Frailty (2001)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 2001
Running Times: 100 mins
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio:
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: American Entertainment / Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG / David Kirschner Productions
Executive Producers: Tom Huckabee, Karen Loop, Tom Ortenberg, Michael Paseornek
Producers: David Blocker, David Kirschner, Corey Sienega
Co-Producers: Eberhard Kayser, Mario Ohoven, Michael Ohoven
Associate Producer: Frederick Levy
Unit Production Manager: Beth DePatie

SCRIPT
Script: Brent Hanley

DIRECTION
Director: Bill Paxton
1st Assistant Director: James Sbardellati

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Bill Butler
2nd Unit Director of Photography: David Golia
Camera Operator: Randy Feemster
Assistant Camera: Clyde E. Bryan, Suzanne Trucks
Set Lighting Technicians: Jenifer Galvez, Norman Ash, R. Joseph Pure Jr
Assistant Chief Lighting Technician: Cricket Sloat
Gaffer: John 'Fest' Sandau
Video Assist Operator: David D. Scott

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Arnold Glassman
1st Assistant Editor: Robert Brakey
Post-Production Supervisor: Abby Gail Palanker

MUSIC
Music: Brian Tyler
Conductor: Brian Tyler
Orchestrators: Brian Tyler, Dana Niu

SOUND
Sound Designers: Lance Brown, Tim Walston
Sound Recordists: Andy Peach, Robert Carr (uncredited)
Re-Recording Mixers: Jonathan Wales, Michael C. Casper
Supervising Sound Editors: Jay Nierenberg, Victoria Rose Sampson
1st Assistant Sound Editor: Bradley Clouse
Assistant Sound Editor: Kirk Herzbrun
ADR Mixer: Matthew C. Beville

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Key Makeup Artist: Jane Galli
Costume Designer: April Ferry

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Cantina Pictures Inc

DIGITAL EFFECTS
Production Manager: Omar McClinton
2D Supervisor: Kevin Struckman
Editorial and Data Management: Rod Ripley
Lead Digital Compositor: Eric Reinhard
Digital Compositor: Matt Merkovich

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designers: Nelson Coates, Kevin Cozen
Art Director: David Crvelin
Set Decorator: Linda Lee Sutton
Construction Coordinator: Stacey S. McIntosh

MISCELLANEOUS
Production Accountant: Mindy Sheldon
1st Assistant Accountant: Rick Marcena
2nd Assistant Accountant: Jeffrey Harris
Payroll Accountant: Jeffrey Gladu
Production Office Coordinator: Derek Jan Vermaas
Transportation Coordinator: Derek Raser
Production Medic: Ericka Bryce
Assistant to Bill Paxton: Michael Culbert
Driver: Michael Dawes

LOCATIONS
Locations: Los Angeles, California, USA; Wasco, California, USA

STUNTS
Stunts: Harry Wowchuk

CASTING
Casting: Mary Gail Artz, Barbara Cohen

CASTBill Paxton (Dad)
Matthew McConaughey (Fenton Meiks)
Powers Boothe (Agent Wesley Doyle)
Matt O'Leary (young Fenton Meiks)
Luke Askew (Sheriff Smalls)
Jeremy Sumpter (young Adam Meiks)
Derk Cheetwood (Agent Griffin Hull)
Melissa Crider (Becky)
Alan Davidson (Brad White)
Cynthia Ettinger (Cynthia Harbridge)
Vincent Chase (Edward March)
Levi Kreis (Adam Meiks)
Gwen Mcgee (operator)
Edmond Scott Ratliff (the angel)
Rebecca Tilney (teacher)
Blake King (Eric)
Brad Berryhill (teenage demon)
Greg Serano (FBI agent no.1)
Edgar L. Davis (FBI agent no.2)
Jim Flowers (FBI agent no.3)
Lance E. Nichols (FBI agent no.4)
John Paxton (janitor in lobby)
Richard A. Bell (Curtis)
Chelsea Blain Butler (little girl)
Jennifer Drake (teacher's aid)
Betty Gurule (Doyle's mother)

PLOT SUMMARY

Fenton Meeks relates to an FBI investigator how his father had been visited by an angel who had given him a list of victims and a task - to rid the world of demons in human guise. He also explains how he and his younger brother Adam had been affected by their father's crusade. But is Fenton all he claims to be, and what secrets are buried in the rose garden...?

Bill Paxton has already established himself as an excellent and popular actor and his first outing in the canvas backed chairis a dark, disturbing and brilliantly acted tale. Paxton proves himself to be every bit as good a director as he is an actor and coaxes excellent performances from his two young co-stars - he even achieves the unthinkable and gets a good showing from Matthew McConaughey! Brent Hanley's script takes a number of unexpected twists and turns that, in lesser hands, might have stretched credibility somewhat. But in Paxton's hands they work perfectly - at the end, we still don't know if Dad's crusade was based on a genuine visitation or whether he'd simply gone insane. The downbeat and sinister ending offers no clues and leaves the viewer genuinely unsettled - this is a film that's going to be hard to shake off.

Canada
Theatrical Distributor: Lions Gate Films Inc

France
Theatrical Distributor: CTV International

USA
DVD Distributors: Lions Gate Home Entertainment (VM 8117D)

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

USA
Rating: R (for violence and some language)

TIMELINE

2000
October
18: USA - production begins

December
Day Unknown: USA - production ends

2001
November
17: USA - shown at the Deep Ellum Film Festival

2002
March
19: Belgium - shown at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy, Thriller and Science-Fiction Film

April
12: USA - theatrical release
16: Netherlands - shown at the Fantastic Film Festival
26: Iceland, Spain- theatrical release

May
9: Denmark - theatrical release
15: France - theatrical release
20: Israel - theatrical release
31: Mexico - theatrical release

June
7: Portugal - theatrical release
27: Peru - theatrical release

July
19: Greece - theatrical release
24: Germany - shown at the Fantasy Film Festival

August
14: Belgium - theatrical release
23: Italy, Poland - theatrical release; UK - shown at Frightfest 2002, London

September
6: UK - theatrical release

October
3: Czech Republic - theatrical release
17: Netherlands - theatrical release

December
12: Germany - theatrical release

POSTER TAGS

No Soul Is Safe.

LINKS

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The Making of Frailty (2001

SEE ALSO
The Amityville Horror (1979)

MAGAZINES

Sight and Sound vol.12 no.10 (October 2002) p.39 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review (by Geoffrey McNabb)

demons, fbi, serial killers

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009