News
Movie Review: Blood Punch
Blood Punch is the directorial debut from Madellaine Paxson and was written by Eddie Guzelian. The bulk of the previous work from both is comprised of writing for children’s television, though nothing in the film would give you that impression. There’s nothing for the kids here.
Interestingly, both Paxson and Guzelian worked on Power Rangers R.P.M., as did stars Milo Cawthorne, Olivia Tennet and Ari Boyland. But that’s neither here nor there.
To call Blood Punch a horror film would be stretching it. It’s really more of a violent mindfuck of a thriller, but there are certainly plenty of elements that would be at home in a horror film, so there’s a good chance you’re still in the right demographic.
The story follows a guy who finds a mysterious (and disturbing) recording of himself as he struggles to remember what happened the night before. We then learn that he was in a rehab facility where he met a woman who took him away to join her and her psychotic boyfriend to cook up a huge batch of meth and make some quick money.
That’s just the set up. The plot puts our characters in the trusty ol’ cabin-in-the-woods setting, and gives them plenty of tools for bloodshed. And for a movie that focuses on three people, there is a tremendous amount of that. To say much more about the plot would be a disservice to the viewer. It’s not an entirely unique concept, but it’s executed in a way that feels relatively fresh, and the characters and the story’s progression sell it.
That said, I spent a fair amount of the film trying to decide if previous scenes were full of plot holes or if I was just overlooking things. That may sound off-putting, but the nature of the movie pretty much begs you to constantly question what’s really going on. Like I said, it’s one of those mindfuck-type things. I wrestled with that for a while, but by the time it was over, had pretty much just decided that I didn’t care if there were holes, and would take things at face value. Thankfully that value was pretty entertaining. If you want to fight that battle as you watch it, you can, but if nothing else, it only gives the movie rewatchability.
It manages to stay thoroughly engaging throughout so it can pretty much get away with the uncertainty of the narrative’s cohesion (which for the record, I still can’t decide if it’s completely cohesive or not). It all comes to a satisfying enough conclusion that I’m happy with just leaving it at that.
I’d give the movie high marks for its use of music, which often comes from an old record player in the cabin. The characters are solid as are the performances of the actors playing them.
The film feels like the type that could garner cult status. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but its style and attitude certainly help it aspire for that.
Blood Punch hits DVD and VOD on September 1.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments
It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.
We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.
“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”
That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”
Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening
Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.
Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.
Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.
Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.
The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
News
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date
Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.
Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.
These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:
According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”
Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.
Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
-
News6 days ago
Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film
-
News4 days ago
Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year
-
Movies5 days ago
New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie
-
Lists4 days ago
Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody
-
News5 days ago
Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel
-
Movies5 days ago
‘Founders Day’ Finally Getting a Digital Release
-
Movies5 days ago
New ‘The Watchers’ Trailer Adds More to the Mystery
-
Movies4 days ago
The Original ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Had an Interesting Location
You must be logged in to post a comment Login