For those who have led sheltered lives and wouldn’t dream of indulging in anything more daring than the good old missionary position, a “donkey punch” is a sexual kink not as outright gross as “tarmaccing” but more morally questionable than, say, snowballing. If you are a guy performing a donkey punch on your beloved, your job requirements are to punch her hard on the back of the neck during a bout of anal intercourse. Timed for the moment of male climax, the impact of this severe blow will ideally cause a spastic “clench” and an extra frisson of excitement before ejaculation. “What’s in it for the girl?” a female character asks of the character in DONKEY PUNCH who explains this practice during a key early scene. “I didn’t understand the question”, he responds, thus in a single line neatly summing up his character’s attitude while being reflective of this film’s fine line in dark wit.
The actual “donkey punch” itself forms part of a memorably graphic sequence in the movie that signals a point of no return for everyone involved. It begins with a small group of British friends enjoying a sun n sex break in Mallorca, Spain. Their decision to board a luxury yacht with a couple of charismatic strangers leads to plentiful “E”-dropping and a small-scale orgy. It’s during the latter that one of the guys thinks it a good idea to try out the earlier-discussed punch on his gal. It goes horribly wrong, the girl dies suddenly and, as the panic-stricken, law-fearing youngsters argue about what to do next, everything spirals out of control.
Marketed as a sadistic horror film in the UK, this is more an intense, tightly woven thriller tracking its way toward a climactic bloodbath (incorporating a survivalist horror finale complete with resilient, blood covered final girl). It follows the recent post-HOSTEL trend in its core theme of pretty, thrill-seeking young things in alien territory, though the difference here is that this time the protagonists bring everything on themselves rather than falling victim to an external threat. It also borrows a lick from conventional slasher movies like I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER in its use of an unintended fatality (and the debate it provokes among those involved) to propel a body count-driven narrative.
The movie wears its influences clearly – there’s a direct visual quote from the similarly-set DEAD CALM involving a flare gun – and often resembles Danny Boyle’s excellent SHALLOW GRAVE in its portrayal of a small group of buddies killing each other in the wave of paranoia and mistrust that follows a sudden death. With an explicit central orgy sequence that will be shaved of at least a few seconds if the film is to win an “R” rating from the notoriously puritanical MPAA, the film delivers the goods for exploitation fans though it also cannily stores up its main violence until the final act. This decision heightens the effect of the final reel’s bloody stabbings and visceral use of a running outboard motor – with THE DESCENT’s Paul Hyett providing the convincing make-up effects.
DONKEY PUNCH cleverly turns the audience (and certain characters) against initially sympathetic figures in the cast and benefits significantly from an especially good ensemble of attractive, three-dimensional unknowns. Their descent into brutality is frighteningly authentic, albeit overplayed in order to provide the movie with a melodramatic denouement.
Enhancing the overall effect is a hauntingly evocative score by Francois Eudes-Chanfrault. Following sterling work on French genre masterworks INSIDE and HAUTE TENSION, the composer again provides an eerie, foreboding electronic soundscape for a spiraling situation that will leave almost everyone dead. A soundtrack purchase, in addition to the movie itself, is highly recommended. It’s a stylish, riveting calling card for co-writer/director Oliver Blackburn.
-Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
