[Frayed]
Plot:A small town sheriff's worst nightmare comes true when his homicidal son escapes from a psychiatric hospital. An intense manhunt ensues as the dark secret behind the son's evil past becomes revealed.

Cast:Aaron Blakely, Kellee Bradley, Don Brady, Colin Byrne, Jimmy Castle, Quinlan Corbett, Justin Dadural, Alena Dashiell, Tony Doupe, Tim Evans, Kathy Hsieh, Jeanette Maus, Dino Moore, Rachel Pate, Tasha Smith-Floe, Adam Twersky, Nick Wambach.

My Thoughts:Well-Rounded psycho-slasher.

Review:Indie slasher movies are not very well-rounded in most cases. Then again, most slasher movies aren't supposed to be well-rounded. But they're supposed to atleast be good enough to say wasting 90 minutes on watching one, or it, or them...wasn't a regrettable experience. Not many indie slasher films can lay claim to that title. "Frayed", a collaborative effort from writer/directors Norbert Caoili and Rob Portmann, and Producer Kurt Svennungsen...doesn't follow the usual slasher movie rules, but it gets the job done. The film starts out with the filming of a childs birthday party.

It soon takes a turn for the worse, upon which when it's all said and done. A mother of two lies dead from a brutal attack, at the hands of what seems to be her young son. Fast-forward years later. Kurt, the murdering son, is now locked away at a local mental hospital. But on this night, he escapes. And a town is held in a grip of terror, as they fear Kurt will pick up where he left off as a child. Murdering more innocent people. Can his father, Sheriff Pat Baker stop him before he can start a new reign of terror, bloodshed, and death?

"Frayed" sets itself up as a typical psycho slasher. It has an escaped mental patient, two teen couples camping in the woods with alcohol, and sex on their minds, and of course those "wrong place wrong time" people who happen to give the escaped patient a ride, only to end up dead later on. Yeah, we know how movies like this go. Escaped crazy person, bloodshed, murders, and chaos follow later on. All set to the backdrop of smalltown America. But "Frayed" does a few things differently. It tweaks a few things here and there.

And adds a few new spices to the overall recipe. For starters, we learn that the newly escaped Kurt is being trailed, tracked, and stalked by a blonde-haired maniac in clown makeup. Everytime he finds someone who can help him, the clown-killer takes them out. Putting Kurt on the run once more. Then there's the sneaking element of confusion, and story in's and outs. Is the escaped man really Kurt? After all, he's wearing a security guard uniform. But don't most mental patients dawn a disguise to walk out of the crazy house untouched?

Is this all in the security guards head? Is it in Kurt's head? Is this a crazy dream? Is Kurt really rehabed, and is being stalked by a new killer who is looking to frame him for a new set of murders? There are a lot of variables in this films story. Which keeps it interesting and fresh. And it also keeps the viewer on his or her toes. The film has it's predictable moments, but it seems to put a twist on every one of them. There are the A-typical stalk-and-slash moments.

The A-typical close call moments where the killer almost scores a new kill, only for the intended target to escape. But the movies story is so intriguing with the many variables, that you really don't judge, or predict too quickly about what's really going on. And any film that can keep me from making early predictions or guesses, is a winner in my book. The story for this movie is thin, but it thickens as it goes on. A very intriguing formula. Most movies, particularly slashes, have a thin storyline, which is stripped away even further until nothing is left.

And sometimes, they start off with hardly any story at all, and stay that way. This movie though builds more, and more on it's story as it goes on. And the reason for this is because it keeps adding on new elements to the story, while opening up new doors to certain secrets and revelations. There are a bunch of clever twists which make the third act very suspenseful and tense. As you wait to see how it's all going to end.

And when the films big twist is finally sprung upon the viewer, the twist whih takes the movie in it's darkest, most decadent and twisted direction, as it prepares to conclude...it's a big-time jaw-dropper. Especially because you think the film is headed towards en eye-rolling conclusion of multiple-personality-disorder. And the last thing horror fans, especially myself need, is another slasher movie where someone kills under two different personas and lo and behold, that's the big twist to the story.

Can you hear me "My Bloody Valentine" producers? "Frayed" leans in that direction, it teeters in that direction. But then it throws a monkeywrench into the design, and quickly pulls away from the brink of cliche-dom, and comes up with a smart, clever, and very disturbing way to conclude it's story. While the ending is very sickening, stomach-turning, and sad....it's smart, and something new to the genre.

And it also adds a layer of reality, and real-life-tragedy to the movies overall design. Thus grounding it in reality and making it a slasher movie that gives you a dose of sad reality, and the revelation that sometimes, the good-guys don't always win. "Frayed" is a movie that people should definitely give a shot to. It's not a slasher that's extremely high on blood, gore, and savage violence. But it works and weaves a story that acts as it's main cornerstone.

Positives:Well-written story with a lot of twists and turns, especially down the finale. Good performances, and a great first 15 minutes.

Negatives:Some of the chase scenes could've used some more suspenseful music, and tossing in an extremely gory death or two wouldn't have hurt.

Overall:Three and a half out of four stars.





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