Customer Reviews

Donkey Punch [Unrated]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As a setting, the horror, thriller, and suspense genres have had a mixed amount of luck out at sea, despite the location being ripe for fear. From the high-brow cinematic treasures like Knife in the Water (1962) to the A-list cast Dead Calm (1989), the hokey Ghost Ship (2002), and the average Below (2002): the enclosed, isolated atmosphere of the ocean can create the setup for many claustrophobic movies dependent on tension. One such film is Donkey Punch: survival horror about a group of youths that become torn apart when one of them dies during a yacht cruise. Lines are drawn amongst those on the boat and violence and murder begins to spiral out of control. Do note, that the word "Donkey Punch" refers to a dangerous and depraved sex act, which serves as the catalysis for the events that take place. As a terror ride Donkey Punch is much better than most, with much of the last hour of the film well near riveting, even if much of what is done is expected.

Despite some of its clear flaws, Donkey Punch breaks barriers of what can be considered taboo, especially amazing in a time of alleged torture porn films and arty non-simulated sex movies like The Brown Bunny (2003). This film is quite shocking in nearly every way imaginable, but despite many being put off by what is displayed on screen, others hopefully will see that the film is quite masterfully emotional in the nerve-wracking sense. As Donkey Punch is a film that creates a "what if?" scenario and with it a battle of the sexes erupts stemming from introspection for some of the characters and self-preservation for others. The film is unpleasant, yes. However, everything it shows (though done to the extreme) is a fact of life: whether it be gratuitous and unpleasant sexual acts or even murder to sustain a normal existence. Donkey Punch has a strong center in that aspect and in fact in many ways it is a morality tale.

Donkey Punch sets itself up to stall often due to the premise being rather thin (how many times can we really have conversations about the videotape that then later escalates into violence?) despite many of the obvious characters arcs, stereotypes, and situations dressed up in a different way the flick still works pretty well. As with his first directorial effort, Olly Blackburn, does an admirable job.

Production wise the film is quite impeccable: cinematographer Nano Segal brings an excellent sense of location to both the yacht and atmosphere. The film is moodily scored (by Francois-Eudes Chanfrault) and Blackburn's sound design adds additional oomph!. Blackburn also tells the story in both a nice clip and the acting department is fantastic by all, as well. Also notable is the way that despite a good twenty-five minute character-building intro, the characters really come into their own when the action begins: characters develop and mold with the tension, which is something that is often missing in films, both new and old.

Underrated and misunderstood, Donkey Punch is a film that may be often rote in much of its screenplay elements, yet when it comes to fear it gets the job done quite nicely.

Grade: 8.0 / 10 (In 0.5 Increments)

There seems to be a new genre of movies (Hostel, Turista, Rest Stop, Shuttle) I will call "tourists in peril." Based on warning movies like the Virgin Springs, it encourages moviegoers to stay at home in front of their tv sets where the cosmos is safe. Don't consider traveling because the moment you step outside the security of your living room- heaven forbid, into another country- you are basically walking from one death trap into another.

The situational drama in Donkey Punch is intense at certain moments, and the acting is fairly decent. The mental violence and acts of intimidation at some points will probably disturb women more. To sum it up, basically, Donkey Punch is Very Bad Things without the black humor, with more passengers than Dead Calm all thrown in a Lifeboat situation where each character's moral fiber comes to the surface. Out in international seas where the law changes each time one enters into different waters, a Darwinist "Survival of The Fittest" mentality ensues, as brawn is pitted against brains, the physically weak manipulating their opposite, and everyone has to depend on their strengths to survive. We the audience get to speculate on just who will come out on top.

Given the targeted demographics and the average age of the actors, the ensemble does quite a good job. I did find it a little difficult to believe how Tami (Nichola Burley) had such reservations about getting on the boat with strange men, and then suddenly is all smiles and agreement with her girlfriends when the four male strangers they just met decide to take the ship out to sea for a party.

The unrated scene in this movie that concerns the act has a medium amount of nudity, but nothing more than a typical sex scene in an R-rating movie. I had to go back and re-view the scene when I read someone complaining about anal shots (there are none). The total amount of nudity is under five minutes. There is not enough exposure to tell whether the sex is protected or not. Note that this is not the same movie as an adult movie by the same name. (That movie has already been removed from circulation)

Donkey Punch will probably get exposure from people casually conversing about the nature of the act (Look it up in Urban Dictionary), after all, among just about everyone I know (male and female friends), there's a roster of names for exotic sex moves that are discussed and laughed about at parties. This movie even has a scene that resembles that very conversation. Think California Hot Plate, Dirty Sanchez, Birmingham Booty Call, and the inevitable Tony Danza.

For the uninitiated, Donkey Punch is a dangerous move. There is a reason why Mixed Martial Arts forbid punching in the back of the head. You can do serious brain damage as some of the more fragile portion of your head is back there. So don't try it at home.

I enjoyed this flick. In short, a group of young girls on vacation (in Spain) decide to take a boat ride with a group of guys they meet while on vacation. Booze, drugs, graphic sex and a fairly predictable, but nonetheless point of the story, death happens. What follows is an I Know What You Did Last Summer opening scene-like addled mix of everyone, especially the boys, trying to figure out, then execute, their most optimal plan, which may or may not be similarly ideal for the girls.

First, it had very good production quality. It felt not at all low budget, and the video and audio quality are very good. The direction is good too; the camera work includes some creative shots, and the acting and dialogue are quite good. Nothing Oscar worthy, but not distracting by any means. The story was pretty good too. Once the death occurs, a high level of tension is maintained throughout, and it never feels staged or artificial; I found myself constantly engaged. Also, oddly, I have to point out that I found the music to be very good; particularly in the sex scene, the camera work and musical accompaniment were very well done. Viewers should note there is a rated and unrated version. The unrated, while certainly nothing like a porno, is somewhat graphic, so ensure you're up to the task when you order. Think 9 1/2 weeks; there's no penetration shown, but it would likely qualify as softcore porn. Despite my male natural gravitation to this type of prurient media, the sex scene did add value and expose an additional layer of character nuances.

Highly regarded, and definitely worth a rental at the least.

Had to give it one extra star on the production feel, as the film stock and camera work were adequate for being a boat film. Other than that, it falls into that guilty pleasure category, which is the only excerpt on the cover I agree with.

The story has been told here already, but I admittedly had to be advised by a customer (before I had seen the film) what the title meant. As a result I have already had several others ask if it was a porn because of the title, which the answer is no - but there were numerous times where the acting appeared as if though they were on a porn set. I honestly felt the acting was fair to below average, but the story is so mismanaged that by the end, any believability or hair of reality is gone. The first half is filled with drinking, drugs and explicit sex. The last half is filled with a light comedy sketch of how not to put a "tense thriller" together.

Tons of cliches to fill here, ripe with the pointless killing of one self after saving your friend, having dialogue scenes with the people that just tried to kill you as if all is well, planning one's alibis better when naked, etc. In the end, you know you just watched a low grade film that catered to the guilty side of watching good looking young people having sex then killing each other.

The movie's title should tell you all you need to know about the artistic ambition of the filmmakers. A Donkey Punch is not a boxing term or a beverage served in a bowl at parties. It's an act of violence perpetrated during sex - possible mythical (I'm naive in these matters) - in which the aggressor punches his partner hard on the back of the neck causing involuntary muscular contractions. So Donkey Punch is to four-legged mammals what Dirty Sanchez is to unwashed Mexicans and Strawberry Shortcake is to fruity deserts.

The film opens in sun-kissed Ibiza where a group of pleasure-seeking English boys pick up a gaggle of fellow countrylasses in a bar and, after plying them with champagne, invite them back onboard their private yacht for after party. The girls are soon installed on said vessel, glass in hand, bikinis likewise. Once the drink starts to flow and the industrial-strength amphetamines kick in, the youngsters pair off and go below deck to, er, cement their new bonds of friendship. In the ensuing orgy one of the boys misguidedly attempts a - I can hardly write it - Donkey Punch on his partner with the result that she dies instantly. What follows is a slickly executed but remarkably unengaging chain of slasher-style killings, intrigues and plot-twists played out in the confined spaces of a small luxury yacht. It's a sort of cross between Texas Chainsaw Massacre I and Dead Calm. Yet while the former is a genuinely creepy experience and the latter has strong individual character performances, the cast of Donkey Punch are virtually indistinguishable, both in appearance and acting ability. Except for the bad guy, you can tell it's him because of his hair-lip.
So while being technically proficient piece of filmmaking by debut director Olly Blackburn, much about Donkey Punch simply comes across as a dramatised version of Temptation Island.

What an awful film. There were some moments during which I thought it would be an "ok" flick. But, as soon as the women got on a yacht with men they had never met, everything went downhill. The amateur porn was completely unnecessary. Once that passed, there were some suspenseful moments, but whatever little merit the film had deteriorated during the last 15 minutes. What a stupid ending and a waste of time.

I read a few of the reviews about how horrible this movie was but i wanted to watch it anyway and honestly, i don't think it was too bad. The story line was good and the acting was ok. It's not much of a mystery but very suspenseful. I like movies where i know what's going on, my only thought is "ok, how are you gonna get out of this one". So overall, I didn't feel like a time waster at all.

The beginning is very dull with not much happening for about twenty five minutes. Three girls in Spain meets four boys and go onto their yacht. While out on the sea they swim talk about a donkey punch smoke some ice then majority of them hook up. Not a bad scene if we are being honest but this is actually were the story gets interesting. One thing that bothered me was I couldn't put on the subtitles. Most of the people had very difficult accents to make out at some point and time in the film. After the initial situation takes place this is where the movie either becomes a joke or pretty interesting. For me it was a little of both...I mean come on really? So now we have a dead girl with a broken neck, two freaked out girls, four shady guys developing a plan to save their behinds, and a video tape that shows the whole thing go down..

Needless to say the boys and girls disagree with what they think they should do..this is were the tension rises. The little excitement that comes from the film with exception of the naked girls I don't want to spoil for you so ill leave you to watch it yourself. I will say it's actually pretty interesting. A bit predictable with b grade acting doesn't make this film amazing at all. Not sure I'll ever want to watch again but decent for one watch. I would not recommend a blind buy like I did. I hope I've been helpful

-Cam

Movie-makers embedded an explicitly-strange reality of everyone environment where friends and relatives could have turned into murderous opposites in circumstances initiated even with mythological events a not-so-broadly-known love-making position "Donkey punch" initiated in this movie of gratifying own desires young people.

DVD visional and sound qualities leave a broad room for improvement.

Donkey Punch is a taut little Brit-shocker that succeeds in many aspects, but fails in a couple of important ones. The main problem lies with the characters. The guys are callous and contemptible and the girls more than a little stupid. Although there are signs that the writers realised this, and therefore tried to make a couple of the characters more sympathetic, there's no one here that the viewer can really empathise with and as a result the brutality (and there's plenty of it) is diffused in its effect. And, while the viewer's allegiance is challenged from time to time, its hard to care too much about who survives and who doesn't. It's also a little slow in delivering the mayhem. Once it starts, however, the gears shift and it becomes an efficient, and gory, descent into chaos.