Demonic

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Movie
German title Demonic
Original title Frailty
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2001
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Bill Paxton
script Brent Hanley
production David Blocker ,
David Kirschner ,
Corey Sienega
music Brian Tyler
camera Bill Butler
cut Arnold Glassman
occupation

Demonic (original title: Frailty , English for "weakness", "fragility") is an American thriller from and with Bill Paxton from 2001 . The film is Paxton's first directorial work, who also plays the leading role, and tells in flashbacks the story of two brothers and their father, who sees himself called by God to kill demons.

action

A man, who introduces himself as Fenton Meiks, logs on to the FBI -Agenten Wesley Doyle says he the identity of in Texas sought serial killer know "The Hand of God". He talks about his childhood and about his father, who one day told his sons that God commanded him to destroy demons.

The truth only gradually emerges in numerous flashbacks. Is there a superhuman existence in the background? Father Meiks (initially without a name) is a car mechanic. While working under a car, he “sees” the Archangel of God with a flaming sword. From this he receives a list of people who are supposed to be demons and the ability to see misdeeds of people by simple touch and thus to distinguish these demons from ordinary people. From now on he becomes a serial killer. His sons Fenton and Adam are supposed to assist him.

Adam obeys his father, but the older brother Fenton does not believe in demons. So he is faced with the insoluble conflict of either completing the murders or being put on the demon list himself. After Mr. Meiks abducts and kills a woman, an older man becomes the next victim. In the car in front of a supermarket, Fenton and his father have an argument. Among other things, Fenton suggests that someone might be watching the crime. The father reassures him by saying that God will make you invisible and that not even a camera can record you. The father forces Fenton to help him kidnap. Fenton pretends that his dog ran under the old man's car. When the older man bends down, his father knocks him down. When Fenton refuses to kill the man himself, the father is very angry and finally orders his son to dig a hole in the ground. After Fenton has reported his father's actions to the police and he and a police officer who does not believe him and who assumes a prank go to his father's house, the father kills the police officer and locks Fenton in the hole in the ground. He wants to force his son to believe in God and deprives him of food, freedom and, as far as possible, water. Over time he suffers from hallucinations and when he renounces, he is taken out and has to go on "demon hunting" with the family again. One evening they kidnap another “demon”. When the father finally orders Fenton to behead the bound man with an ax, Fenton reluctantly reluctantly. Finally, he stretches far - and hits his father with an ax in the heart. Then Adam, who, unlike Fenton, believed his father all along, takes the ax and beheads the man.

Back at the FBI office, Agent Doyle had been looking for this "God's Hand" killer for many years. He now wants to check the confused history of Fenton, it has long been dark, by looking for the corpses in the "rose garden". To the agent's surprise, they find an open, empty grave there. Meiks now reveals himself to the FBI agent as Adam - and not Fenton. (Another flashback shows Adam going to Fenton's house to kill him.) Adam touches the FBI agent and , with that psychic ability inherited from his father, sees Doyle murdering his mother many years ago Has. Adam kills Doyle and buries him in the prepared pit.

The FBI soon searches for the missing agent and tries to identify Doyle's creepy visitor. But nobody can remember him exactly. The surveillance camera also has an image disturbance exactly at the moment when Meiks walks through the picture. Eventually, the FBI found several bodies and Doyle's ID in the basement of Fenton Meik's house.

In the end, one of the FBI agents who couldn't describe him visits Adam Meiks, who turns out to be the city's sheriff, and doesn't recognize him. He tells him about his brother and after a handshake Adam hesitates briefly and then says to the agent: "You are a good person."

reception

Gross profit

The cost of production was $ 11 million. The film grossed about $ 13 million in US theaters . The number of moviegoers in Germany was 109,500.

Reviews

Maitland McDonagh praised the performances by Matt O'Leary and Jeremy Sumpter on tvguide.com . She described the portrayal of Bill Paxton as "subtle".

The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was "a horror film reminiscent of old B-movies that primarily focuses on the psychological torments of children and ultimately harms itself through an overconstructed plot".

Awards

The nominations for the Saturn Award in 2003 were for:

Bill Paxton and Brent Hanley were nominated for the Online Film Critics Society Award in 2002 (Paxton for Best Newcomer Filmmaker , Hanley for Best Original Screenplay ). In 2003 Matt O'Leary was nominated for the Young Artist Award and Paxton was nominated as director for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award , Hanley won the Bram Stoker Award .

The film also won the International Horror Guild Award in 2003 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Certificate of Release for Demonic . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , May 2009 (PDF; test number: 91 979 V / DVD / UMD).
  2. ↑ Demonic. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 31, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used