Bill Paxton directs a disturbing horror film starring Matthew McConaughey

Fans of actor Bill Paxton, and we are legion, remember his directorial debut in 1980, directing the music video for the immortal Barnes & Barnes classic “Fish Heads.” In this video, made on a very, very low budget, Paxton shows off ichthyoid skulls as a buyer and enthusiast. The video also featured a cameo by Dr. Dimento is the legendary Los Angeles DJ responsible for generating hundreds of groundbreaking and well-known hits and bringing “Weird Al” Yankovic to the world's attention. Paxton was a strange and wonderful man who pushed the limits. It's crazy that he became a well-known star.

Paxton began appearing in films in the late '70s and early '80s, starring in notable genre films such as “Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker” and “Mortuary.” Many may have first noticed him when he played the tattooed punk in James Cameron's “The Terminator” in 1984. He became a lucky charm for Cameron and landed prominent roles in the director's “Aliens” films. , “True Lies” and “Titanic.” He also starred in eccentric films such as “Brain Dead,” “Near Dark,” and “The Dark Backward.” He played supporting roles in thrillers such as “Next of Kin,” “One False Move” and “Therespass.” He contributes with gusto and enthusiasm through grandiose Hollywood projects (“Apollo 13”) and bizarre experiments (“Boxing Helena”). When Paxton died in 2017, we lost a great talent.

It also turns out that Paxton was a talented director beyond music videos about fish heads. In 2001, Paxton made his directorial debut with “Frailty,” a terrifying, moving and penetrating drama about an obsessive father (Paxton) who convinces his two young sons (Matt O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter) that they can see haunting ghosts. inside the people… and they do it so they can be killed. “Frailty” is one of the best horror movies of the year and features excellent performances from the two child protagonists, Paxton and Matthew McConaughey, who plays one of the adult children.

“Bride” begins with McConaughey's character visiting an FBI office to confess that his recently deceased brother, Adam, is the prime suspect in a series of recent murders dubbed the Hand of God murders. The film then begins in 1979, with brothers Adam and Fenton (Sumter and O'Leary) raised in isolated poverty by their deeply religious father (Paxton). One day, the father (who is never named) announces that an angel of the Lord has visited him and that he has been given the task of finding and killing demons on Earth. The demons, he says, disguise themselves as ordinary people and only he can see the evil that hides within them. He says that God leads him to the instruments of justice, which are gloves, an axe, and a lead pipe.

Viewers can quickly see that the father suffers from an unknown mental disorder and that his children are too young to reject his paranoid fantasies. Dad is not far behind in kidnapping, “exorcising” and murdering people in front of the children. It is up to the children to bury the body. Fenton agrees that he can't see ghosts, but Adam soon declares that he can. In psychological terms, this is called Folie à Deux.

As the murders continue, poor Fenton begins to fear that his father is a serial killer, or at least that his life is in danger. Dad continues to tell him that enduring violence is just a test of faith and that Fenton's failure is a test. There are many twists and turns in the plot that I dare not divulge, except to say that the murders of the past actually connect directly to the hand of God murders in the present. Powers Boothe plays the FBI agent who listens to McConaughey's story.

“Frailty” was not a huge success, grossing only $17.4 million on an $11 million budget. However, many who saw it loved it and to this day it has an enthusiastic and growing group of supporters. At the time, critics, including Christy Lemire writing for the Associated Press, cited excellent performances but felt they did not fit the themes of religious teaching. Stephen Hunter, writing for the Washington Post, felt that “Weakness” was an imitation of “The Sixth Sense,” released the previous year, and that the story moved away from the reality of child abuse. He also felt that the plot twists were telegraphed too strongly, detracting from the film's final surprises.

Overall, “Bride” only received a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but some critics had it much higher. In fact, Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, and the depiction of madness and abuse feels truly moving, as a mentally unbalanced father manipulates his children in ways they cannot escape. Ebert didn't call “Frailty” one of the best films of 2001, but it faced stiff competition that year (“Ghost World,” “Waking Life,” “In the Bedroom,” “Monster's Ball,” “Wit,” “Mulholland Drive”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Gosford Park”, “Innocence” and “Black Hawk Down” are his top 10).

For those looking to maximize their Horror Month marathons, “Frailty” is currently available on Starz and is definitely worth a watch. It works as both an expensive serial killer story and a penetrating drama about religiously based domestic abuse that many viewers will find very relatable. Paxton has only directed one other feature film, the golf drama “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” That movie was less impressive. But it's a shame he didn't get the chance to direct more.