Perkins' 14
Written by Lane Shadgett
Directed by Craig Singer
Dwayne Hopper...Patrick O'Kane
Ronald Perkins...Richard Brake
Daisy Hopper...Shayla Beesley
Eric Ross...Michale Graves
Ten years ago, 14 children went missing one-by-one in the small town of Stone Cove, never to be seen again. No evidence was ever found, but the children were assumed murdered, and the perpetrator, dubbed the Stone Cove Killer, left many families devastated in his wake.
Flash-forward to modern day, and the police department have pharmacist Ronald Perkins locked up on some minor charge. Officer Dwayne Hopper, working the night shift alone, has reason to believe that the unassuming man in the second cell is none other that the Stone Cove Killer, to whom his very own son had fallen victim. When his coworkers don't believe him, Dwayne launches an illegal investigation of Perkins' house, only to discover a whole wealth of evidence.
I'll give it this: this film takes you exactly where you think it's going to go, and then takes an abrupt turn into drastically different territory. When Perkins tells the story of how his mother was murdered--stabbed fourteen times, to be precise--we know right off that he is guilty as sin. And we also know that there is only one way that this grieving and decidedly on-edge father is going to deal with him.
But, surprisingly, this all happens in the first 30 minutes or so, and when it's done and over with, that's when the proverbial feces hit the fan blades.
Sure, it's far from unexplored territory--there are dozens and dozens of movies that the final two-thirds could be compared to--but at least its arrival was unexpected (at least to the uninitiated, like myself), and the twist that kicks it off was a rather clever concept.
I seem to remember there being an awful lot of hype surrounding this film upon its initial release, so I'm glad that I waited to see it until the buzz died down, because there's no way it could have lived up to all the jibberty-jabber. By no means perfect--it would have been better if we had been shown some flashbacks to Perkins and the kidnapped children--it was pure and mindless fluff that kept me entertained through a night of Mike's Hard Margarita drinkin', Camel cigarette smokin', and mini-taco munchin', after a hellacious day at work. Sometimes you're not looking for enlightenment. Sometimes you just want to see some fucked-up shit. And for that, there are much worse choices you could make.
2009
Rated R
95 Minutes
Color
English
United States
"Your son had tremendous spirit. He lasted longer than any of the others."
--J/Metro
