Pop Culture Reviews

Donkey Punch – DVD Review

Distributor: Madman Entertainment  Released: 2008 Genre: Thriller/Drama Credits: Director: Oliver Blackburn Starring: Robert Boulter, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke, Nicola Burley, Julian Morris Rating: R 18

This DVD was supplied by Madman Entertainment New Zealand for review

This review may contain spoilers.

Donkey Punch sure does deliver a wallop, especially when you least expect it. What begins as an innocent meeting between a group of young ‘sailors’ and three girlfriends on holiday together soon turns into a hellish nightmare of epic proportions when an untimely ‘accident’ alters the lives of everyone involved forever.

So there’s alot of sex (the very title itself should give that away), copious amounts of violence and drug use involved. The sex in particular, is quite graphic but is an important part of the movie and sets the scene for the rapid decline of events soon after. For those who don’t know, the term ‘Donkey Punch’ refers to a ‘technique’ used during sex that is supposed to heighten the sensation for the male participant when he delivers a punch to his unsuspecting partner to the back of the head. You probably get the idea why the movie is called ‘Donkey Punch’ and unfortunately, in this particular instance, things go horribly wrong and the girl involved ends up dead. As tempers fray and the remaining members of the cast slowly begin to unravel right before our eyes, paths are drawn, lines are crossed over and over again and the end result is something well worth watching.

With a largely unknown cast and a director, Donkey Punch was nominated at the Sundance Film Festival and has received alot of positive reviews across the globe for its intensity and largely controversial subject matter. Although the sexual content is graphic, it’s wholly necessary to set the scene for what follows. The director has done a relatively good job of focusing our attention towards what happens after the sex which essentially makes up the majority of the movie.

Donkey Punch will probably be yet another movie that will go largely unwatched by New Zealand viewers and it’s kinda sad to see that happen when there are (obviously) so many decent DVD’s out there worthy of watching.

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