In 2005 Tim Sullivan's debut feature arrived on DVD, and what a debut it was. It was a fun and bloody sequel/homage to splatter pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis' 2000 Maniacs, aptly titled 2001 Maniacs. That film was a fun excursion into camp horror. With his second outing Sullivan has turned a corner, stepping away from overt gore and horror and delivering a more psychological outing with a grounding in the real world.
Does it work? Sort of. The base story is an interesting one that definitely has some relation to what is going on around us, but it lacks the courage of its premise; it steps away from the dramatic thriller bed and throws over everything a sheet of supernatural fluff that steals the soul of the story.
David Forrester (Raviv Ullman) arrives, shackled, at Driftwood. He doesn't know why he is there, and he is not terribly happy about it. He meets Captain Kennedy (wrestler Diamond Dallas Page), a retired Marine who runs the center - a charismatic individual who buys into his own hype as something of a savior for troubled youth. What follows is 90 minutes of cat-and-mouse between the two, with the advantage being tossed between them like a live grenade. The Captain attempts to retain iron-fisted control, while David asks questions nobody wants asked.
Let's back up a little bit.
Driftwood is an "attitude readjustment center" focusing on troubled boys in need of "correction." Such centers actually exist. Their primary purpose is to take troubled boys (and girls, I would presume) whose parents are unable to deal with them, and apply some force to get them on the correct track. Typically the parents of said youth approach the center and sign a contract, whereupon the center sends people to essentially "kidnap" the youth and take them to the center to begin rehabilitation. I actually know somebody who used to work as a "kidnapper." It is a strange and frightening thing. Most of these places have reports of abuse connected to them, and I cannot imagine ever going to one, or even why they are allowed to continue operation, but they do.
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