Blood Punch
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''Blood Punch'' is a 2013
horror thriller Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...
film featuring a
time loop The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby Character (arts), characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition. Time loops are co ...
, directed by Madellaine Paxson in her
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
, and starring
Milo Cawthorne Milo Cawthorne (born 13 January 1989) is a New Zealand actor who played Ziggy Grover from the television series ''Power Rangers RPM''. Career Cawthorne began acting as a teenager with a role on the TV show ''P.E.T. Detectives''. After graduat ...
,
Olivia Tennet Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991) is a New Zealand actress and dancer best known in her home country for her role as Tuesday Warner on the nightly medical drama ''Shortland Street'', along with several roles in television and theatre. Outside ...
,
Ari Boyland Ari Boyland (born 10 August 1987) is a New Zealand film, television and stage actor. As a child, he had a breakout role in the New Zealand cult hit science fiction drama series, '' The Tribe'' (1999 - 2003). He also played the role of Brodie ...
, and
Adelaide Kane Adelaide Victoria Kane (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian actress and model. She first gained recognition for her roles as Lolly Allen in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Tenaya 7 (later Tenaya 15) in the children's series ''Power Rangers RP ...
. The film had its world premiere on 26 October 2013 at the
Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...
, where it won the Dark Matters Audience Award. The film had a positive critical reception.


Plot

On a Tuesday, Milton awakens in an off-season hunting lodge, goes to the bathroom, and throws up. He finds in the bathtub a note taped to a computer tablet; it says "Play Me Now." It's a video he's already made to advise himself to make an important decision. His video-self chops off two of his fingers with a meat cleaver to establish his earnestness, then explains that they are in a bizarre situation because Milton wanted to impress a woman. Video-Milton says that he must ask himself, "Was she worth it?" On the previous day, Monday, Milton attends a rehab center after having been caught cooking
crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational or performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity d ...
. There he meets the beautiful Skyler, who seduces him into sex and a plan to break out of the facility. She tells him that if he's willing to cook 85 pounds of high-grade meth in one day, they'll make an exorbitant sum of money. Milton is intimidated by their getaway driver, her psychotic, trigger-happy cop boyfriend Russell, but is game for anything, having fallen in love with Skyler. They drive to a hunting cabin in the woods, where he is astonished by the enormous array of weapons on the walls and lying around the place. Russell demonstrates that he knows more about Milton than he should. When Milton and Skyler reveal their mutual affection, he abuses her and menaces both of them. Russell tells Milton that they are in a valley which has been cursed by a bloody Native American war. Legend says a vast number of men fought there for months, filling the valley with blood, though a Full Moon appeared in the sky each night. In the end only one warrior remained, without a single enemy - or friend - remaining. Milton wakes on Tuesday to find himself on the cabin couch, then goes to the bathroom to be sick. Skyler urges him to take Russell's police car and escape the valley, but he refuses. Milton prepares the meth; Russell tries to shoot him afterwards; they fight, and Skyler shoots Russell with a crossbow. That night, beneath the full Moon, Milton buries Russell alive. Then it is Tuesday again, and all three are alive and unharmed. Like Skyler, Milton remembers everything they did, but Russell is cheerfully unaware. In each iteration of the day, they kill Russell with a different weapon in the lodge and try different ways to escape the valley, but with each reset, they are all restored. Mysteriously, a growing number of Russell's corpses daily mount up in the shallow grave. One Tuesday, Skyler shows Milton a place which is littered with his own corpses from times when Russell and Skyler killed ''him'', and he realizes that after being murdered, one does not remember the previous day. Skyler and Milton, studying a scrapbook, try to figure out why the day is recurring. She suggests they are in Hell, but Milton assumes the mystery is geographical. Skyler and Milton decide to follow the original plan of meeting the meth dealers, Archer and Nabiki. When they hand over the meth and demand the cash, the scene erupts into a double-crossing barrage of gunfire, and they barely escape without the money. They drive away as night falls, but Skyler is bleeding out. Milton has a
vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...
of himself, Russell, and Skyler in a cave. Old cave wall art depicts the aboriginal battle, and Russell repeats that a single warrior remained. When Tuesday recurs, Milton gets into the police car to call up its camera archives. He finds that November 12 has logged nearly 50,000 hours of use, rather than 24 for one day. Cannibalizing the dashboard console's laptop and keypad, he prepares to make the video which Milton will discover at the movie's beginning. With the critical new clues, Skyler and Milton discuss the legend and its emphasis on blood being spilled in the valley. Old local newspaper clippings report on gangster shootouts, cult suicides, and other doomed societies. Milton pulls a gun on Skyler, saying that the only exit is for one of them to kill the other and emerge the sole victor. Skyler protests that they can stay happy and ageless together, never shedding blood again, but Milton reminds her of Russell. Skyler cooks breakfast while Milton performs the daily chore of shooting Russell. Then, both impulsively and apologetically, she shoots Milton. She sets fire to the house and calls Archer and Nabiki to say that she will come over with the full load of meth. She gets the money from Archer with the aid of a grenade, then drives away. When she wakes, amazed to find another Tuesday, she joyfully searches for Milton, but finds his video playing in the bathtub, advising Milton to kill her. Milton pierces her hand with an arrow and aims a gun at her. She realizes that Milton had not killed Russell yesterday, so that the Tuesday ''would'' reboot, and explains that she'd been happy that she could see him again. Russell interrupts the conversation by overpowering them both, watching the video, and realizing there must be only one left standing. To decide the winner, Russell proposes
Russian roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...
, but kills himself on the first turn. Skyler and Milton profess their love, then Milton shoots himself. Skyler is awakened on Wednesday by Archer and Nabiki, who have come to steal back the cash. Now there are three bloody-minded participants in the valley again, and Nabiki, aiming a gun, hesitates as Skyler begins to laugh and laugh.


Cast

*
Milo Cawthorne Milo Cawthorne (born 13 January 1989) is a New Zealand actor who played Ziggy Grover from the television series ''Power Rangers RPM''. Career Cawthorne began acting as a teenager with a role on the TV show ''P.E.T. Detectives''. After graduat ...
as Milton *
Olivia Tennet Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991) is a New Zealand actress and dancer best known in her home country for her role as Tuesday Warner on the nightly medical drama ''Shortland Street'', along with several roles in television and theatre. Outside ...
as Skyler *
Ari Boyland Ari Boyland (born 10 August 1987) is a New Zealand film, television and stage actor. As a child, he had a breakout role in the New Zealand cult hit science fiction drama series, '' The Tribe'' (1999 - 2003). He also played the role of Brodie ...
as Russell *Cohen Holloway as Archer *
Adelaide Kane Adelaide Victoria Kane (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian actress and model. She first gained recognition for her roles as Lolly Allen in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Tenaya 7 (later Tenaya 15) in the children's series ''Power Rangers RP ...
as Nabiki *
Fleur Saville Fleur Saville (born 14 July 1984) is a New Zealand television actress best known for her roles in the television sitcoms ''Being Eve'' and '' The Tribe'' in which she became known to international audiences for her portrayal of Ruby. Saville pr ...
as Claire * Mike Ginn as Riley


Production

Screenwriter Eddie Guzelian came up with the idea for the film from an incident when he left a note for himself one night, only to later find another note he had left for himself the night before that he had no memory of writing. Milo Cawthorne freely admits to the story's resemblance to the 2000 film '' Memento''. Paxson and Guzelian also described the movie as a cross between ''
Blood Simple ''Blood Simple'' is a 1984 American independent neo-noir crime film written, edited, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh. Its plot follows a Texas bartender ...
'' and ''
Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...
''. The film in many ways serves as a reunion of cast and crew for the 2009 series ''
Power Rangers RPM ''Power Rangers RPM'' is the seventeenth season of the television series ''Power Rangers'' and is an adaptation of ''Engine Sentai Go-onger'', the thirty-second Japanese ''Super Sentai'' series. The season was the eighth and final to air on Ame ...
'': the film was scripted by Eddie Guzelian, the head writer and executive producer for said-show; Cawthorne, Tennet, Boyland, Kane, Ginn, and producer McIver previously co-starred on ''RPM''; and director Paxson was a writer on ''RPM''.


Themes

A reviewer at the Vodzilla website writes that "there is, hanging from this film's gallow's humour, plenty of serious subtext" and explains,


Release

The film had its world premiere on October 26th, 2013, at the Austin Film Festival, and appeared at several more film festivals throughout 2014 and 2015. Released on DVD and
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
on September 1, 2015, it followed as
streaming media Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a Computer network, network for playback using a Media player (disambiguation), media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of Network packet, packets from a Server (computing), ...
on September 1, 2016. Special features on the DVD include deleted scenes,
outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
s, and test footage.


Reception

Critical and viewer reception for ''Blood Punch'' was positive. The ''
Austin Chronicle Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
'' and ''
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...
'' both praised the film, with Bloody Disgusting favorably comparing it to the 1948 film '' Road House'', "with heaps of dark humor and a madcap edge that cuts deep." ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' called it "wickedly clever" with "a mind-bending series of complications." The Movies In Focus site gave ''Blood Punch'' 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a slick, polished affair" suggestive of "''Groundhog Day'' meets ''
Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series follows various characters as they battle demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book called the ''Necrono ...
'' by way of ''
Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
''." ''HEAVY Magazine'' gives a rating of 5/5, calling the screenplay remarkable and well-rounded: "The film always works due to the fact despite a myriad of backstabs (literally) plus the regular twists and turns you would expect from a film like this, you do actually find yourself rooting for Skyler and Milton as a couple." Horror Cult Films rated the movie at 7.5 out of 10 stars as an "intriguing, entertaining slice of time-loop, blood-splatted action," while a reviewer at the Nerdly website also gives it 5/5 as "a fantastic horror experience," praising the acting and the way the murders become "ever more farcical and gloriously over the top." Vodzilla rates the film at 4/4 stars, praising how "Paxson's black comedy horror uses its ''Groundhog Day'' structure to capture cycles of abuse, addiction and violence." The ''Gruesome Magazine'' reviewer awarded the film 4.5 out of 5 and placed it at #3 on his Top Ten Horror Films of 2015 list.


Awards

*''Dark Matters Audience Award'' at the
Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...
(2013, won) *''Audience Award for Fusion Features'' at
Dances With Films Dances With Films (DWF) is an annual independent film festival located in Los Angeles, California and New York. It was founded by Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. Lineup Taking place every year since 1998, the festival is dedicated to representi ...
(2014, won) *''Audience Award for Run of Fest Features'' at Dances With Films (2014, won) *''Festival Award for Best Feature Film'' at the
Hoboken International Film Festival The Hoboken International Film Festival is an annual festival that promotes domestic and international television pilots, screenplays, non-studio films. Awards, with cash prizes, are given for the best submissions. It is held at the Thomas Morahan ...
(2014, won) *''Festival Award for Best Director'' at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Madellaine Paxson) *''Festival Award for Best Cinematography'' at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Neil Cervin) *''Jury Award for Best Feature Film'' at the New Orleans Horror Film Festival (2014, won) *''Jury Award for Best OFF THE EDGE Feature'' at the Omaha Film Festival (2014, won)


See also

* List of films featuring time loops


References


External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 2825230 2013 films 2013 horror films 2013 directorial debut films Time loop films 2010s English-language films English-language horror films 2010s films about time travel