Reviewed by Carol Sullivan
Genre: Horror
ON DVD: March 31, 2009
Rating: R for bloody violent content, language and some sexuality
Director: Craig Singer
Starring: Patrick O'Kane, Shayla Beesley, Mihaela Mihut, Michale Graves, Gregory O'Connor, Katherine Pawlak
Studio: LionsGate
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As I have just watched Perkins 14, the last of the 2008 After Dark - 8 Films to Die For, I am left with a hopeful feeling for next year's. While a few in this batch were expectantly ho-hum, others were quite impressive; I will definitely be adding some of them to my blooming DVD collection.
Beneath the DVD cover's 50's-B-Horror-Movie artwork for Perkins 14, waits a film with an interesting story line. Yes, it is painfully low budget, the acting is questionable and there is some odd music selections right out of Miami Vice; but I thought that Perkins 14 was a fairly entertaining movie...
The movie begins as we meet Police Officer, Dwayne Hopper (Patrick Okane), as he struggles through his day. Ten years ago, his young son was abducted in a string of 14 local disappearances. As Officer Hopper was home the night that his son was taken from his bedroom, but could do nothing to stop it, the grieving father has suffered, for a decade, in anger and despair.
That evening, as he is checking-in for the night-shift at the local jail, Hopper meets a strange inmate who seems to know a lot about the officer and his sad circumstances. Thinking this Perkins fellow (Richard Brake) just might be the kidnapper, the officer personally re-opens the 10 year old case and finds more than he bargained for.
Using some questionable police tactics, Officer Hopper will find out that, yes, Perkins is the kidnapper, but the children that he abducted are a little different these days; they have a taste for blood...
As I watched Perkins 14, one thing in particular kept bothering me; did the filmmakers consult any police officers in the making of this film? For example; when the officer goes into a blood-soaked murder scene, where he knows that the perpetrator may still be waiting; the officer strolls-in, with no back-up, calling out his partner's name - with his gun still in his holster. As any law-man can tell you in that situation, you assume the worst and you are gun-drawn with the safety OFF. With a few scenes like that, the viewer is forced to chalk-it up to a grieving father-thing, but it still bugged me.
While understandable and heart-wrenching, the frequent flashbacks of his son's abduction night get a bit tiresome, the story does have an interesting take on possible zombie creation. Instead of nuclear waste or a government created virus, could a decade of PCP injections and horrific abuse create a killing machine?
All in all, Perkins 14 has a fairly good storyline and is violent and gruesome, if you can get past its weaknesses. It did have some real potential!
Recommended as a rental.
Overall Rating: 2 1/2
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