A deeply sorrowful policeman, Dwayne Hopper(Patrick O'Kane)had a son kidnapped as did thirteen other families and the man responsible he discovers was picked up on a speeding charge. The man is Ronald Perkins(Richard Brake), a pharmacist who's "friends with the judge", but some particular comments he makes to Dwayne(..along with a missing finger)throws up signals that he was the one who kidnapped his son. Pleading with an off-duty cop to investigate Perkins' home, policeman Hal(Dean Sansone)hears noise in the basement and discovers a hidden room containing prison cells..lifting a switch, the bars open and "they" are released..those 14 kids, now ten years older, aren't remotely human as we'd describe. Hal is ferociously attacked and soon Dwayne, along with his prisoner, investigate for himself what lies within that secret room, and the horrifying discoveries will change the landscape of the sleepy town of Stone Grove forever.
Craig Singer's PERKINS 14 ambiguously relates to us why these youths are such ferocious, cannibalistic, practically unstoppable predators. Through some collected recordings in Perkin's hidden room, Dwayne realizes that they were held prisoner, not allowed to talk, barely fed, and injected with drugs(..PCP is one such drug established)..being a pharmacist, Perkins may've even experimented with these kids, pumping their systems with only God know what. The killers resemble the fast-moving zombies of the modern horror era..they move fast, their eyes are albino(..representing the loss of humanity, nothing visible ), clothes tattered, and attack with feverish intensity. Victims who often encounter them have little time to defend themselves and the killers rip them to shreds, devouring their flesh like hungry vultures. The film is depressingly bleak and the story of the family of the Hoppers is quite a somber, tragic one. I feel like the film's strength is the effects on the Hoppers regarding the loss of the son and how happiness has eroded over time due to Dwayne's detachment from his loved ones and life in general. Before the killer youths are unleashed on the town, we see how Dwayne's obsession in finding Kyle has caused a friction between himself and his wife/daughter. Wife Janine(Mihaela Mihut)has been having an affair with a local stud, and daughter Daisy(Shayla Beesley)is enamored with a potential rock star. When circumstances pen the Hoppers inside the town sheriff's department, they will have to put aside their differences, and ban together..but, facing the sheer thought of killing his son in order to save themselves is what drives the central emotional conflict, and Dwayne's plight draws enormous sympathy. It would be incredibly hard for a parent, once he's finally found the long-lost son everyone said was dead, to actually kill him. The hope that he can reach Kyle is what motivates the dread..deep inside we know that Dwayne's outcome will probably not end well, but understand why he makes such decisions. While I don't understand why these kids attack humans with weapons, tearing into their flesh, and yet aren't able to determine any human emotion at all(..or understand that their actions aren't justified), they are a frightening brood..director Singer displays their cruel methods of destruction(..such as the use of a champagne bottle to smash in a face or the off-distance shot of a flashlight bobbing up and down in the dark as we squishing sounds)in devastating ways, while we also witness their nasty eating habits(..one victim's stomach is torn open as they remove his organs and intestines)and determined pursuit for victims(..one female killer youth is so desirable for Janine, locked in a bathroom, her fingernails come apart as she rips up and down the door). The tragic fate of the Hoppers, at the hands of their own Kyle, is particularly chilling because a promise is broken. Most of the attacks are often cleverly disguised by Singer through camera movement, careful editing, and flickering light(..not to mention the darkness of night). Plenty of blood shed, though.
The major problem that rather ate at me(..pun intended)was the idea that Perkins planned all of this in advance, his imprisonment would set off the cycle of events that would ensue..it's the "Saw" logic that everything would have to perfectly fall into place for his "revenge" on those who quit looking for their children(..his psychosis derives from the fact that those investigating the slaughter of his parents while he was in the house and could hear the whole thing gave up, just calling this situation a murder-suicide)to be successful, with characters exactly behaving predictably as he planned it in his mind.
Craig Singer's PERKINS 14 ambiguously relates to us why these youths are such ferocious, cannibalistic, practically unstoppable predators. Through some collected recordings in Perkin's hidden room, Dwayne realizes that they were held prisoner, not allowed to talk, barely fed, and injected with drugs(..PCP is one such drug established)..being a pharmacist, Perkins may've even experimented with these kids, pumping their systems with only God know what. The killers resemble the fast-moving zombies of the modern horror era..they move fast, their eyes are albino(..representing the loss of humanity, nothing visible ), clothes tattered, and attack with feverish intensity. Victims who often encounter them have little time to defend themselves and the killers rip them to shreds, devouring their flesh like hungry vultures. The film is depressingly bleak and the story of the family of the Hoppers is quite a somber, tragic one. I feel like the film's strength is the effects on the Hoppers regarding the loss of the son and how happiness has eroded over time due to Dwayne's detachment from his loved ones and life in general. Before the killer youths are unleashed on the town, we see how Dwayne's obsession in finding Kyle has caused a friction between himself and his wife/daughter. Wife Janine(Mihaela Mihut)has been having an affair with a local stud, and daughter Daisy(Shayla Beesley)is enamored with a potential rock star. When circumstances pen the Hoppers inside the town sheriff's department, they will have to put aside their differences, and ban together..but, facing the sheer thought of killing his son in order to save themselves is what drives the central emotional conflict, and Dwayne's plight draws enormous sympathy. It would be incredibly hard for a parent, once he's finally found the long-lost son everyone said was dead, to actually kill him. The hope that he can reach Kyle is what motivates the dread..deep inside we know that Dwayne's outcome will probably not end well, but understand why he makes such decisions. While I don't understand why these kids attack humans with weapons, tearing into their flesh, and yet aren't able to determine any human emotion at all(..or understand that their actions aren't justified), they are a frightening brood..director Singer displays their cruel methods of destruction(..such as the use of a champagne bottle to smash in a face or the off-distance shot of a flashlight bobbing up and down in the dark as we squishing sounds)in devastating ways, while we also witness their nasty eating habits(..one victim's stomach is torn open as they remove his organs and intestines)and determined pursuit for victims(..one female killer youth is so desirable for Janine, locked in a bathroom, her fingernails come apart as she rips up and down the door). The tragic fate of the Hoppers, at the hands of their own Kyle, is particularly chilling because a promise is broken. Most of the attacks are often cleverly disguised by Singer through camera movement, careful editing, and flickering light(..not to mention the darkness of night). Plenty of blood shed, though.
The major problem that rather ate at me(..pun intended)was the idea that Perkins planned all of this in advance, his imprisonment would set off the cycle of events that would ensue..it's the "Saw" logic that everything would have to perfectly fall into place for his "revenge" on those who quit looking for their children(..his psychosis derives from the fact that those investigating the slaughter of his parents while he was in the house and could hear the whole thing gave up, just calling this situation a murder-suicide)to be successful, with characters exactly behaving predictably as he planned it in his mind.