surrealness of happier times, with terror looming just beneath.

Since Frailty is styled after a specific type of mid-century thriller, it makes sense that it’s a relatively front-heavy presentation on the soundstage. But, for this release, which sees a new Dolby Atmos mix commissioned for it, we do get a fair amount of rear-speaker and height-speaker activity throughout. Atmospherics and the occasional, jolting sound effect like the echo of a gunshot will make their way across the soundstage. LFEs feel a bit more pronounced here than on previous releases, such as the rumbling bass during the opening credit sequence montage. Dialogue clarity is favored throughout and never gets lost in the louder moments of a musical swell. While it’s not dramatically different than the previous mix included with its DVD or Blu-ray releases, it is a welcome improvement, honoring its original mix while providing some more immersion through Dolby Atmos’s flexibility on movement in a 3D soundscape.

There are three new featurettes included in this release, plus the original features found on previous releases. The three new featurettes, “Father Figure,” “Establishing Shot,” and “More Stories from the Frailty Set,” take a look back at the film, Paxton’s involvement as a director, and the restoration process for this specific release. The legacy features are helpfully segmented into their own section, and the stuff there is, and always has been, incredible. The three audio commentaries are all great, a total wealth of knowledge, not just about the film’s production history, but filmmaking and story structure in general. And the Sundance Channel “Anatomy of a Scene” episode is a brilliant dissection of how a scene comes together from writing, to filming, to editing.

All features are found on both discs.

New Features

• Father Figure (HD 34:02)

• Establishing Shot (HD 7:10)

• More Stories from the Frailty Set (HD 18:36)

• Trailers

Legacy Features

• Audio Commentary – Star/Director Bill Paxton

• Audio Commentary – Producers Arnold Glassman, David Kirschner and Brian Tyler

• Audio Commentary – Writer Brent Hanley

• “Anatomy of a Scene” Sundance Channel Featurette (SD 25:58)

• The Making of Frailty (SD 19:29)

• Deleted Scenes (SD 8:28) – With optional audio commentary from Bill Paxton

• Storyboard Gallery

• Photo Gallery

• TV Spots

Frailty is a rarity: A horror movie that horror fiends and the squeamish alike may both find a lot to admire in. Light on gore, high on thrills and too many twists and turns to count, I’ve met a number of fans throughout the years—from hardcore gorehounds to folks who don’t consider themselves to be big fans of the genre. Even my mom loves Frailty! Lionsgate Limited had gone all out with this release, with gorgeous packaging, an incredible transfer and a wonderful Dolby Atmos mix. Along for the ride, too, are the legacy features from previous releases, plus some new ones. Frailty on 4K UHD is Highly Recommended. 

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