Frailty/Saw (DVD)

FRAILTY: Actor Bill Paxton`s directorial debut has been hailed for its originality by author Stephen King and director Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD). The film opens on a stormy night when an intense man (Matthew McConaughey) walks into FBI headquarters in Dallas and tells Agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe) that he knows who the God`s Hand serial killer is. He tells a compelling tale, shown in flashback, of how he and his brother lived with their kind widower father (Bill Paxton), a mechanic. One night, their father woke them to tell them he`d had a vision, and that God had commanded the family to slay demons in human form. The older brother, Fenton (Matt O`Leary), doesn`t believe a word of it, and assumes that their father has gone mad. The younger brother, Adam (Jeremy Sumpter), is more easily swayed. Soon the father is bringing people home, supposedly chosen by God for them to slay. When Fenton tries to resist his father`s plan, he finds his own life in danger. Eschewing graphic gore in favor of more subtle chills, Paxton`s suspenseful and creepy film harkens back to the wholesome surface and underlying depravity of classics like NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.SAW: Be prepared to be scared. James Wan`s directorial debut, written by and starring Leigh Whannell, is a violent, bloody, psychologically exhausting and exhilarating exercise in terror. Adam (Whannell) and Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes) are chained in a vile, disgusting bathroom, separated by a bloody corpse holding a gun and a tape recorder. They are each given a saw--the only obvious way out is to cut one of their feet off. A serial killer who specializes in torturing morally bereft strangers is playing a game with them: Gordon has less than eight hours to kill Adam or else the doctor`s wife (Monica Potter) and daughter (Mackenzie Vega) will be murdered. As the two men engage in a battle of wits, alternately trying to help each other and secretly attempting to win the game, a series of flashbacks reveals the history Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.