Punch review.
A masked killer slashes his way through an independent British drama in Punch. The result is a unique feel that elevates both parts.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Punch
Directed by Andy Edwards
Written by Andy Edwards
Starring Alina Allison, Faye Campbell, Kierston Wareing, Jamie Lomas, Macaulay Cooper, Daniel Fathers and Mark Sears
Punch Review
Fifteen minutes into Punch I was tempted to check and make sure I was watching the right movie. Surely this independent British drama wasn’t the slasher movie I was trying to watch. It couldn’t be. This was the story of a young woman named Frankie (Alina Allison) who was preparing to leave her home to further her education. It had everything an indie-drama needs. Father issues…a drunken mother trying to hold Frankie back…one last night with friends before heading out to embrace adulthood. None of this is meant to be seen as a negative. What is genuinely impressive is how well Punch makes you forget that the poster has a masked killer in the forefront.
It shouldn’t be strange to see well developed stories in low-budget slasher movies. It should be commonplace. Of course…it isn’t. That Punch succeeds as an interesting drama first should be taken as a feather in its cap. Especially as it manages to carry that torch forward while bringing its slasher elements closer to the story. By the time we hit the home stretch…Punch is all about the masked killer on that poster. While its first act feels like a drama…its third act is unmistakably the cat and mouse of a slasher movie.
The slasher elements of Punch involve a local legend. Mr. Punch comes around to punish wicked girls. On Frankie’s last night in town…he’s set his sights on her. It’s just a story to Frankie for the first hour of the movie. We watch as Mr. Punch cuts his way through town on a direct path towards her. It’s a clever way to slowly introduce and build the slasher aspect of the story. The movie ramps the killings up throughout the story until it overtakes the entire narrative.
You’ll probably guess the identity of Mr. Punch. There’s a certain process of elimination aspect at work. It doesn’t really matter who is behind the mask (something that the movie makes clear in an interesting way) …what matters is that the legend is real. What makes it work so well here is that the legend is invading a well-made character piece. That…and how it expertly builds that legend into its story.
Frankie is joined by her best friend Holly (Faye Campbell). They party through beaches and houses…blissfully unaware that they are being followed. Frankie reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Daryl (Macaulay Cooper) while Holly courts new friend Tamaryn (Sarah Alexandra Marks). Everyone in the cast does a fine job understanding that they aren’t in a slasher movie. They’re acting in a drama. One interrupted by a slasher movie. The buy-in completes the effect.
Mr. Punch is trailing behind them every step of the way. He carries his trusty baseball bat and almost catches up to Frankie a few times before she becomes aware of his presence. His first kill comes a little over 15 minutes into the movie. Fittingly, that victim is the story’s doomsayer character. The one who warns Frankie and Holly about the legend in the first place. He’s the one character who even hints at the true direction of Punch during its opening scenes.
Mr. Punch strikes again about a half hour into the movie. He comes across a bride and maid of honor walking down the local pier. May Kelly plays the bride. She’s becoming quite the constant in indie-horror having appeared in Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Three Blind Mice just in the last year. Here…she eats a baseball bat. The masked man arrives at a party Frankie had stopped by too late to catch her…but just in time to do a lot of damage. It isn’t until the film’s third act that Frankie and company become aware they are even in danger.
That’s when Punch dials things up to eleven. The growing sense of doom and increased frequency of murder boils over into a third act that goes full slasher. A long cat and mouse game follows. Mr. Punch takes over the little indie drama completely. He unleashes his baseball bat on everyone he comes across…pursuing Frankie relentlessly. The shift from drama to all horror is a fascinating aspect of Punch. One that makes it worth watching.
Scare Value
You’d be forgiven for thinking Punch is an independent drama. It plays in those waters deep into its runtime. The first act comes and goes without much of a hint that it’s going to turn into an all-out horror film. The unique attempt works more than it doesn’t…especially when the movie’s third act becomes a full-on cat and mouse game between the masked killer and his target.
3/5
Punch Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from VUDU and Amazon
