Something Disturbing at "The Factory"

A Buffalo NY serial killer is back in action...

The Story:

A bitter detective (John Cusack) has been doggedly pursuing a serial killer (Dallas Roberts) who has been targeting hookers in Buffalo every winter for the last 3 years.  His new partner (Jennifer Carpenter) shares his determination, but it gets personal when the killer takes the cop's daughter (Mae Whitman), mistaking her for a prostitute.

That's a reminder for today's teens to dress more responsibly.

Can the cops solve the puzzle in time to save the girl?

This drama/thriller is actually pretty interesting... almost until the very end.

And a much better overall effort than Cusack in The Raven.

The serial killer in question is actually more than that... and it's actually worse...thus providing the name for the movie.

The shocking end is indeed just that...

But...

The actual end leaves too big of plot holes and logic jumps to provide suitable closure.

More questions of "how on earth?" are raised than providing for a solid conclusion to an otherwise riveting tale.

Sorry, got to dock it for that...



Available for streaming instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Would I Own It: Nope, good one time viewing, nothing to be gained on subsequent replays.

Poe Drank HImself To Death..."The Raven"

Odds of a sequel...

Unlikely.


The Story:

It's the true story...... of the last few days of Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack).  It seems that a serial killer is running through the streets of Baltimore killing folks, using means and methods as laid out in the macabre works of Poe.  So the police naturally seek out Edgar for two reasons: 1) to rule out that he is the prime suspect and 2) to help him figure out who the killer might be or where he would strike next.  Things naturally get personal when the killer takes Poe's beloved captive and plans to make her one of the victims.

Ooo!

So much promise... such an interesting premise...

And yet, unlike Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter... the movie never really draws you in.  Okay, it didn't draw me in.  It was simply on.

Cusack is spot on with his Poe rendition, but he's hardly the sympathetic character that you need in the film.  Nobody likes Poe, and when you are an unlikable character, it doesn't mesh well with the audience taking a rooting interest in the story.

It's hard to put my finger on it, where did it go wrong?  Maybe it tries too hard to be scary, yet doesn't want to be a horror movie, it wants to be a period piece drama.  Maybe it needed a tighter script?  I'm not sure.

In the end, I applaud the idea behind the film, just can't say the finished product did much for me, which is a shame because I really enjoy Cusack and wish he could find some movies which could bring him to the forefront ala Robert Downey Jr. or Johnny Depp.


Spin at your own risk.

Worth watching again?

Nevermore!