Frayed

This film takes inspiration from many classic films in the psycho killer genre, but its narrative avoids clichés and has a driving force all its own. Frayed is a very interesting psychological horror film. Yes, the acting isn't always that stellar sometimes but it has a lot going for it including several twists and some very good gore scenes. The beginning murder is one of the most graphic I've seen in a movie. It will disturb you, yet you will find yourself wanting to go back and re-watch the movie, wondering what clues you might have missed. The last scene is definitely the most disturbing one of the film (even more than the bloodbath at the beginning). Highly recommended.

(Already posted this in the forums but thought I'd copy and paste as a review as well) This movie is junk, pure and simple. Oh and how many times did the directors (lol TWO of them!) need to rerun that footage of Kurt looking at that baseball photograph? I stopped counting after 5 and hit FF. At first I was surprised that this screenplay took five people to *beep* it up, but then I figured out that with the entirely unnecessary pedophile WINS ending that this movie was clearly conceived by NAMBLA committee. Or Josef Fritzl phoned this one in from prison This movie is disturbing if you are offended by lack of talent across the board, (this movie even seems slowed down, I had to watch it at 1.5x speed to give it any semblance of pacing) pedantic acting (lol), and unnecessary pedophilia. A must see if you are a father who is secretly sexually abusing your children! In closing, this movie sucks harder than a convicted molester outside of protective custody.

I just saw this movie last night and I must say I was highly impressed for a low budget horror film. I agree with the other comments that there is some unnecessary scenes or "fat" that should have been trimmed from this movie. For example some of the scenes involving the teenage characters are not only unnecessary but also involve sub b-level acting which is at times irritating. Other than this movie was kept me on the edge of my seat, but as the summary says it borrows heavily from both halloween and high tension...overall this is a solid film that competes with most of the horror movies Hollywood has to offer and most fans of the genre will be pleasantly surprised.

Ah this movie sounded good but it was so boring. I mean this dude is him and not him and he kills only certain people and he stares at a picture. Then he takes someone else personality. It would have been better had he just had been him and killed as him. But he was killing as him and he wasn't and it was just boring. A little weird. It was just boring. The action was OK but not great. This movie would have been better had the person who who cause all of this had been killed but he got away with it. He did the worst thing he could do to a little boy. I would give this movie 2 stars watch the shortcut instead. Now that movie rocks!!

We're lead to believe that a single freak with a screwdriver can scare away and/or overpower multiple people at a time. Please. At one point, FOUR people are deathly afraid of this guy - again, armed with only a screwdriver - as he lurks around outside of the house. Absolutely absurd. I could write a better screenplay in a single night while drunk. The number of high reviews are obviously staged by friends of the crew or the crew themselves. This film follows a cliché formula from mediocre 80's B-movies. For a film beyond the 90's, that's really, really, really bad. And the twist at the end just make it worse, leaving plot holes wide open that any half-decent writer would've seen coming miles away. 3/10 for decent production value, a somewhat cool villain, and the totally shocking opening - which was the only good part of the film.

I saw this film at Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, NC, and I have to admit I was impressed. There were several moments of genuine terror that are lacking in most modern slasher films. The acting is strong, and the story is compelling. The writers/directors manage to create fear without resorting to graphic murders. My one complaint is that (SPOILER) the writers tack on two twist endings, one of which has been used in nearly every recent horror film I've seen. Despite this minor misstep, I completely enjoyed this throwback to the classic slasher flicks like "Halloween." Check out "Frayed"if it shows at a nearby film festival. If not, the producers said that they are in negotiation with a major DVD label for a 2008 release.

This movie was good I don't know what everyone's problem is. I think because it was more in depth and had more of a story and plot to it and those who didn't like it were mad because they are confused to actually what happened. They just assumed it was some plot less horror flick with * chicks and lots of blood and guts. Nt the case, they were plenty of clues from the very opening scene. Actually they are a couple clues in that first scene if you really pay attention. They really put it in the details, so don't assume there's no thought out into it, because there is a lot if details and thought out in to this film that you really have to pay attention closely to every scene! Otherwise you will be very confused and aggravated Ike the other idiots. I recommend it, if you like to keep guessing and watch a movie where even when you've guessed some of it there's no way you got it all! I guessed what was happening but I couldn't place how it was occurring or who even tho I had a close idea of who was really behind it I was still a bit confused how it fit together til the end. Very good movie I was impressed. You should give it a chance, and if you don't get it rematch the last 15 minutes before reading spoilers, I bet you'll get it then!

A town sheriff's mentally ill sun murders his mother and he is sent away to an insane asylum, years later he escapes and starts to wreak havoc in the community. Of course the storyline is a lot more fleshed out than what I've summed up, like there is actually a reason why the child is mentally sick but I'm not going to spoil it, because this film is actually worth seeing for any horror fan, its probably one of the more unconventional horror films I've seen because with other slasher horror films I can actually predict who will die and who will live, with FRAYED I was way off the entire time and that was probably the first time that's happened to me in years and the array of plot twist at the end drove me nuts because that's when the film really took hold. The suspense is kept surprisingly high thanks to the relatively casual pace of the film which helps to keep the viewer hooked and allow for some well done character development. Note, I did say it was close to becoming a classic but there is only one flaw that keeps it from actually being a classic, its not 100% original despite having a great plot, if you look carefully you'll notice it seems to borrow from older films Like HALLOWEEN (1978) but en light of that I'd put it along with LAID TO REST as one of the more competently made slashers in a while.

A sheriff's wife is murdered by his young son. Years later, that son escapes from a mental institution and goes berserk, beginning a killing spree of those who cross his path, including the family who left him behind. There are many good aspects and many bad aspects to this film. Let's start with the good. The film quality was excellent, and I felt everything was put together very professionally, especially for a cast and crew of unknowns. This certainly has the ability to cut it as an After Dark Horrorfest film. The gore was also nicely done, with the mother's early murder being much more graphic than I expected. But let's focus on the bad now... the things that are going to eat at me every time I think about this film. Some of these were summed up by other reviewers, so I'm glad they noticed the same things I did. First and foremost, the similarities between this film and "Halloween" and "High Tension". Especially "Halloween": a killer child who escapes from a mental institute to go after his now much older sister? Hmmmm... The over-use of the clip showing Kurt looking at the softball photo. I understand that this plays an important part later on, but I didn't need to see it five or six times to grasp the concept. And the mask that seems like it was borrowed from the band Slipknot. Many horror movies use masks, but this was the first that made me think of Slipknot, so I have to think it wasn't an accident. Beyond that, the plot is largely nonsense. The film has twists and turns, which is good, but probably has too many. I was particularly bothered by what seemed like a few fake endings. As always, I don't want to spoil the film, but let's just say this: the writers should have picked a story and told it, not tried to have so many stories within each other like a Russian nesting doll. As this film is still better than many I've seen, I wouldn't say you should avoid it. Grab a friend and a few bottles of Labatt Blue and this will make for a fine evening. But don't blame me if you get frustrated or confused. I warned you.

Frayed is set in a small town near Washington called Yellow Glenn where teenager Sara Baker (Alena Dashiell) & her friend Veronica (Tascha Smith-Floe) head out into the woods to meet up with their boyfriends & party the night away. Meanwhile Sara's father Sheriff Pat Baker (Tony Doupe) has to face up to the fact that his homicidal son Kurt is being transfered from the local mental institution to a larger one in the city, however Baker receives a call that Kurt has escaped & one security guard is dead with another one missing. The local police under Sheriff Baker begin a search but soon find a trail of dead bodies that lead them to Sheriff Baker's house where his wife & daughter are being paid a visit by his killer son... Co-written, co-produced & directed by the duo of Norbert Caoili who is also credited with the music & editing & Rob Portman who himself also gets a stunt double credit(!) this horror thriller starts out like a Halloween (1978) clone but quickly turns into a mess of ideas that never come together. The script tries to be far too clever & offers up lots of silly twists which range from predictable (the security guard not being who he claimed, I mean that foot in the bushes at the hospital grounds had to belong to someone, right?) to mildly effective (the twist about who really killed Kurt's mother was reasonable but even then though the motivation behind it was baffling, OK sure the guy is a paedophile but Kurt's mother never actually saw anything so why kill her? Why not lie? What made him think Kurt would say he had been raped by his own father yet not mention the small matter his own father murdered his mother in front of him?) to the absolutely ridiculous (the end totally pulls the rug from under the audience's feet & basically says the crap you have just sat through for almost two hours was completely made up by some nutter & none of it meant anything as it didn't actually happen & was made up) & with several of these ever increasingly annoying twists coming during the last ten minutes it becomes quite frustrating to watch & put everything together in a coherent way. The other big problem with Frayed is the pacing, at one hour & fifty minutes long it drags badly & not enough happens. The script tries to juggle teen parent problems, the relationship between the Sheriff & his new wife, the search for Kurt & a security guards wandering around looking like his dazed. None of it is very engaging & as I said it's just far too slow & uneventful. There really isn't much in the way of horror here, the body count is low & apart from Kurt's mother getting her head bashed in at the start all the kills are off-screen. Ouch. Forget about any decent blood or gore as there isn't any & there's no nudity either. The comparison's between Frayed & Halloween are there to see, a boy murdering a family member, the boy put away in a mental institute, the boy escaping & heading home to pay his old family a visit & murder a few people along the way. While Frayed ultimately goes in a different direction the two films are similar but while Halloween is a classic Frayed definitely isn't & never will be.The opening sequence shot through the point of view of a camcorder is quite effective but it's shame about the rest of the film I suppose. Filmed in Washington the IMDb says Frayed was shot in 2005 but not screened publicly until 2007 & not released on DVD until 2009. The acting is average, no-one stood out for me as being particularly good or bad. Frayed is a horror thriller that rips-off Halloween but then tries to go in it's own directions with a few film destroying twists which range from predictable to just plain horrible. I didn't like it, it's neither a slasher nor a thriller despite wanting to be both & ultimately doesn't satisfy as either.