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Donkey Punch (2008)

Director: Olly Blackburn

Time Out rating

Average user rating

12 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

This bloody, waterborne horror doesn’t exactly scream with originality, but the filmmakers make up for it with a strong atmosphere of sex and violence – both latent and unleashed – good performances and a mostly imaginative approach to genre.We follow three young British women (Jaime Winstone, Nichola Burley, Sian Breckin) on a girls’ holiday to Mallorca. They meet four well-spoken boys, deckhands in charge of a yacht, and drinks flow.

They laugh, they flirt, and cinematographer Nanu Segal makes much of the lazy, early evening sun. We’re soon afloat in the plush vessel, where we remain, enclosed and adrift, as the sun sets and things turn nasty.

The film’s early, easy, erotically charged mood flips on the commission of the aggressive sex act of the title (look it up, it’s not an equine party tipple): the atmosphere of woozy hedonism disappears with the sun. Debut director Olly Blackburn does good work with both scenarios, the before and after. Memories of hazy sunbathing followed by a dark ocean void linger longer than the film’s creaky plot mechanics, which lunge further into the obvious
as time passes.

The women give the best performances (Winstone and Breckin approach an electric sex scene with vim), but the men are more interesting. As Bluey, the bad apple among the boys who introduces drugs and camcorders into the mix (and the phrase ‘donkey punch’), Tom Burke is just the right side of Ralph Brown in ‘Withnail & I’, but it’s the more fresh-faced lads who are the most venal. Blackburn and David Bloom’s admirable script struggles with maintaining the tension once the blood starts flowing, but there’s enough restraint here to label the film respectful trash and Blackburn a talent to watch.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2008-07-15 12:17:42

Time Out London Issue 1977, July 10 -16, 2008

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User reviews of this film

lehammer said...

Posted on Jan 31 2009 20:02 Not the worst film I've ever seen but the direction seemed a bit naive. It was like watching a film student movie.

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Chris said...

Posted on Jul 28 2008 17:25 THIS MOVIE MADE ME WANT TO BE DONKEY PUNCHED!

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??? said...

Posted on Jul 25 2008 12:13 What is a donkey punch ??? :S

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jul 25 2008 09:30 hey guys whats up -this movie had great sex and i felt turned on by them after a long time on screen ,even all my female friends feel the same way and want to try this out and why not -go watch it

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Sam said...

Posted on Jul 24 2008 21:58 Seany Bhoy - If a film hasn't "grabbed" you 40 mins in, it's not worth stic king around for. So don't call me an idiot.

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Seany Bhoy said...

Posted on Jul 24 2008 00:23 Good film, if you walk out 40 mins into it then you missed most of the main part of the film, thusfore making you an idiot. Worth a watch for as some1 said earlier, a low budget film, executed well.

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PERFECT DAY said...

Posted on Jul 20 2008 20:55 A bunch of nasty individuals meet their deaths on a boat. Anyone who enjoyed this should see a shrink - or get a new social worker. This may appeal to the lowest of our society.

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Jayna said...

Posted on Jul 20 2008 14:39 erm a bit crap actually..how did they get funding for this? the script was lacking somewhat and it failed to maintain my concentration.

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Sam said...

Posted on Jul 20 2008 11:48 This film isn't worth a watch. Don't waste your money. I don't know what the hype is about.

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Sam said...

Posted on Jul 20 2008 11:47 This film isn't worth a watch. I walked out after 40 mins. I don't see what the hype is about.

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usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jul 19 2008 08:12 This is a very entertaining slick thriller which is cliched like a movie set on a boat with teenagers having a sex-drugs orgy which ends in a bloodfest,
but en route there is some genuine entertainment in the form of both some questionable teenage antics and some novel suspense created out of the behaviour of six scared individuals who are trying to survive .
It does not take itself seriously and neither goes into a judgment mode or into any correctional sermons but just keeps a straight narrative and a technical slickness which is quaint for a british movie of this genre .
the best of british since BANK JOB with lots of crack ,full frontal nudity ,gory killings ,gratuitious violence and surprise twists witout any false morality .while i had never heard of this particular sexual maneouvre so wickedly employed here ,it is gracious enough to show the consequences of the act itself and thank god for that too.
the actors are all young and talented as well as serve the purpose of eye candy too-what more do you want from an indie movie made on a mini budget.

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alison said...

Posted on Jul 19 2008 02:08 worth a watch if you are a bit board :)))

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