Frayed (2008)

Director : Norbert Caoili, Rob Portmann

Cast : Tony Doupe, Aaron Blakely, Alena Dashiell, Tasha Smith

Release Year : 2007

On September 12, 1994, police were called to the home of Sheriff Pat Baker (Tony Doupé) in the rural town of Smith Haven, Washington. What they discovered was the most horrific and disturbing crime they had ever seen. The sheriff’s 8-year-old son, Kurt, had brutally beaten his mother to death with a baseball bat and it was all captured on a home video camera. Kurt was committed to the Yellow Glen Rehabilitation Center where he would spend the rest of his adolescent years in solitary silence drawing frightening images conjured from his damaged mind. Thirteen years later, Sheriff Baker’s worst fears are realized when he learns that Kurt has escaped. Gary (Aaron Blakely), a hospital security guard, sets out into the woods to stop him, but soon finds himself hunted by the deranged psychopath intent on killing him and anyone who crosses his path. Sheriff Baker launches an intense search to capture Kurt and finds himself torn between protecting his town and saving his son. The situation turns grave when he discovers that his daughter, Sara (Alena Dashiell), her best friend, Veronica, (Tasha Smith) and their boyfriends are camping in the same woods where Kurt has escaped. As the search deepens, the truth behind Kurt’s evil past begins to reveal a dark secret. Kurt’s psychosis escalates, as does his vengeful killing spree culminating in a terrifying, climactic confrontation with Kurt, the Sheriff and his family. Their fates and Kurt’s dark secret are revealed in this stylish and suspenseful film that will scare you senseless and leave you shocked and disturbed.


Comments:

  1. jill

    this movie is REALLY good. problem is the ending was very drawn out and confused me. its like it ends but after they run the credits the movie keeps going which messed me up. can anyone give me their take on the ending?

  2. dee

    Hi Jill,
    I liked it alot too, and was searching online for the description of the ending myself when I found your post. My husband and I have two different opinions and I would love to fid out the real meaning of the ending. My husband’s take is that the whole future stuff, killings etc were in the kid’s mind, and at the end that is Kurt in bed. My take is that Kurt was abused by his Dad who killed his Mom, framed his son, then killed him when he escaped from the institution (nice Dad, huh?) then the Dad goes home to his new wife and son to start the horror all over again. What do you think?

  3. pati

    In the movie they said everything was captured on film so how is it that it didn’t show the father killing the mom . Very good movie but very confusing ,what Jill wrote makes sense to me but did the sister know and just go along

  4. Stacey

    I think the movie was in kurt’s mind, and it was based on the picture he could see outside his room at the mental hospital. His characters were based on the people in the photo, and at the very end it shows his dad going home to his real sister and step mom, and his new brother he knows nothing about, and his dad is probably molesting him too.

  5. annie

    hi, i just saw the movie and i’m very confused, it seems to me that the father was molesting the kid, but the sister new and never mention anything that’s why the father pleases her all the time? then the kid was treated as the guilty one and after he scaped he began killing everybody again?? the father at the end has a new family and he is doing the same thing? where was the old sister after the end?? the movie was very, very confusing to me??? can someone help me to clear it? thanks

  6. not bob

    its really funny cause me and my husband were confused by the ending too…

  7. dee

    OK, I just sent the director (Norbert Caoili) a message through Facebook with a link to this page, I am hoping he can shed some light on this for us! :)

  8. Norb

    Thanks everyone for your posts about the ending of Frayed. We know the ending has been confusing to a lot of people. That was somewhat intentional, as we wanted Frayed to be a “parking lot” movie where afterward people talk about the movie to try and figure out how all the clues and twists tie together.

    As far as the twists at the end, nearly everyone got a piece of the puzzle correct, but dee in Post#2 really nailed it: “…Kurt was abused by his Dad who killed his Mom, framed his son, then killed him when he escaped from the institution (nice Dad, huh?) then the Dad goes home to his new wife and son to start the horror all over again…”

    Stacey’s comment in post#4 is also correct when she wrote “…the movie was in kurt’s mind, and it was based on the picture he could see outside his room at the mental hospital. His characters were based on the people in the photo…”

    That covers the jist of the end twists, but some people have raised other questions regarding Sara’s knowledge of what was going on with the Sheriff, how Kurt escaped and whether he actually killed anyone. I’m curious what your take is…

  9. Nicki

    What Stacet said is exactly what happened. The movie was in Kurt’s mind. The people were based off of what he saw in the picture. The clown like figure represents his dad when he molested him. Then towards the end, it shows Kurt getting shot by his dad on the street. Thats what happened in real life. Kurt woke up in the officer’s uniform because his father killed them both, probably knocked Kurt out, and dressed him in the outfit to make it look like Kurt killed them. Kurt woke up confused and fell down the hill where his dad shot him. His dad planned the whole thing out to make Kurt look like the killer. His father was actually the one who killed the mom and when his father goes home to his real family, the movie ends with him peering into his new son’s room. I watched the movie 5 times because the movie was really good. The best actor was Aaron Blakely who played as Kurt. I give the movie 5 stars!

  10. scott

    how cool a filmmaker chimed in..
    i was a little unsure abt the end, figured that was the real sara and new stepmom and the kid was w/ the 2nd wife, but also thought that the kid may have been kurt dreaming up the whole thing, except i couldn’t connect that kid in bed w/ the softball team photo that he dreamed up the characters through.
    thinking kurt did have to kill the guard for reals – he was still wearing the guard’s uniform on the side of the road when his dad found him.
    sara saying she knew what happened to him was where i was more confused- could she have known? when she talks to him (unaware its him) she doesn’t remember much of him, and if she knew was pretty unsympathetic about it – of course, the whole episode was in kurt’s head, so the “real” sara may not have known anything, but the imagined sara could know or not know whatever kurt’s fantasy world let her

  11. Charity

    One of THE best movies I have seen in a very long time. I can usually figure out what is going on fairly quickly but this movie kept me guessing. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time I was watching. I told all my friends about it. I was glad that the film maker also left a comment to ensure that the ending came across the way he wanted. The dad was totally the unexpected villian here. I love to be be shocked when the movie gets to the end. Can’t wait to see what this group of film makers put out in the future.

  12. Greg M

    Just viewed the movie last night with my GF. As with everyone else we have debated the ending as well. During the core fo the movie my GF correctly guessed that it was Kurt doing the killing and seeing himself as the hooded figure. The twist at the end really had us baffled. I did assume that all the “action” in the movie was just a fantasy by Kurt. I was a bit baffled by the ending with the officer going home as I had never seen those characters. One question that still needs to be answered is”what happened to the sister?”. She was not present in the ending. FRAYED2??

  13. jonathan

    THE MOIE WAS GREAT BUT I DID GUESS THAT THE GUARD WAS THE SON GONE CRAZY WHO WAS NOT REALLY CRAZY IT WAS CRAZY TO SEE THE SON WAS RAPED AND MOLESTED AND WEN THE BIGINING THE MOTHER GOT KILLED I WAS LIKE IS CRAZY A KID WITH SO MUCH STREGHT RITE.AS FOR THE ENDING I THINK IS THAT THE LITTLE BOY WAS IMAGINING EVERYTHING WITH CHARATERS FROM THE PICTURE HE COULD SEE FROM HIS ROOM AS FOR THE FAMILY IN THE END I THINK THAT THE GIRL IS HIS REAL SISTER THE BOY IS THE NEW SON THE FATHER HAD WITH HIS NEW WIFE THAT THE FATHER IS ALSO MOLESTING.

  14. michelle

    ok i just watched the movie it was great the boy curt dreamed it all the dad killed the mom and framed the dad so no one will know what he did to the son and killed him to keep him quiet then when he went home the daughters friend in the movie is really his sister cause you hear her call him dad and thats his new wife and son in the bed upstairs asleep who is is doing the same thing as he sis curt and thats how it ends but im not sure why they changed sisters in the movie

  15. michelle

    im sorry i made a type o the dad killed the mom and framed the son sorry guys

  16. luke

    how come the picture of the people on the softball team said 1974 when those people werent even born yet caz the camera said 94 on the sisters fifth birthday which means she was born in 89 doesnt make sense too me. but great movie i have watched it back to back days lol. also whats the name of the song tht plays when the sister is first viewed when shes older?

  17. Rachel

    What happends is, in the beggining you see the character who looks to be Gary but is really Kurt fall down and black out. Kurts only reality is the picture out side his window, and the fact that his dad (dressed like a clown at the time) molested him. After he blacks out the dad puts him in the uniform, and while hes out he “dreams” what happened. The Only people he “knows” are the people in the picture outside of his window. He then liknks his family to who he sees in the picture, when in reality they look and act completely different.Then during the credits the father goes back to the real Baker family and checks on his son whom he has molested in the past.

  18. Nette

    I love this movie. I love mr. Norb for his informing post, that was awesome of u! My only confusion is where reality ends and dream begins. Is any of search real? I figured the dad got spooked by the art in secret room because he recognized himself. So then he decided to kill kurt, so that part was real?? Its really fun doing this. What a great movie watching experience!

  19. Tia

    My friend and I were SOOOO confused, we just talked about it and still couldnt figure it out…until we came to this site….whew!

  20. Norb

    Thank you to all of you who have contributed to this site. My fellow filmmakers and I love the fact that you’ve taken the time to share your thoughts on our film and it is very satisfying to know that FRAYED made an impact on you to want to seek answers and discuss them.

    Nette, I’m glad you liked the movie. As many have figured out here, the reality is everything that happened up to the point that Gary/Kurt falls down the hill and hits his head on the side of the road. After that, everything that happened was imagined based on the faces in the picture outside his room. Where reality kicks back in is where his father, the Sheriff, drives up to the side of the road and shoots Kurt. Sheriff Baker then returns home to his real family and real son (not Kurt, but his new real son from his real second wife) with whom he continues his abusive behavior.

    So answer to your question, did the search and the Sheriff’s discovery of the creepy artwork in his room actually happen as you saw it in the film? No. It couldn’t have because it occurred in Kurt’s mind. However, it is possible that the hidden part of his room with the creepy artwork did actually exist and it is possible that the Sheriff could have discovered it in a way that was not revealed in the movie.

    I like about what Rachel (1/11) said in her comment. Almost everything she said about the story was right… almost. However, the part about the dad actually putting Kurt in the uniform before he blacks out and imagines what happens is questionable – we never actually showed that. Does that mean it didn’t happen? Possibly… But it is also possible he very well COULD have done that. He certainly was capable of it. But did he really? We intentionally left certain details ambiguous, so as to let you come up with your own conclusion about certain details about the story. We, as the writers, have even had our own debates as to what REALLY happened in some of those mysterious moments. We love the fact that some of you have come up with some theories about what really happened that have been even more elaborate than what we had originally conceived and we’d be like, “Wow! I never thought of it happening that way! But it makes sense!” Your intelligent insight has given us food for thought, for sure.

    You can only imagine how crazy our ideas have gotten when brainstorming the possible sequel to FRAYED. I challenge you to come up with a sequel premise that would make for an interesting film without destroying the context of the original one! It’s not easy…

    Thanks again for all of your thoughts. Please let us know where and how you are finding out about our movie. Since Lionsgate hasn’t done much to market the film, we like to know how people have come to rent FRAYED.

    Norb
    Co-Director/Writer/Editor/Composer, FRAYED

  21. missharris

    This is the best movie I’ve seen in a very long time, i don’t know why this didn’t make it to the theaters. but koodo’s to everyone involved in this film. great job and thanks for clearing up a few things i was right on other than a few itchy details.

  22. nina

    super cool flick! i had to watch certain parts twice, and it was very unsettling! really scary!!! a sequel would b pretty interesting. maybe you could have the doctor find that secret room behind kurt’s hospital cell. she could take pictures and notes or something, then the hospital could be destroyed, only she somehow has figured it all out and sends correspondence to a fellow doctor. somehow there’s a copycat killer. the dad could then go on a manhunt to destroy the evidence the doctor has. (lol, can you tell i don’t write screenplays???) anyhoo. something with the dad as the new killer trying to keep the truth from leaking. but not nearly in as lame a way as i described it….

  23. Meredith

    This is the first time I have ever looked up a synopsis of a movie, but I was so confused at the end of Frayed I needed a little bit of help. And I found it. Thank you all so much for clarifying! For the most part anyway…
    I think that the sister probably knew about the abuse and had been abused herself, but had blocked it from her memory, perhaps after the trauma of her mother being killed. And that her father probably took a break for a while until he had another child. Either way, I hate this man!
    I am a suspense/horror/thriller movie fan and must admit haven’t found much to cheer for lately (with the exception of The Rite). It was nice to finally watch one that kept my attention and made me think, even after it was finished.
    I am very pleased to see that Mr. Norb is actually checking up on his work and asking for advice from those of us that watch this genre of film. To answer your question Mr. Norb: I had never heard of Frayed before, but it was one of the least “cheesey” looking movies streaming on Netflix so I thought, what the heck. And I was pleasantly surprised, so thank you for that!
    As for a sequel, whatever the plot, can someone please give that dad a long, painful, well deserved death???

  24. NADIA

    OK HERES WHAT WE THINK WHAT IS GOING ON AT THE END OF THE MOVIE. THE BLOND HEADED SISTER SARA IS NOT REALLY HIS SISTER. SHE IS MEMBER OF THE SOFTBALL TEAM WITH EVERYONE ELSE, WHICH IS THE STAFF AT THE HOSPITAL THAT TOOK CARE OF HIM. HE PLACED THEM IN HIS MIND BECAUSE THAT PICTURE WAS ALL THAT HE SAW THROUGH THE YEARS OF BEING HOSPITALIZED.

    HE DIED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL AND NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO KILL ANYONE. WHAT WE SAW HAPPEN WITH KILLING EVERYONE WAS ALL IN HIS MIND. HIS FATHER REMARRIED OF COURSE BUT THAT WAS THE REAL FAMILY AND THE REAL SARA AT THE AGE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, AND HAD ANOTHER SON THAT HE WAS MOLESTING. GET IT? THIS WAS A COMPLETE BRAIN BUSTER. EMAIL ME NAPALMINC@YAHOO.COM

  25. Kristin

    Wasn’t Kurt in the picture of the Softball Team??? Or did he imagine that he was in the picture?

  26. Drae

    @25 Kristin, you are correct. i notice him in the picture also. A lot of it was th twist the directors wanted us to have. By the time Gary supposedly killed the guy in the car and it flipped over, I knew Gary was imagining the killer. My wife and i watched the movie and I have always been good at twist. I even question Kurt being the one to kill the mom as he was eight and she would have been able to get up from it. I did not figure the dad to molest him, but once Sarah, said she knew what happen, my wife yelled he was molested by the father. great movie. I had it figure early. The twist with the new family explained the pictued, troughout the movie i was wonderinfg why the megan fox look alike and the males in the picutre looked like the actors.

  27. nico

    Netflix. Can’t wait for part 2!

  28. Prince

    Not sure if anyone noticed the disparity in dates. The picture of the softball team is dated 1974, which was from before when Kurt was even born (the video footage in the beginning from the birthday party is dated 1994. Since all the characters in the movie are from the softball photo, there is no way that they could have existed in the present (they were all a figment of Kurt’s imagination).

    Secondly, I think Kurt finally realized what had happened to him when his head hit the pavement. Everything played in his head and he finally came to the conclusion “you did this to me,” which he tells to his father (the Sheriff), before being shot. I think his head hitting the pavement made him snap out of his repression, by igniting some consciousness. The imaginary clown represented his father from who he was trying to save the others from (his father on the day of the birthday party when he was molesting Kurt also had his face painted as a clown).

    The scene turns to the present at the end, which I think shows his dad returning home after shooting Kurt to his real family. He apparently has a new son too from his 2nd marriage which he is molesting

  29. Prince

    Also, another thing that I noticed in the movie is that the sheriff wants his son to remain quiet, which is why is he repeatedly checks up on him. When the psychiatrist says that he has repressed everything and forgotten everything, as well as the fact he doesn’t talk, his dad is reassured. I am sure that his dad must have discovered the painting inside the room and on the wall behind the desk that had written dad all over it with him being stabbed. I feel like this will somehow tie into the sequel. Maybe his dad had something to do with the escape and wanted him dad before he could open his mouth.

  30. Prince

    Also, maybe the sister in fact did know what had happened to her brother. Maybe she will play a part in the sequel in revealing the identity of the sheriff.

  31. Nick B

    I loved this movie!! Had to think hard to come up with the “other characters being in Kurt’s sub-conscious mind” part once we got through the 2nd twist (which really got me). It has been a very long time since I have spent a good portion of the next day thinking about a horror film I watched the night before……but this flick is going to stick with me for a while. Halloween stuck with me…but I saw it when I was about 7-8 years old. I love how this movie has a Halloween feel to it in terms of the slasher aspect (from the beginning brutal scene to certain scenes later on)….but then seamlessly meshes with the story playing out within the tortured mind of the imprisoned Kurt. It seems you probably received a good amount of inspiration from the John Carpenter classic.

    I have never posted in one of these forums before…….but if the director(s) are still reading the posts out there, I would like to give a big congrats to all of you. This was a wonderful watch. Anyone I know that enjoys horror movies is going to have to view this one in order to get me to stop pestering them. Thanks guys!!

  32. Norb-filmmaker

    Thanks again everyone for your input. @Prince, you are one observant moviegoer! You caught some very small details that few people have noticed. Your interpretation is spot on. Your prediction about the sequel… very interesting indeed.

  33. Norb-filmmaker

    @Nick B, thank you for the props! I’m glad the film left you thinking. That was the whole point – to let you put the pieces of the puzzle together of what really happened. Me and my fellow filmmakers, Rob & Kurt, were all strongly influenced by Halloween when it first came out, as well. It was by design that the movie feel like an old school slasher like Halloween to start, then change into something completely different. It’s great that you got that and appreciated it. We threw in a few “nod” scenes to Halloween. If you’re a big fan of that movie, you probably spotted them.

    Please rate us and give us a comment on Netflix! Also check out our website frayedthemovie . com or on facebook. There are more video clips and other goodies about the film there!

    Thanks again for watching!

    Norb
    co-director, editor, composer

  34. Tara

    Sarah has a party in Sept 1994. Her mom is killed. Beaten in the head with a baseball bat. Fast forward 13 years later….we hear at the start of the movie Kurt saying Daddy. The farther responds its over Kurt. Then shots are fired.

    Then we see a video of the party on the day of the murders. Pat, the father is dressed up as clown. Kurt is weilding a bat at the pinata. He also lashes as Pat. Although the video captures the murder, we never see who murdered the mother. You can hear a child crying in the back ground. Oddly enough its Sarah who calls 911. And she tells dispatcher that the dad is a cop and that he was not home.

    Kirk is placed in Yellow Glen hospital. Doctor says his mind is trapped in his own reality. His glimpse of the outside world is a twenty year old photo of the hospital’s softball team. Kurt is an adult. Dad visits hospital one night where doctor tells him they are no longer able to help Kurt and he needs to transfered to a new hospital with better services and secuirty. Kurt, who is now 21, has not spoken a word in 13 years. Dad is signing transfer papers. Two guards walk down hall.

    Kurt manages to escape by killing both guards and stealing the uniform of one of the guards. But while in the woods he begans hallucinating. He sees a masked figure in the woods. He slips and falls ultimately rolling down hill and gets knocked out. He ends up on the side of the road.

    While lying there Kurt begans his dream as Gary, the secuirty guard in the woods hunting/running from Kurt, the escaped patient. All of his characters…are the members of the hospitals 1974 baseball team. During Kurts black out dark family secrets are revealed….for startes his dad was molesting him, his dad killed his mother, and most likely Sarah knew that the dad had something to with it since she lied about the dad not being present when the mother died.

    In the dream…Gary is persued by a masked madman and kills people. But none of it is real. During his escape he only kills the guards.

    Pat later discovers his son on the side of the road. Kurt who had been cataonic for 13 years is now talking and tells dad I know what you did to me. Pat shoots Kurt and kills him in an effort to keep him quiet. As long as Kurt remained silent Pat was free. Then Pat returns home to his new wife, sarah and a young son. Its obvious that Pat is still abusing young boys.

  35. Mariana T.

    After reading all these comments I totally understand the movie. Just saw it and thought it was awesome and like everyone else was totally confused about the ending and for a movie to actually keep me thinking like that and have to come online to get some answers is quite impressive. I just couldn’t go to sleep without understanding it and now that I do get it I see what a great movie it really is. Too bad it didn’t get the recognition it deserves. As for me I came across this movie on my Netflix, it was in the horrors and read the synopsis and thought I’d give it a try and boy I’m glad I did. I’ll probably watch it again and put together all the pieces I didn’t before. I’m crossing my fingers for the sequel. Great job on this guys!!!

  36. Norb-filmmaker

    Hey everyone,

    I know most of you here have already seen the movie, but please pass the word that Frayed will be having its television premiere on the Chiller Channel this Friday, May 6th, then again on the 11th and 14th. Just check the Chiller TV website, also on Facebook We hope they’ll air it again for weeks to come so lots of people can get to know Frayed. It always seems like people just happen to stumble upon it by chance. Thanks for the support!

    Norb, Frayed co-writer/co-director

  37. Jon Suarez

    I just have to say I saw this movie a few years ago when I first found it at Blockbuster on DVD.. and I have not forgotten it since! I found it on Netflix recently and I just had to watch it, along with that I made sure to spread the word to as many friends as possible; of course warning them for the ride they’re getting themselves into. All great reviews, some reluctant to admit it, feeling guilty about it. I definitely took my time to analyze this film and gave it the respect it deserves. It was definitely nonstop action throughout and had a plethora of twists and turns, and I couldn’t love it any more than I do. I am curious as to how you would make a sequel of this movie, though after this gem I’m concerned about the pressure there must be to succeed it if so. Or if maybe not succeed it, compliment it. I wish you luck in the skillful crafting it will take to think of a follow-up film. I understand you’re considering making the sister a relevant character for the sequel; and it would definitely be interesting to see how that can be made significant. Congratulations on getting the cable viewing! I’ll be sure to tell the guys at work about it! Lastly, I’d like to say thank you for this great work, and good luck on anything else that may be headed our way. Hope you’re able to read this.

    V/R,
    Jonathan M. Suarez

  38. carolanne

    I just saw this movie on Chiller and find myself here looking for answers re the ending. Having read all these posts, I get it now. I thought the movie was really amazing. I don’t like gore and slasher films ordinarily but this one didn’t dwell on the gore so I stayed with it. I would compare this to ‘Psycho” which was brilliant. I LOVE scary psychological thrillers and this really is the first one I’ve seen in a very long time that kept me thinking and twisting in the wind and SCARED. Congratulations to the writers, director, editor and also the Makeup person for the terrifying, partially removed clown makeup on the father. I won’t get THAT image out of my mind for a long while. Also the mask/ Kurt . Stunningly scary. Hang on to your crew for the sequel!
    I can hardly wait.

  39. yesenia.

    I get evrything now from the movie, but the part that is really leaving me hanging is why the dad killed the mom?

  40. Lisa

    Ok. I have watched this movie twice and after watching the second time around I understood it more and after reading some of the comments from the others. My understanding is, that at the start of the movie is 1994 and they are having a party for Sara, Kurt’s sister. The movie watchers are made to believe that Kurt kills his mom and the dad puts him in an institution. Years go by and Kurt is about to be moved to another facility. In the process of being transferred he escapes. My question is, is the whole movie in Kurt’s mind as he lays on the highway after hitting his head from the fall and his inability to understand the past from reality. Did the whole movie happen or is it him just confused from the picture in the hallway in 1975? I believe that the dad killed the mom because he was afraid that kurt was going to tell her that his dad was molesting him. He puts him in an instution so his secret will remain safe. I also believe that the only people Kurt killed was the the security guards. My question is at the end of the movie, the dad returns home to a new family with the daughter having the same name of Sara and whenever he goes upstairs to check on a little boy in bed, presumably his son, the boy is terrified. Does that mean that the dad is molesting this little boy too?

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