08th Nov2015

‘Blood Punch’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Milo Cawthorne, Olivia Tennet, Ari Boyland, Adelaide Kane, Cohen Holloway, Fleur Saville, Mike Ginn, Amanda Reed | Written by Eddie Guzelian | Directed by Madellaine Paxson

blood-punch-cast

No doubt released in time to cash in on the hype surrounding actor Milo Cawthorne’s  other recent horror flick, Deathgasm, Blood Punch is a Groundhog Day style horror that tells the story of Milton (Cawthorne), a brilliant chemistry student who breaks out of court-mandated drug rehab with a mysterious bad girl, Skyler (Tennet). Looking to recruit a cook for a one-day drug score, she lures him to an isolated cabin with her psychotic and trigger-happy boyfriend Russell (Boyland). Russell reveals that he plans to murder Milton as soon as he is finished cooking the drugs, and their simple love triangle quickly descends into a mind-blowing supernatural cycle of carnage and mayhem with no end… and no escape.

The debut feature from Madellaine Paxson, Blood Punch marks the first “adult” movie for the director who has for the majority of her career – along with her screenwriter husband and frequent collaborator Eddie Guzelian – focused on kid-friendly fare such as The Tigger Movie, Lilo and Stitch and Power Rangers: RPM. And it’s one hell of a debut feature.

Best described as a supernatural Romeo and Juliet meet Groundhog Day, Blood Punch is one of those movies that revels in the ridiculousness of its own story. As Milton and Skyler try to kill Russell over and over and over and over and each day repeats itself, the deaths becomes ever more farcical and gloriously over the top. In this film death becomes little more than a slapstick event, a punchline to a particularly cruel joke – yet its a cruel joke that is repeatedly hilarious!

But it’s not only the over-the-top grotesquery of the films many, many, many deaths that marks Blood Punch out as a fantastic horror experience. Milo Cawthorne, who impressed so much in Deathgasm, once again delivers a memorable performance as Milton, the rebellious chemistry genius who’s lust for Olivia Tennet’s drug dealing troublemaker Skyler gets him into this mess in the first place! As a side-note, the chemistry between Tennet and Cawthorne is undeniable – it wasn’t until after seeing Paxson’s film that I discovered the duo are married in real life… The fact that the pair know each other so well, and are so comfortable with each other really translates well onto the screen. Nowhere more so than in a stunning and incredibly stylistic love-scene between the pair as they’re cover in the dripping blood of the just-murdered Russell!

If you would have told me that six people involved with Power Rangers: RPM (actors Milo Cawthorne, Olivia Tennet, Ari Boyland and Adelaide Kane all appeared on-screen in the show, whilst Eddie Guzelian and Madellaine Paxson wrote some episodes) would go on to collaborate on one of the best horror films of the year, I would have laughed in your face. But that’s exactly what Blood Punch is.

***** 5/5

A superb mix of smart writing, stylish direction and fantastic performances, Blood Punch is out now in the US on DVD and VOD.

 

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