Perkins' 14 (2009) User Reviews

7 Lessons To Be Learned From Perkins 14 (One Lesson For Every Two Zombies)

[homerjer · 6/10 · 27 March 2009]

1) A small-town police force is not prepared for a brain-addled zombie invasion, even if the invasion only consists of 14. Small towns should have the state police and National Guard on speed dial.

2) The police station in Stone Cove is amazingly bereft of guns.

3) The citizens of Stone Cove don't have a fight-or-flight response. It has been replaced by a "stand and watch while killers approach" response.

4) People who wander off to the bathroom in the middle of a crisis situation deserve to die.

5) While some actors from the UK can do a very good job of sounding American, Patrick O'Kane (who plays lead character Dwayne Hopper) is not one of them.

6) Love may conquer all, but it's a bit much to expect when heavy PCP use is involved.

7) The film Perkins 14 is a lot like many of its characters: Good-looking but not very smart. Sadly, even a very good premise can't bear the weight of too much stupidity.

Dwayne, Are You All Right?

[claudio_carvalho · 5/10 · 8 January 2010]

In the resort town of Stone Cove, thirteen children are missing for more than ten years. One of them is Kyle, the beloved son of Sheriff Dwayne Hopper (Patrick O'Kane) that is obsessed to know what happened to him. When the pharmacist Ronald Perkins (Richard Brake) is arrested, Dwayne suspects that he might have abducted his son, and he asks his pal Hal (Dean Sansone) that is at home to go to Perkins' house to investigate. Hal goes to the basement and finds many cells, and accidentally he releases the creatures that are imprisoned. Hal is murdered and the creatures escape. Dwayne goes to the place with Perkins and discovers the fate of the missing children that are released on the streets of Stone Cove in a hellish night.

The gore "Perkins'14" is a sort of combination of the disturbing and sick Travis Betz's "Joshua (2006)" with any zombie movie. The result is disappointing since the attitudes of the lead characters are stupid in many times. The funniest part is when Janine asks her husband if he is all right. The guy has just found that he is a cuckold; his teenage daughter is a slut; and his beloved son has been abused for ten years and has become a monster. Further he has just seen many dreadful deaths and they are trapped in a basement under siege of powerful zombie-like creatures. Couldn't the writer have a more appropriate line for that moment? The conclusion is so imbecile that ruins the promising parts if this flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Great premise that should have been worked out more

[udar55 · 6/10 · 3 October 2009]

On the tenth anniversary of his son's abduction, Deputy Dwayne Hopper (Patrick O'Kane) thinks he might have the kidnapper in one of his holding cells. Ronald Perkins (Richard Brake) was picked up and all of the info he has been giving up isn't matching up. Sending an off duty buddy to Perkins' house, Hopper soon finds out that Perkins is indeed the Stone Cove Kidnapper and a man with a sinister plan. Part of After Dark Horrorfest III, this little film started off so good. It has a great premise and set up, but the major plot action ends at 40 minutes in, leaving me wondering what in the world they were going to fill the remaining 50 minutes with. The rest falls into standard "people being stalked" territory. O'Kane and Brake are interesting leads, both men having unique looks that set them apart from the usual shiny teen lead casts we see nowadays. Director Craig Singer (DARK RIDE) does an excellent job of disguising Romania for Maine and the film is incredibly well shot. Too bad he kinda blew it with the handling of the plot. Look for former Misfits replacement singer Michale Graves in a supporting role.

Good premise, bad execution, atrocious ending

[movieman_kev · 2/10 · 20 August 2012]

What starts as a very interesting premise, dealing with a pharmacist and the kids he's brainwashed into mindless killing machines, is hamstrung by terrible execution and shoddy acting. At the beginning I was intrigued but as the movie wore on I found my Interests waning exponentially, hoping that the film would just end already. When the end finally came it didn't even cause me a sigh of relief that the whole awful movie was over, but rather more mad that I ever watched it in the first place. The ending, be that as it may, was simply atrocious. Yeah who would've thought there would be an awful '8 films to die for' movie? (that's sarcasm by the way )

Plot hole central

[aqos-1 · 1/10 · 7 April 2009]

This movie could have had potential if it had live up to the write up. The "hero" of the story seems to be a superman that can do all things, even figure out that a pharmacist in his jail is responsible for the the disappearance of his son. The major plot hole is all that is missing between the time the kids were taken and the time they were released. At an outward glance, it looks like they were all trapped in cages. If this is the case, where do they get their blood lust? There should have been more insight into what happened to the kids while they were in his custody and his motives should have been better explained. The 30 year old trying to play a young guitarist was ridiculous. The randomness of the whole movie left everything open. There should have been a lot more to the story explaining the 10 years in captivity and what the captor was trying to achieve. Mainly, we need to know if they were on a seek and destroy mission or if they were on a "kill the people that abandoned you" mission. The story itself could have been a good one if they had tried to make a proper story out of instead of a showing how well they do dismemberment effects. This was a very poorly thought out movie.

this movie is difficult to watch cause there are hardly any medium or wide shots!

[marymorrissey · 2/10 · 11 October 2009]

incompetent. towards the beginning there is a part when the guy is popping open a beer and drinking it and it takes like 6 shots just for that! and it's not stylish as aren't these annoying flashbacks and the sputtering light throughout the latter part of the movie that seems to have gone to everyone's brain. in one scene this girl leaves the group to go to the bathroom she gets some kind of murder by being partially pulled through the ceiling and screams a lot and the group wonders "what was that?" over like 15 shots hey maybe it's the b who went to take a p for goodnessakes! the wife cuts her hand badly stabbing one of the zombies with a shard of helpfully broken glass... but later has no wound. I mean basically this movie was very incompetent.

Enjoyable enough if still flawed overall

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 2 October 2019]

After searching years for his abducted son, a small-town cop by a psychotic local and is now part of a team of similarly-minded people raised to seek revenge on the town for years of neglect and must protect his family and the town from their sinister agenda.

This here wasn't that bad of an effort. Most of what works here are the films' use of the small-town atmosphere which is evident throughout the first half. The way the central mystery unfolds, from the central backstory of the child kidnappings that are plaguing the town and how the case affects him, set this off rather nicely with a creepy air and rattles on through the main half of the film which works nicely alongside the scenes with the daughter out partying with friends. Once it moves beyond that into a fantastic extended action/stalking sequence through the town where the deranged killers are showing to ravage the town in numerous high-energy affairs, from the attack on their friends at the remote hideout to the rescue at the motel as well as the small side-encounters along the way. This leads into the rather frantic and stellar sequence of the group trapped in the police station where the ferocity and cunning of the killers are put to great use for these scenes, the frantic barricade procedures to keep them out on the escape attempts that are failed spectacularly while all taking place inside the dimly-lit, claustrophobic location and a cramped, confined setting. Alongside the fine splattery gore, these here are what helps this one out over it's few minor problematic areas. Frankly, the biggest issue here is that the first hour of this is pure, unadulterated boredom merely through the continued insistence and focus on material not in the slightest bit interesting. Although this features a fine backstory about the history of the town and the killers, the rest of the film isn't exciting at all by the utterly inane side-plots which do nothing for this one. The troubled and fractured family life that takes up the majority of this one is insanely dull, as going through it all isn't that interesting with all sorts of cliched tactics to display this, from the alcoholic father, the unfaithful wife and rebellious daughter which has all been done so often there's nothing special about these characters and that leaves this one with an incredible mountain to overcome that is given an admittedly decent attempt to right it through the action later on. Likewise, that leads into the utterly idiotic idea later on where his judgment gets clouded unnecessarily into believing something that puts him in danger against his survival instincts. Had the beginning featured material we cared for, this one would've been really good.

Rated R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, a mild sex scene, violence-against-children and heavy underage drinking.

Interesting movie that turns utterly absurd

[dschmeding · 4/10 · 14 July 2009]

First off... along with Autopsy this is one of the of the 8 films to die for which I could sit through without falling asleep. Perkins'14 starts off very calm revolving around a cop who had his son abducted along with 13 other kids 10 years ago and can't let go. There is a lot of strange flashbacks inter-cut with the actual events where suddenly someone arrives at the police station who he considers to be the Abductor of the children ...from here it turns into mind-games between him and that guy named Perkins and by the title you can already guess that Mr. Cop is right about him. When a colleague searches Perkins house he finds a cellar with cages and his sudden death by one of the raging kids who were turned into blood lusting maniacs by 10 years of PCP-therapy. Now they are out in the streets on a rampage and we are up to a happy family re-union between the cop and his son ... or are we not??

What starts out slow and confusing (later you learn that its not confusing but pretty random) turns into a zombie-like movie with some pretty decent gore elements. The violence is depicted pretty raw and bloody and those kids are more a mix of instinct driven animals and zombies than anything else. They attack like the "28 days later" zombies, jump and run around, crawl air ducts, snap necks and disembowel with their bare hands. Thats nice, the visuals also carry it with some decent atmosphere. Problem is that the whole plot makes pretty little sense as of why Mr. Perkins engineers blood lusting zombie-kids on PCP and how they track down their kin and I really wonder how such obviously instinct driven creatures suddenly know how to use keys, shoot rifles etc. The whole ending is pretty idiotic and the movie should have rather focused on a logic plot and characters not acting like idiots (like a cop entering zombie infested crime scenes without a gun or his wife jingling key-chains like a crazy kid) instead of the massive bloodshed and bleak finale. Perkins'14 has really a lot going for it but smashes my hopes with a plot full of holes and dozens of ridiculous horror clichés.

zombie art

[trashgang · 6/10 · 14 May 2009]

After All The Boys Love Mandy Lane another great movie with surprisingly plots came from Hollywood. Let me first say that Patrick O'Kane gives a great performance as a copper to found out what happened to his kidnapped kid. Another great performance by the serial killer Richard Broke. What a face he has, casting excellent. The way his face has been lightened, the use of light and shadow in other scene's, the use of editing for example the scene with felicity in the toilet, man, this is perfeclty done in an arty way, luckily it never becomes arty farty. The script is great too, for me there are two films in one, first part, the story of the serial killer, second part, story of his victims. And when you think everything is okay than you get smashed in the face from the plot twists. It became time that some independent film makers in the states made some gems like this and Mandy Lane. The effects are great too, the blood and the gore is explicit. Starting as a suspense who-done-it, turning over in a zombie flick is perfectly done. I've seen the full uncut, be sure to catch that one 'cause I can guess know what will be cut out. I'm not a big zombie freak but this one surely got me.

A dark, humorless, dry, boring ride to nothing

[dreamerlives · 1/10 · 25 January 2010]

Lame plot which goes absolutely nowhere. Somehow hypnosis (did the writer bother to research the subject) turns a bunch of kids into angry pseudo-zombies that run around and chase people in a small town. There isn't a single likable character in the film. We never care if anyone lives or dies. The action and pacing are slow. The movie is way too dark. Bad cinematography. Then in the prison for about 20 minutes we get strobe lights and sparks in a weak effort to pass for visual excitement. The end is the worst part of all. It's downbeat, pointless and dull. Typical of Horrorfest films, maybe even sub-par, and that's saying a lot. The director and writer haven't worked much since this came out. So I guess that's our happy ending.

What a Surprise

[xxxLadyKroftxxx · 10/10 · 16 January 2009]

Today's horror movies are a far cry from the ones I grew up on. Rarely, if ever, do you find the hard-edged rawness of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or the original "Halloween" in today's highly-polished offerings. "Perkins' 14" is an outstanding exception. Watching this movie is akin to riding a very, very scary roller coaster. It starts off easily enough, building up a great back story and creating empathy and understanding for the main characters. Then, suddenly, you're plunged into a hellish heart pounding ride that leaves you, at the end, trembling with sweaty palms. The acting in this movie is superb and believable, the story is unique, the directing is masterful, and the photography is amazing. At first I had an issue with the dark appearance of this movie. However, on second viewing I realized it contributed to the entire ambiance and storyline. Considering the time constraints the director, cast, and crew were under, this movie turned out beautifully. I doubt it would have in less capable hands. It is my opinion that Perkins' 14 will go down in cinematic history as one of the top horror movies of all time. For those who doubt it, remember that "Halloween" was widely panned in it's day by critics who were unable to see the future of the genre. For those of you who like happy endings, look up "Disney" and/or "Pixar", because this movie won't give you one. What it will give you is honest-to-goodness hardcore horror, which is what a good horror movie should do. Watch it if you dare.

Interesting ideas in a decent horror flick

[The_Void · 7/10 · 11 January 2010]

Of all the '8 Films to Die For' that I've seen (which is most of them), this one is undoubtedly the best (though that isn't saying much). It's not what I'd call brilliant horror, and certainly could have been a lot better, but there are some really good ideas here and they're well carried off by the director and his cast. The film could be called a zombie film - although I think that isn't really an accurate description. The film does take some influence from said genre, but the monsters in the film aren't zombies - instead, they're teenagers high on PCP. The plot focuses on a small town cop, who is devastated by the loss of his young son some years earlier. He's called into work after one of the other cops took the night off sick, and is intrigued by one of the prisoners in his cells. He notices the guy is missing a finger, and jumps to the conclusion that he's holding the man who kidnapped his son. After sending another officer to the prisoners' house, all hell breaks loose when the fourteen maniacs being held in his basement are let loose!

The whole film takes place at night, and director Craig Singer (who previously made the half-decent 'Dark Ride') makes best use of this as it gives the film a tremendous dark atmosphere that serves the central plot line well. It's basically a film of two halves; the first half focuses on the interaction between the two central characters - the cop and the prisoner. The best thing about the first half is the suspense and intrigue drummed up as we wonder exactly what is in the guy's basement - the sequence that reveals it is really well done. The second half is much more action packed and sees the maniacs let loose on the streets, and then we watch as the cop desperately tries to keep his family safe. The film is rather savage in the gore department - though to the director's credit, he's restrained with the gore and uses it only when needed - which ensures the biggest impact. The fact that the special effects are well done is also to the film's credit. The plot line flowing throughout the film regarding the officer's son is interesting; but soon gets silly. It also has to be said that many of the character decisions throughout the film are questionable. Still, this is an interesting effort and I would say if you only see one 'film to die for', make sure it's this one.

A great premise gone to waste

[lovecraft231 · 3/10 · 11 June 2009]

One a night shift, deputy sheriff Dwayne Hopper (Patrick O'Kane) finds out some terrible things about Ronald Perkins (Richard Brake) and the disappearance of 14 children-one of whom was Hopper's son. Well, Hopper kills Perkins in a fit of rage, and the next thing you know 14 nearly unstoppable zombie like killers cause mayhem in town with only one thing in mind-kill for Perkins.

While it sounds great, "Perkins 14" is a mess from the get go. How could a movie with such an inventive premise go wrong? Well, for starters, the acting (save for Brake, whose performance as Perkins is bone chilling) is universally awful and largely amateur at best. While it's satisfyingly gory and has some decent moments in direction (I love the use of color schemes which bring to mind directors such as Argento, Bava and Fulci), the script is terrible and ends up being uninteresting, while the conclusion is too anti-climactic, the plot-holes are too gaping, the characters are uninteresting and the editing and score are jarring. I could go on really.

So why am I giving it 3? Because it's at least original, has some nice gore and has a few interesting moments. In the end though, it reminded me somewhat of another bad horror movie I've reviewed called "Frozen Scream" in that it has a great premise, yet it all goes to waste and feels like a letdown.

This is also the 4th of this years "8 Films To Die For" I've seen so far. As of now, the gory and blackly comic "Autopsy" is the only one that I've enjoyed, as the others have been decent but disappointing ("The Brøken "), a total mess (the film reviewed within) and pedestrian and dull ("Dying Breed.") So far, this years Horrorfest has mostly been a letdown. Too bad really. Maybe the next one will have more good entries. If not, then maybe they should just stop now.

Like it on the beginning, Hate it on the ending....

[viofitz · 5/10 · 22 June 2009]

For once I thought this film is telling a father who will manage to fight his own fear to understand the situation of his son from being one of a perkin's victim. Yet I was wrong, he's weaker than he looks... The first scene till the middle scene is clearly shown that he's great & I'm startin' to admire his bravery. However, in the middle to the end the father become completely an idiot by letting a prisoner go out by herself, killing his partner for being weak in the critical situation, her wife crawling alone I thought he will accompany her from behind in darkness, & for being weak with his son. I understand for his feeling but need to know that the son is missing around 10 years so it would be hard to recognize his father since the son is still a little brat when he's kidnapped, also his mind is totally screwed. Ahh... Honestly I really like this movie actually in the beginning but hate it when going to the end, it's so terrible for the character's roles.... Overall the movie itself is not so bad from the environment even though the camera angle sucks, & what I really like is the prologue... The case of the father for missing his son is totally outstanding, & the middle of the movie were good. Also the mother is hot, too bad she's a slut! Then the followed scene to the last at the building were sucks as hell! The ending came to be like that, so is there any plan for a sequel? I think it will need for exterminating + mutilate the 14 victims....

Dark themed thriller.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 8 April 2009]

PERKINS 14 is part of the third season of the After Dark Horrorfest. Dwayne Hopper(Patrick O'Kane)is part of a small police department and he lacks the motivation to even go to work since his son was kidnapped ten years ago. To be exact, his son was the fourteenth and last victim in a string of disappearances. Hopper reports to work one evening and becomes suspicious of a prisoner locked up earlier. Hopper begins adding similarities to his son's purported kidnapper. The prisoner, Ronald Perkins(Richard Brake), is a local pharmacist that seems to be a mystery man. An unofficial investigation of the Perkin's basement leads to a grisly discovery.

There is some violence, but it may be the anxiety playing with your blood pressure that adds to the fright. Also in the cast: Gregory O'Connor, Michale Graves, Katherine Pawlak and Trey Farley.

Too Strong a Premise to Ignore

[bababear · 7/10 · 27 November 2009]

My vote of 7 is based on a 10 for concept and a 4 for execution. This isn't a polished piece of work, but there's a lot of talent at work here and a lot of these people should go on to much better things.

Writer Lane Shadgett keeps within the discipline of a three act structure. Act I finds small town cop Dwayne Hooper getting ready for work on the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of his and wife Janine's son Kyle. This was one of numerous disappearances that plagued the town of Stone Cove, Maine, and were never solved. Dwayne and his family are alienated from themselves and from each other. He's obsessed with work, and still trying to solve Kyle's kidnapping. Janine is meeting her boyfriend at the local No Tell Motel (How can they keep this a secret in a small New England town?). Daughter Daisy is infatuated with a much older would be musician. Dwayne interrogates a prisoner named Ronald Perkins, and suspects the man's involvement in the kidnappings. After an officer is killed when he goes to the house and accidentally opens the cages holding several teenagers, Dwayne finds what happened: Perkins had kidnapped the children and spent his time pumping them full of drugs and turning them into killing machines. Knowing that Kyle had been one of Perkins' unwilling lab rats, Dwayne executes Perkins in cold blood.

Act II finds Dwayne looking for his wife and daughter while Stone Cove comes under attack by the freed teenagers. He gets Daisy and she tells him where Janine is, just in time to rescue her after the motel is attacked. Dwayne spots Kyle but doesn't shoot at him, hoping he can find a spark of humanity in the boy.

Act III takes place at the police station/jail. Daisy and Janine go there as it's probably a safe place, and Dwayne soon joins them. The killer teenagers focus their attack on the police station, where the survivors mount a last stand not unlike ATTACK ON PRECINCT 13, which itself borrowed heavily from RIO BRAVO.

If only the people who made this had been up to the task. As always, smart people are required to do stupid things. Worse yet, we get no feel for what life in Stone Cove is like. Much of this is due to the film's having been made in Romania. At the entrance to the police station there's a big sign welcoming people to Stone Cove, and the sign has errors of grammar that remind us that English wasn't somebody's first language.

It would be great to see this remade with the same cast but a bigger budget and a tighter screenplay.

14-10= Bad Perkins

[videorama-759-859391 · 4/10 · 9 March 2022]

While watching this B grade dreck, with puts the B in B grade, P14, felt like so many other over gore-tesque, horrors I've seen in the last 15 years. It's like I've seen it, all before, as in it's painful predictability, sick schlock, mediocre acting, stereotypical teen traits of it's boy/girl characters, atmospheres. Ignoring forewarnings from Daddy, what not. And if I can say this, nasty predictable endings. The story intrigued me, but I expected much more smarts, craftiness from it, instead of a flat mediocre utilization. Think Disturbing Behavior, Island Of Dr Moreau as "learn from", bettering examples of how it could of been done. Two much better players, separated from the average performers, go to O'Kane, and especially Brake-our screwed up Perkins, who has quite a sick hobby, but he is unforgettably creepy, and it's a great standout performance.. O'Kane's cop character is rather interesting, a kind of tough nut to figure. The movie is very engrossing, and picked up in the last 20 minutes, in terms of quality. All in all, it's prety slap dash. B quality, shining right through from the start. Pity, as P14 could of been so much more.

Zombie film, I'm calling IT! oh i mean infected Americans.

[nathan-yeo · 7/10 · 11 October 2009]

Start off with this, is a grade "D" horror-movie not a Merchant Ivory production of "WINDSWEPT MANOR". So you leave this film be ya-hear it ain't hurting nobody. Start off with the movie jumps around a bit and when it lands you have the dysfunctional Sheriff still grieving the loss of his son and hitting on his daughters friends. His boyz arrest a creepy guy who tries to talk his way out of jail. A further investigation leads him to believe this guy is responsible for the disappearance of his son and other kids. A deputy is sent to do an illegal search of the suspects residence. he releases the now grown son who starts infecting everyone with the crazies. The father kills the creep before he can tell them whats going on. the father won't let anyone kill his son which would've nipped this in the bud. It all culminates in a deadly stand off inside the local cop-shop.

It is quite bad and low budget

[jordondave-28085 · 2/10 · 9 May 2023]

(2008) Perkins' 14 HORROR

It's called "Perkins' 14" because officer Dwayne Hopper's (Patrick O'Kane) son was the last 14th missing victim reported missing. Children who were kidnapped by a person who coincidentally happens to be locked up in a jail cell for a misdemeanor, who's real name is Ronald Perkins (Richard Brake). As we later find out that he was doing experiments on them for the attempt of turning them into savage ghouls or venom's for a silly retribution. From "Afterdark Horrorfest" and by looking at the big picture, one has to wonder why the FBI weren't involved in this case. Anyways, the gory make up is good, but the ending kind of sucked, which is a reminiscent of "Pet Cemetery".

A truly sinister horror classic

[redsguy · 10/10 · 24 February 2009]

I got to see the first public screening of this film at the After Dark Film Festival and thus was able to meet all of the actors and directors from this. And I have to say that this was one of the greatest horror movies of all time. It is original, the first fan based horror movie ever, there is no hope, its dark, gory, mysterious, and just plain evil. Some of the death scenes are fantastic. The premise is set up extremely well. The acting is right where it should be, not overdone. And the plot was great. Even though the ending leaves you with so many questions it is the greatest ending to a movie ever. It was single handedly the most unexpected turn of events in a movie. I just had fun and loved this. Should get a nice big release if you ask me.

Perkins 14

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 2 April 2009]

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.

Setting bars

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 8 May 2020]

Or maybe breaking bars? Who really knows, when something like that plays mostly in a prison/police station? The viewer should actually know or be able to make up his own mind of course, that's why I'm leaving that up to you. Richard Brake is a delight, though I would have liked it even more if he'd been the main police character, but hey we'll take what we get.

Very paranormal, very intriguing and very violent. Things that you should embrace and not be fearful of. Having said that, I hope you don't mind the many flaws. I almost deducted one point of my rating because of how irrational one female ran off outside from a safe room almost near the end ... it was to move away from that location, but it didn't make actual sense. Apart from giving us (the characters) a reason to get outside and in peril again ... ah well, still decent enough for what it is, low budget horror

Better than expected!

[SpannersGerm669 · 6/10 · 12 September 2014]

Knowing nothing about this movie, i went into it with little to no expectations. The premise seemed interesting but as is the case with most independent horror films, i thought the production values would be low.

I can say that this one was a very pleasant surprise! Yes, the movie has its silly moments, but what horror film doesn't? You have to make allowances for stupidity in a horror movie, and if you are prepared to do that here, then you are in for an entertaining ride!

The storyline is very mysterious and captivating and gives a slightly unique Zombie approach with some emotion, not to mention the brutality will leave gore hounds rejoicing.

With many bad low budget horror films going around, Perkins 14 is definitely a movie that will revive hope in a very disappointing world of horror!

Had it's moments

[lovedtobescared · 7/10 · 13 April 2009]

Well let me start off by saying that this movie was a pretty decent horror movie. I've seen several of the "8 films to die for" movies made over the last three years. Some good, some not so good. Premise was good but something was missing to make it a great horror movie, not sure what. The "PCP psychos" were effective. The one thing that really bothered me was at the end when the sheriff had locked his daughter in the cell to protect her from the the "PCP psychos" (one of which is his son whom was among the kidnapped)he locks the her cell door and the bar door that leads to the cells. Then he goes out of the locked bar door looking for his son hoping that he will recognize him and remember the love they had. Now, I understand his motives but in his overwhelming guilt of not looking harder to find his son, he goes to hug his son and gets his neck broken. Now the son has the keys to the cell where his sister is suppose to be safe. He goes in and kills the sister with a shotgun that she's holding. He should have left the key or his daughter. In his quest to regain his son, he lost his life and the life of his daughter.

An Original Horror film is worth seeing.

[loomis78-815-989034 · 7/10 · 18 May 2013]

Ten years ago a string of 14 abductions took place in a small town. All of them were children with the final one being deputy sheriff Dwayne Hopper's (O'Kane) son Kyle. This has shattered the town and Dwayne's family as they have never been solved. He's alienated from his daughter Daisy (Beesley) and his wife Janine (Mihut) is having affair behind his back. One night he comes across Ronald Perkins (Brake) a local resident brought in on a small charge to his jail. Hopper has a creepy suspicion about the man and sends a deputy to Perkins house. The deputy finds the 14 abductees locked up in the basement and he frees them. Perkins has spent the last 10 years turning these kids into savages and killers and they quickly kill the deputy and are loose in the town. Hopper tries to collect his family and keep them safe as the town is being over run by the 14 killers. They eventually take refuge in the police station as Dwayne must fight with himself whether to kill his son or try and save him. This original horror tale is a breath of fresh air. The story by Jeremy Donaldson and screenplay by Lane Shadgett raises interesting moral issues about main character Dwayne Hopper. His love for his son has driven Dwayne beyond reason on many occasions as he must face the toughest choices. Director Craig Singer keeps the story moving and some of the deaths are very bloody which should please gore fans. The movie never gets cheap and moves to a chilling ending which seems perfect for this tale. Patrick O'Kane is very believable and convincing as Dwayne Hopper and his performance carries the film in some places. By no means is this a classic, but Perkins 14 is a fresh and scary idea in a world of remakes and sequels.