DONKEY PUNCH
Directed by Olly Blackburn
Produced by Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch & Mark Herbert
Written by Blackburn & David Blood
Released by Magnet Releasing
UK. 110 min. Not Rated
With Robert Boulter, Sian Brecken, Tom Murke, Nichola Burley, Julian Morris, Jay Taylor & Jamie Winstone
 

Donkey Punch may first appear like another UK indie thriller, but it’s actually something else—a drive-in movie masquerading as something meant for the art-house crowd. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, at least on the whole, but it does mean that one will have to take its title, with all its hardcore B movie implications, for what it’s worth. If you already know what the term means, then it’s possible that the movie’s big plot twist is already ruined.

What is a donkey punch you might ask? According to Urbandictionary.com, it is… probably too graphic to describe in this review. Suffice to say it’s something mostly boasted about but never actually attempted because, simply, the chance of death is very likely. And in Olly Blackburn’s film, this is exactly what happens, when four blokes bring along a trio of party-hungry young women onto a yacht off the coast of Spain.

The film’s first half distinguishes itself as a typical drive-in flick out of the 1960s and 1970s (slightly different from a grind house picture, though the second half comes closer to that). At first, it’s hard to tell the characters apart by name or by action. The girls are all out for a good time—attractive, tanned, ready to party with ecstasy or whatever—and the boys are pretty much the same, with the possible exception of the thuggish Bluey (Tom Burke). The film is, as with many drive-in movies from decades past, kind of dull and meant as fodder for other kids in cars to make out or party along with the characters on screen.

When the second half begins, the tone turns darker and uglier, with a growing sense of dread and one really memorable moment of over-the-top violence involving a flare gun. The story turns into a night filled with paranoia and blame games, cover-ups, and more murder under and above deck in the middle of the Atlantic. No one actor entirely stands out among the bunch, save maybe Burke’s Bluey as a master manipulator or Kim (Jamie Winstone, Ray’s daughter). 

The movie ends up working a little better than it should. The characters’ growing dilemmas are something almost tragic, if not for the fact that the plot follows a 1980s horror playbook. If drive-ins were still around, Donkey Punch would make a fantastic B-side to a double-bill with something akin to Trip with the Teacher (1975) or 1983’s Sleepaway Camp. As far as playing in the Cinema Village in New York City, it’s decent trash at best. Jack Gattanella
January 23, 2009