By Geno McGahee
Do you remember just how great THE SIXTH SENSE was? Well, it wasn’t really that remarkable, but the ending made you forget the mediocrity and just rejoice! What a twist! That twist made me want to shout. Well, in THE FACTORY, we have the exact same thing…just opposite.
Mike Fletcher (John Cusack) is a detective seeking a serial killer that has been taking down prostitutes with help of his partner, Kelsey Walker (Jennifer Carpenter). The killer, Gary Gemeaux (Dallas Roberts), based on a real life killer, Gary Michael Heidnik, and it’s a pretty good match. I once read a book about Heidnik and this film and Roberts’ portrayal brought back the discomfort that I felt while I read it all those years ago. The killer is so unlikable that you cannot wait to see him take the fall. Fletcher wants to see it happen.
In a strange twist of fate, Fletcher’s daughter, Abby (Mae Whitman), gets nabbed by Gemeaux and becomes a prisoner in his basement, along with several other women that will all be mothers to his children. He tortures them, kills those that cannot have children, and makes them all call him ‘daddy.’ In the real world, he works a menial job…nothing remarkable, but here, he is a god and the women are brainwashed and fight for his affection.
With his daughter in the hands of a killer, Fletcher fights the clock and doesn’t mince words. He refers to an overweight gentleman as a ‘fat fuck’ several times and good for him. It’s not good to keep all of that anger in. Let it go Fletcher…let it go!
Cusack really does a great job running the gambit of emotions. At one point, he’s Charles Bronson in DEATH WISH III. At other times, he is sensitive and emotional, realizing that his daughter may already be dead. He is easy to root for and I was rooting for him. Go Cusack!
Fletcher and Walker figure out the location and invade the house of the killer and that’s when this movie really gets odd. Up to this point, this movie was a gritty thriller but then the makers felt like they needed some shocking twist ending and it made no sense at all. I could allow the idea that Fletcher’s daughter was kidnapped as far-fetched as it was, but this twist at the end had me scratching my head. Why would they end this film like this? This was a very good flick with a great pace and great performances all around, but they thought, for some reason, that they needed a shocking ending. THE SIXTH SENSE has nothing to worry about with this one.
I recommend THE FACTORY, highly…at least the first 70 minutes of it. After that mark, it gets strange and I assume that the producers didn’t like the original ending and had another writer step in to wrap it up, which is why the quality nose-dives and the overall vibe of the film was so different at the end. What a shame…this movie was really good until the ending.
Horror fans, give this a chance. It is still worth a watch and hopefully an alternate ending will arise and I can forget about this one.
Rating: 7.5/10
