Donkey Punch (2008 film)

Blackburn commented that films including those by Nick Love, and The Descent, helped pave the way for Donkey Punch.[5] He stated he was inspired by Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Straw Dogs, Rosemary's Baby, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead and John Carpenter.[5]

The Philadelphia Inquirer compared Blackburn's work to films including filmmaker Peter Berg’s Very Bad Things and director Phillip Noyce’s Dead Calm.[6] The Los Angeles Times additionally compared Blackburn’s work to Dead Calm as well as director Roman Polanski’s Knife in the Water.[7] The A.V. Club observed that the movie appeared similar to Knife In The Water and Dead Calm, but with actors similar to those from The Real World.[8] The San Diego Union-Tribune characterized it as a slasher film.[9] Rex Reed of The New York Observer likened the plot of the film to And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.[10]

Filmmaker Olly Blackburn directed Donkey Punch, which he co-wrote with David Bloom.[11] He explained that he was in the offices of production company Warp X discussing television options with company co-founder Robin Gutch when he first thought to make a movie about the topic.[5] He and David Bloom discussed the idea and concept with Warp X management and successfully convinced them to go ahead with the film.[5]

His total budget for the film was £1 million.[2][3]

In an interview with Total Film, Blackburn commented, "I think Donkey Punch is an extreme thriller or an extreme reality-based thriller. The whole point of the film is it’s grounded in reality."[12] Blackburn wrote that he made Donkey Punch, "to try to push the genre."[13]

Blackburn's production team went through a casting process which took seven months;[12] the film stars Nichola Burley, Tom Burke, Jaime Winstone and Julian Morris.[14][15]

Donkey Punch was greenlit by Warp X in February 2007.[5] Blackburn chose to look at filming locations in the Southern Hemisphere owing to greater availability of sunlight that time of year.[5] Film shooting for Donkey Punch began in March 2007.[16] Blackburn shot the film in South Africa,[12] over 24 days.[5][17] Blackburn decided upon South Africa because of its cost benefit, its support for the movie production, and the availability of skilled film technicians.[5] Cinematography was handled by Nanu Segal.[18]

During production Blackburn had to deal with actors afflicted by hypothermia and tidal surges on location.[13][19]

Donkey Punch had its world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.[22] It was featured among the non-competition titles.[23] The film was Blackburn's first work to be shown at the Sundance Film Festival,[24] where it received a positive reception from the audience in attendance.[19]

It was subsequently shown at film festivals in Seattle, Washington,[25] and Austin, Texas.[26] The Austin American-Statesman recommended it among the "10 Must-See Movies" at Fantastic Fest.[26] It was promoted at Fantastic Fest with a "'Donkey Punch' Boat Party" in honor of the film featuring a screening followed by festivities aboard a ship at Lady Bird Lake.[26]

Donkey Punch was featured in 2008 at the 62nd Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it competed for the Michael Powell Award.[27] It was a featured selection at the Sitges Film Festival,[28] and the Melbourne International Film Festival.[29]

Donkey Punch was a film that has divided critics since it was released. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 5.5/10 based on 51 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Donkey Punch begins as a promising thriller, but loses credibility while adhering too closely to genre conventions."[30] It received a score of 43 out of 100 at Metacritic.[31]

The Guardian described it as "expertly made and painfully tense; a bracing cold snap blowing in off the ocean."[32] In Empire Kim Newman called it "the sexiest most shocking thriller of the year".[33] Other parts of the British press saw less controversy.[34] Elsewhere in the British press The Times called the film "a notable achievement in all departments, handled superbly by its first-time director and largely unknown cast, with a tight, frighteningly plausible script. ... Donkey Punch has a respect for formula but, more importantly, a commitment to doing things differently, and properly. A scary, truly edgy film."[35]

Stephen Holden's review in The New York Times said "There is no transcendent agent of evil; the enemy is within ... the movie remains above the typical splatter ’n’ scream fest. These careless hedonists are convincing, and the ensemble acting feels believable."[36] Aintitcool's Harry Knowles said "Damn I fucking loved it."[37] Rex Reed wrote a review of Donkey Punch for The New York Observer and called it a "slaughterfest" and "the newest footnote in the history of pretty-girls-in-peril pictures".[10] Wesley Morris reviewed the film for The Boston Globe, and commented, "The naughtiness turns nasty, the nastiness turns fatal, and the kids gradually turn against each other. ... And the alive-to-dead pecking order is strictly a horror film convention: The soberer and more virginal you are the better your chances."[38] Lou Lumenick gave the film two stars in a review for the New York Post and observed, "You could call Donkey Punch, ... a female revenge movie. But you could just as easily characterize it as fairly well-executed exploitation."[39]

Writing in the New York Press, Eric Kohn said "Such a unique thrill. Director Blackburn develops the scenario with remarkably shrewd finesse and builds to a satisfying spectacle."[40] The Village Voice called it "A Knife in the Water for the era of Ugly Briton, package tour imperialism."[41] In a review which graded Donkey Punch a "B", the Boston Herald called the film "dirty, nasty fun", while criticising its lack of originality.[18] The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Donkey Punch offers a gripping mix of sexual heat and nasty menace."[6] The Los Angeles Times concluded, Donkey Punch isn't without a certain power as it gleefully turns its careless hedonists into caged, paranoid rats."[7] The A.V. Club gave the film a grade of C+ and wrote that the director, "sustains a tense mood of mistrust, sexual rivalry, and shifting alliances", but lamented that "the film goes off the rails in the final third, sacrificing subtle character work at the altar of blood-and-guts survival horror. As mood-killers go, it's like a jab to the back of the neck."[8]

The Philadelphia Weekly review called the film "an odious little potboiler".[42] Long Beach Press-Telegram called the film a predictable thriller.[43] A review in The San Diego Union-Tribune concluded, "What began as a fairly interesting girls-gone-wild picture becomes just another gorefest with lingering close-ups of wounds and knives being extracted."[44] Though the San Francisco Chronicle called Donkey Punch an "interesting but flawed indie thriller", it determined the final act was "annoyingly routine".[45] Contra Costa Times gave the film a grade of "C" and described it as unoriginal suspense.[46] The Seattle Times called Donkey Punch a "lurid thriller", and was critical of its plot progression towards the middle of the film.[47] The Kitsap Sun described the film as "a nasty, dirty little movie".[48] Though lamenting the predictability of the film's plot, the review offered an instruction for potential viewers, "Prediction isn’t the point, because you know the final score’s going to be 1. The point is to just sit back, if you’re so disposed and not easily offended, and gleefully watch all the nasty, dirty little business go down."[48]

Donkey Punch was released on DVD on 10 November 2008.[5] It was shown on British TV on the Film 4 channel on 14 December 2013.[49] It was released on DVD in the US on 7 April 2009.