Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage
DONKEY PUNCH MOVIE REVIEW
Directed by: Olly Blackburn
Running time: 95 minutes
Release date: January 23, 2009
Genre: Art Foreign, Drama, Crime and Thriller
Distributor: Magnet Releasing
MPAA Rating: R
Available on HDNet
Donkey Punch is a film in the eerie suspense/horror genre. The film is about the weekend vacation and escapades of three British girls and four British guys in Mallorca, Spain.
Kim (Jaime Winstone), Lisa (Sian Brecklin) and Tammi (Nichola) are best friends. Kim and Lisa are carefree and prowl for men, whereas Tammi is reserved. Tammi is just getting over a breakup with her boyfriend and wants to forget about him. Her friends decide that dancing and flirting with some guys is the best medicine for mending a broken heart. The girls hit the clubs and hook-up with three middle-class guys from London who are crewing on a yacht: smooth operator Marcus (Jay Taylor), bad boy Bluey (Tom Blake) and baby-faced Josh (Julian Morris).
After partying at the dance clubs and hanging out on the beach, the guys convince the girls to join them on the yacht they are working on. Tammi is hesitant, but Lisa and Kim are truly party animals and convince her and it will be fun. On board the yacht, they are met by Sean (Robert Boulter) who is in charge of the vessel. The scene is ideal for romance, drugs and fun, until Lisa is killed during a drug induced sex game (Donkey Punch). The plot explodes into a murder mystery with horrific and gory scenes. Essentially, the characters die... one by one.
The most important characteristic in this film, like many other horror films, is the strict observance of poetic justice.This film has somewhat cliched horror film moral values esposing that good is always rewarded, and evil is always punished.
The characters in the film play the stock characters of hero, heroine and villain. They do not change psychologically or morally. The plot really only deals with the fate of who lives and who dies. The action arises out of the evil machinations of the cold-blooded villains.
The plot line is very simple. Subtleties blur the moral distinctions of the young and reckless characters. The structure of the movie reduces tragedy to its least common denominator. The emotional appeals are a very basic tool in this movie, but they do manage to keep the viewer watching. I certainly felt the indignation of the wrongful oppression of the good people and the intense dislike for the wicked oppressors.
The scenes tell the horror of the crimes with vivid and frightening visuals. The filmmaker did not hold back on the blood and gore. While getting into the basic plot, I thought it was reminiscent of the classic movie Murder on the Orient Express, but in a contemporary setting. Donkey Punch stays true to the suspenseful world of the cat and mouse game. How so? The mouse being the girls are the victims and the cat being the guys are the murderers seeking out their victims.
I found this not be a great movie; however, it did have a solid narrative that held my interest from scene to scene.
FILM RATING (B-)
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