Donkey Punch (film)

Donkey Punch
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Oliver Blackburn
Produced by	Mark Herbert Angus Lamont
Written by	David Bloom Oliver Blackburn
Starring	Robert Boulter Sian Breckin Nichola Burley Tom Burke Julian Morris Jaime Winstone
Music by	François Eudes
Cinematography	Nanu Segal
Editing by	Kate Evans
Studio	Warp X
Distributed by	Crown International Pictures Magnolia Pictures
Release date(s)	18 July 2008 (UK)
Running time	99 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£500,000
Box office	£448,465

Donkey Punch is a 2008 British thriller film about a group of English people on holiday in Spain who end up fighting for their lives. The film was written and directed by Oliver Blackburn and David Bloom, and stars Nichola Burley, Tom Burke, Jaime Winstone and Julian Morris.

Plot

Three women Lisa (Sian Breckin), Kim (Jaime Winstone) and Tammi (Nichola Burley) while spending a holiday in Mallorca, Spain meet four young men, Bluey (Tom Burke), Josh (Julian Morris), Sean (Robert Boulter) and Marcus (Jay Taylor), who invite them to their yacht and take the girls out to sea. While they are out at sea they take drugs, the conversation turns to sex and in particular, types of sexual acts. One of the men describes a sex act called a "donkey punch" which involves punching the female in the back of the head while having "doggy-style" sex in order to increase the sexual pleasure for the man.

Marcus, Bluey, Kim and Lisa go below where they begin having drug fuelled sex, watched by Josh who, in the knowledge of all involved, lingers furtively in the darkness. Bluey, who is copulating with Lisa, asks Josh to film the action and then decides to let Josh take a turn. Josh and Lisa then have Anal sex. Immediately prior to ejaculation and with Bluey's encouragement, Josh administers a donkey punch with a hammer to Lisa but uses excessive force, breaking her neck and killing her. To cover up the incident, the men decide to throw the body overboard while the women want to report it to the authorities, and argument ensues about what to do with the tape. Bluey insults Tammi and in a fit of rage, she stabs and wounds him, and the women escape in the yacht's tender. However, the girls soon realise that the tender's outboard motor is missing (a cut scene shows it still attached to the yacht). In a fit of despair, Tammi fires a flare, attracting the attention of the men. They quickly locate and pick up the women. As the men attempt to get the women aboard, threatening them with a shotgun, Kim shoots a second flare directly at Marcus, which ultimately results in his fiery death. Josh locks the recaptured women in one of the rooms below. Sean asks Josh to "call in" and request medical assistance for Bluey. However, knowing that Bluey still has the tape that contains footage of him dealing the earlier fatal blow, Josh instead decides to discover its whereabouts by torturing Bluey. He does this by withholding pain numbing drugs from him. Bluey reveals the location of the tape, beneath the bed in the state room, but fails to mention that he has already disclosed its location to Tammi, who (having escaped her cell) is roaming the boat trying to locate it. She does this just moments before Josh attempts to retrieve it. Unable to find the tape, Josh returns to Bluey, stepping up the torture by turning his attention to the knife which still protrudes from the wound. Josh ultimately takes this too far and, following Bluey's protestations that he has already revealed the location, he forces the knife further into the wound before pulling it out and ending Bluey's life.

Misinterpreting his intentions towards Tammi, Kim brutally kills Sean with the propeller of an outboard motor. Feelings of guilt force her to jump overboard, leaving Josh and Tammi as the only remaining individuals of the group. A distraught Tammi decides that she cannot remain on the boat any longer. Josh agrees, and readies the tender. His plan is to leave the yacht, get back to shore and claim that there was an accident. As Josh pushes the tender away from the yacht, Tammi quietly takes hold of the end of the mooring rope at the stern. Once the tender has floated some distance from the yacht, Josh pulls his hunting knife from his shorts and points it at Tammi. He demands the incriminating tape from Tammi and, fearing for her life, she obliges, throwing it on the floor of the tender. As a distracted Josh reaches for the tape, Tammi seizes the opportunity to place the looped end of the mooring rope around his neck. The rope immediately reaches the end of its tether and Josh is wrenched from the tender. There is an audible snap from his neck as this happens. Tammi, the sole survivor, fires a flare into the air in hopes of being rescued.

Cast

• Robert Boulter as Sean
• Sian Breckin as Lisa
• Tom Burke as Bluey
• Nichola Burley as Tammi
• Julian Morris as Josh
• Jay Taylor as Marcus
• Jaime Winstone as Kim

Production

The movie was filmed in 3 weeks with a budget of £500,000.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

The movie has a 49% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes as of 22 January, 2010.^[1]

Xan Brooks reviewed the film for The Guardian and described them as "expertly made and painfully tense; a bracing cold snap blowing in off the ocean."^[2]

The Philadelphia Weekly review called the film "an odious little potboiler".^[3] Although it failed to stir up much controversy in the British press,^[4] Amanda Platell described the film, in The Daily Mail, as "a morally bankrupt tale of teenage group sex, violence, drugs and sadism which left me sickened to the core" concluding that it was "quite simply, the most distasteful, depraved and nihilistic film I have ever had the misfortune to sit through. I freely confess that there were times I felt physically ill simply watching it."^[5]

References

1. ^ "Donkey Punch Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/donkey_punch. Retrieved November 26, 2010. 
2. ^ Brooks, Xan (July 18, 2008). "Review: Donkey Punch". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jul/18/horror. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
3. ^ "Capsules". Philadelphia Weekly. February 4, 2009. http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/screen/40509317.html. Retrieved September 5, 2011. 
4. ^ Witcher, Rosamund (July 18, 2008). "Donkey Punch: what controversy?". Film Blog. The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/jul/18/donkeypunchwhatcontroversy. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 
5. ^ Platell, Amanda (July 17, 2008). "'Donkey Punch is the vilest film I've ever seen,' says AMANDA PLATELL". The Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1035810/Donkey-Punch-vilest-film-Ive-seen-says-AMANDA-PLATELL.html. Retrieved August 27, 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Donkey Punch at the Internet Movie Database