Foreverisacastironmess Worst dad ever! With watching a seemingly never-ending stream of lacklustre Hollywood excuses for horror movies and even more so with the independently-made lower budget ones like this, a person can occasionally get a little jaded and bored with the whole thing and develop a "seen it all before" kind of attitude. But this I admit it really did surprise me, I was soon completely hooked and drawn in by a grim story that I found both twisting and very twisted, it was a poor doomed man's nightmare wrapped in a horror story that was heart-wrenching and not even close to anything hopeful, and I really got a kick out of its complexity, it got my grisly gears turning and it had me guessing and wondering practically right up until the end. The entire movie has an intensely dark and eerie feel, the atmosphere is foreboding and mysterious, and it has a lot of doom and tension running through the story, it also provides an ending that certainly leaves a haunting memory. And the main true human villain is to me far more vile and monstrous than any creature of fantasy. I was engrossed, and I really enthusiastically loved this the first time I watched it, and I wholeheartedly gave it a roaring ten! It's come down a bit on the quality tier since then, but I still find it a great picture and one of the best independent horror flicks that I've ever seen. I'm glad that I'm alive and that there are still newer horror movies like this that I haven't seen yet. It begins with a scene that's a real visceral kick to the teeth. They couldn't have pushed the violence of that scene any further if they'd tried, it just has to be one of the most startlingly brutal openings to a film ever done. And as the strange story unfolded I went through several theories in my head regarding the nature of what was really happening. I couldn't take it at face value because you can easily just tell that there's something very unnatural about the tone, and that there's some manner of twist coming. I had thought that it might all turn out to be a kind of dream, but I dismissed that one because I really thought it would be revealed that the guy was just being crazy and that there wasn't any phantasmal clown stalking him and that he was the murderer.. But no though, it was the psych-ward escapee's "Frayed" unconscious delusion, he never made it any further than a little way out onto the highway where he was soon found and shot in cold blood by his own father, who looks down on him as he dies in silent mockery of his pitiful effort for revenge till the bitter end... Evil, horror, and despair is the victor in this story, and my only real complaint is how the bad guy wins so completely.. Pah! There's been many-a-time when I've quite dug the dark magnificence of a bad horror movie ending done right, but this just felt so unfair and wrong. That poor guy, his whole life stolen away by his father, a man who ruthlessly butchered his wife when she was about to learn about the sick sexual abuse he was putting the boy through, and who was able to place the blame on his son because it was all caught on camera - or so you think! And that closing scene is frightening in ways way beyond this movie. Evil heartless bastard, he's just destroyed one son and now he's doing it once more with another child and starting the cycle of horror all over again... The look he gives as he closes the door with the horrible cold black eyes is truly disturbing and scary stuff. To some, it may fall pretty short..but screw them! I like it and I say that at the very least it's worth watching. It's a movie that proves that a good intriguing story will overcome any budgetary limitations. Give it a go, don't be a stranger now!!

joshuathirteen I really enjoyed this film, which I just finished watching, then I read the reviews here.It's true as some have suggested that one of the major twists revealed near the end is pretty easy to predict if you've seen a lot of movies, but I was never SURE until that point as they did a good job of keeping an element of doubt. Very possibly this is exactly what they were going for. All movies have points of similarity to others but this was a very original script. The acting was overall quite good, and the characters believable with one exception - but that exception makes sense in the end. That character's apparently repeated stupid behavior no longer is anomalous, when you understand events better.I did not find the pace too slow, as some did. I never felt I needed things to hurry up and happen.Some have suggested the positive reviews are from the film makers, as evidenced by the fact that they are from people who only ever reviewed this film. That is a fact about some of them, but as many more positive reviewers have multiple reviews to their credit, and histories going back years.I can understand why some people might not like the film's ending, though I liked it, but neither the acting or the writing or the suspense should be faulted. See it.

Ben Larson I wondered just how much gore and blood this film would contain after I watched the opening where a woman gets beaten in the face with a baseball bat. Over and over and over, the hitting continued past what I would consider dead. Is this film going to be "over the top"? No problem there. It was more suspense than actual blood and gore. It was a chase to catch an escaped mental patient before he could kill the Sheriff's daughter.For a low budget film made with inexperienced actors, it was really good. Kept you guessing to the very end, and beyond. What really did happen?

bcady I watched the movie over the weekend with a group of my daughters' friends (about a dozen kids all in high school). It was great to watch a horror movie that I enjoyed and they did too.The film really is a thinking person's horror movie, and I really appreciated the fact that they didn't dumb it down or insult the intelligence of the audience at any point in the film. There are very few movies where I really respect how the filmmakers treat the audience, and this is one of them where I do. Frayed pays homage to some of the earlier slasher movies, but never appears to be copying them. There are some of the standard scary movie ingredients, but the plot goes way beyond what you expect from a horror movie. The filmmakers were able to take a favorite genre of their own, and make something really creative.The other thing that really impressed me was the production quality of the film especially when considering the budget constraints of making it. In particular, the special effects were amazingly well done. The thing that most impressed me about the digital effects was the fact that I didn't know most of them were digital effects. After the movie I watched the very brief overview of the special effects and was surprised by some of the things that were done on the computer rather than on the set. This was very well done and I believe the special effects guys deserve huge kudos (and an award for one specific scene) for their accomplishment.The best endorsement I can give the movie is that I want to watch it again. I know I missed clues and I want to see the movie at least one more time to see what I catch that went over my head the first time. In addition, everyone knows how impatient high school aged kids are, and they not only enjoyed watching the movie, but they watched it again that evening because they all really wanted to see it over again that night.As for the very violent scene that occurs early in the movie, yes it is uncomfortable to watch. I believe the team earned an award for that one, but they probably won't get one since it is in a small independent movie. The scene is very difficult to watch or even think back to, which is why I recommend watching the bonus feature on that section of the movie. Watching the character/victim in the make up for the final stage jokingly saying "I'm ready for my close up" helped ease the discomfort that the filmmakers were trying (successfully) to make everyone feel.I recommend watching it with a few friends so you can bat around ideas after the movie. That really helps everyone figure out what actually happens. Frayed goes way beyond a standard slasher movie genre with a tight complex plot, great cinematography, good acting, and remarkable visual effects to deliver a great horror movie.If the same team makes another movie (which I hope they do), I can't wait to see it.