"Perkins' 14" DVD

Well, folks...this is it. This is the last chance for me to be really, REALLY wrong and say that what I projected to be the best of the lot in the After Dark Horrorfest actually turned out to be the dog. Frankly, I'm already sorely freaked out by the fact that, as of right now, there WAS no dog in the Horrorfest, an achievement that is as yet unparalled.

Thus, we sail into our last entry, Perkins' 14. No, this has nothing to do with a casino robbery. Trust me, I checked. Instead, we get Dwayne Hopper, sheriff's deputy and bereaved father, whose son was abducted as part of a string of disappearances. Ten years later, Deputy Hopper finds a fellow who bears a strong resemblance to the guy who did the kidnappings to begin with. Hopper embarks on a one man investigation into the man's past, and discovers sufficent evidence in the man's apartment to drive Hopper to near-madness...and an insane, blood-soaked revenge.

There's a significant downside to Perkins' 14, however--its first half-hour is a little slow. However, they will make up for this lag with a sequence that almost serves as a terminator, demarcating the difference between sludgy slowness and insane, overcharged action. I'm absolutely astonished by the direction in which they went with this.

Let's put it this way...that title doesn't mean what you probably think it means. Instead it means something much, MUCH, worse. When I first got an inkling of what that something worse was, it shot my respect for Perkins' 14 into the stratosphere. No one that I can think of has done anything even remotely similar to this, and the end resort is just patently, purely, beyond belief. I can't even tell you very much about it without spoilering like no tomorrow because it is just that amazing. Starting at about the half-hour mark, Perkins' 14 turns into the most incredible sort of survival horror flick that I've seen in recent memory.

The ending is appropriately fraught with peril and represents one of the tautest action sequences I've seen in quite some time.

The special features include fully TEN making-of featurettes, along with Miss Horrorfest webisodes, audio options and English and Spanish subtitles.

All in all, that's it for the After Dark Horrorfest this year, and man, what a way to go out. Perkins' 14 is easily the freakiest movie in the set, and I'm downright blown away by it. This was a pure joy and an utter triumph to watch.

Perkins' 14
****
DVD

Directed by Craig Singer

Written by Lane Shadgett

Starring Patrick O'Kane, Richard Brake, Michale Graves, Mihaela Mihut

Produced by Christopher Milburn, Matthew Kuipers, Jeremy Donaldson

R
95 mins
2009

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