Blood Punch (2014) User Reviews

A little boring at times, but interesting nonetheless.

[Matt_Layden · 6/10 · 22 November 2015]

After being caught cooking meth, a teen is sent to rehab. It is here that he meets a young beautiful girl who offers him a job. They go to a remote cabin with her boyfriend and third partner in their little drug scheme. Things go a little wrong for them when they begin to turn on each other. Things go from bad to worse when they find themselves caught in an old Native American curse. Now they must find a way to break free, or forever be dammed.

I was given this little indie flick by my uncle, who surprisingly sang its praises. So I went in with modest expectations and came out with a smile on my face, a sense of disappointment and a feeling of "I've seen this done better before".

Blood Punch has one aspect about the film that I would love to talk about, but feel that it would ruin the surprise. So I'm at odds here because this happens in the first act and the rest of the movie is wrapped around this plot device. It's nothing new or original, in fact it's been done to 'death'. Yet it's the inspired direction from Paxson that really gives Blood Punch a sense of accomplishment. The drama in the beginning takes a turn to black comedy once we arrive at the cabin. The film tries a balancing act and works for the most part, it's just that I didn't really find it too funny.

The genres this film mixes a fast and furious. There is even a action heavy shoot-out for crying out loud. This might make it seem like the film doesn't know what it wants to be, but I believe Paxson and crew knew exactly what they were doing here. An ode to some crazy Raimi/Coen Brothers hybrid of a film.

While interesting enough to keep my attention, bizarre enough for me to want to find out more. This is a film that I can't really see myself watching again anytime soon. I can't place my finger on it. The acting is serviceable to the story. The direction above what one can expect from a low-budget indie black comedy flick and the blood effects will make the horror fan smile. It simply feels like a precursor to something more, something bigger, something better down the road for the career of Paxson, if anything.

Groundhog Punch

[shawnblackman · 6/10 · 16 July 2017]

This dark comedy has a couple of meth heads con a chemist to cook 85 pounds of meth in a secluded cabin for them to sell. Things don't go so well and the boyfriend ends up dead. The next morning they find out the day is starting over again that they just had. No matter who gets killed the next morning everybody is back in the cabin. Even when they try to leave, the next morning they're right back in the cabin.

A Groundhog Day meets Spun but well done and as you can imagine there is lots of carnage and even some twists within twists. They used different ways of killing each other and they just happen to be in a hunter's cabin stocked with weapons mounted on the walls.

You'll laugh out loud as the comedy is well written and the actors do a bang up job. Watch this one if you get the chance.

6 trips on peyote out of 10.

Fun black comedy 6/10

[alicepetit · 6/10 · 10 September 2018]

Groundhog Day meets John Dies at the End. OK the plot was nothing like JDatE, but the tone really reminded me of that film.

Refreshing (if not entirely original) premise with characters that grew to be likeable after a rocky start.

Mostly good acting and great cinematography.

Ultimately pretty silly, but well worth giving your time to if you are in the mood for a light hearted horror evening.

A Well Done Time Loop Movie

[isantistao · 7/10 · 26 April 2020]

This is a very well done time loop movie that I was pretty impressed with considering that they were obviously doing it on a budget. The acting is not up to hollywood par but the storytelling and other aspect of film making are pretty much there. I really love time loop movies and have seen a lot of them, and this is an especially good one. It is 1 hour and 45 minutes and in that time I felt like so much more time had gone by because so much happened in this movie. It is a very elaborate story that just keeps unfolding more and more and more as it goes on. I kept feeling like it was going to end soon and then checking to see how much time I had left. It is a very good story that keeps surprising you. It's also got a lot of entertaining killing in it, but it is not over-the top and ridiculous like a lot of b-movies. I'm giving this a good solid 7 here, and thats a hollywood rating, not a b-movie rating. If I was rating it in terms of b-movies it would be a 10. And if you love time loop movies its a must see.

this is acting.. been a long time..

[judahlion · 7/10 · 6 March 2021]

Umm is this the last great female actress in a movie before your species began its destruction? ... probably of of the last.. what year is it let's see.. ummmm 2014.. done in 2013.. yep this is one of the last ones .. obviously majority of you can now days understand it yet unable to comprehend it.. but that will come too. the rate on her acting is 10/10.. THIS is what a great acting is all about.. something very few are aware of in 2020's.. sadly this was also the beginning of the end for your species as you once knew it.. as i said now you understand it but yet to comprehend it. of course they all act well.. you are not in kensas no more my friends.. but i am sure i don't need to tell you this any more...

7.3/10. Recommended

[athanasiosze · 7/10 · 2 June 2022]

This is a pretty good mix of comedy, crime, mystery and thriller. I didn't expect this to be so enjoyable and good.

It's better for you to watch it without knowing anything about the plot. A lot of reviews here reveal more than they should.

These young actors are great, directing is good, there are a lot of twists and you empathize with the characters. Of course, this is not some kind of masterpiece but you will have a lot of fun watching it.

105 minutes of half-assed American accents

[selfdestructo · 4/10 · 19 April 2023]

Kind of tiresome time loop flick. This entire cast is from New Zealand (OK, there's one Australian), and it is obvious from the get-go. I had to look it up less than 10 minutes in, because it was so distracting. The girl who played Skyler was the worst offender of slipping into her native tongue. Here's an idea: Have a movie with New Zealand accents. Plenty of great movies come from New Zealand! I understand this was an American production, filmed in California... But why the entire cast has to do accents they're obviously uncomfortable with... It's baffling. Also, this movie serves as a 105-minute commercial for smoking. It's so ridiculous it becomes comical. They tried REAL hard to be stylish on what appears to be a shoestring budget. That gets an extra star.

Consider my mind blown--a monumentally smart, fresh, and totally fun low-budget horror/film noir/black comedy

[hinghammark · 8/10 · 31 October 2014]

I saw this under-the-radar low-budget gem at the New Orleans Horror Film Festival a couple weeks back, where it pretty much blew myself and the entire packed house away and went on to walk away with that festival's Best Feature Film award.

It's such a difficult movie to describe, especially without giving too much away. The story begins as a classic Film Noir Love Triangle. Regular guy Milton is lured by the scorching femme fatale Skyler into a scheme to cook up a gargantuan batch of crystal meth for her psychotic corrupt cop boyfriend, Russell. You've seen this story many times. But just when you think you know exactly where the whole thing is going, it begins taking delightfully clever supernatural twists and turns that keep on coming and coming, right up until the end of the movie.

But unlike a lot of movies that try to take you on a ride like this one, the twists and surprises that keep unfolding here never feel forced or unmotivated. The movie is incredibly smart in its storytelling and direction and really respects the intelligence of its' audience, challenging them to put two and two together on their own rather than spoon-feeding them information. The three young actors who play the leads are also really impressive and convincingly carry the movie, keeping their characters grounded in reality and believable as real human beings, no matter what inexplicable chaos or craziness is berserking around them.

In some ways, some might consider this more of an art-house movie than pure horror, more early Cohen Brothers than Sam Raimi--but it somehow manages to maintain that sense of rollicking good fun and attitude that is definitely rooted in the very best tradition of low-budget horror flicks.

If you told me that a little movie like this could come along out of nowhere to seamlessly and successfully blend horror, film noir, and black comedy, I would have scoffed. But Blood Punch has made a believer out of me. See it if you can--highly recommended.

land loop

[killercharm · 7/10 · 29 April 2022]

Groundhog Day approached from the other end. In this movie about reliving the same day over and over our heroes, questionable as they might be, are the ones doing the killing. We start with a trio of drug addicts who cook up a huge passel of Crystal Meth. They plan to make one big sale and retire. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. It takes some time and some tries but the only two who trust each other start to figure things out a bit.

Time loop action/adventure gangster mix

[XE_Kilroy · 5/10 · 2 July 2022]

Rock'n'Roll type of time loop movie. Thrills and spills, action, blood, violence, snappy cool lines and attitude, a lot of crossing and double-crossing, like a mix of Breaking Bad, The Transporter, and Groundhog Day.

Most time loop movies tend to be grim affairs, the characters struggling to cope, all about learning something about themselves or life from the experience, guiding them toward a realization about love or betterment, and such. While Blood Punch does have a depth of its own, it's just geared differently to be more of an action/adventure fun/gorefest entertainment ride. The characters struggle to cope, they change due to the experience, but it's not over-dramatized and ponderous.

There isn't a race against time/events that has characters try to change things before the next loop, but a situation where a small group of people don't trust each other and are trying to get out of the loop alive. The way the film is edited, kind of narrated and unchronological, adds to that rock'n'roll action movie feeling, but also makes it a little more confusing than it needed to be, where details about the loop aren't explained or demonstrated well -- specifically, why some people do and some don't remember the loop. It's a key piece of information that would help audiences understand why there is a shift in the story and character allegiances.

The one area I felt could've made this story better was if there were other loop sequences of different people teaming up and other loop sequences of every man for himself, as it would have further highlighted the untrustworthy situation they were all in together, and allowed for other scenes of high stakes cat and mouse games going on.

If those things had played a bigger part in this film, it would've pushed my rank higher and higher. As it is tho, it's still a great time loop movie not to miss.

Revenge of the chemistry student

[moviefansme · 9/10 · 21 February 2015]

Breaking Bad never made murder this much fun! This innovative, intelligent thriller dark comedy with a dash of sci fi traps its characters in a never ending story full of false leads and false endings that takes the audience along for the ride. In a story that's nothing but twists, the audience finds itself trapped in the same puzzle as its characters, and even ways out are not what they seem.

The clever premise is misleadingly straightforward: Femme fatale Skyler gets herself sent to rehab to recruit a crystal meth cook, where she meets college boy chemistry student Milton who got busted for running his own meth lab. Skyler has her hands on 100 lbs of pseudoephedrine and has one day to make it into meth for a multimillion dollar payday. Well actually, her boyfriend Russell has the pseudo. And Russell's psychotic. With trust issues. But on the plus side, he has a plan to break them out and a secluded cabin for the cook. Yet it turns out that making the meth is easy. Getting back out and cashing in on the payday--that's the hard part, a dilemma the characters struggle endlessly to resolve.

What makes the storytelling so much fun is that the audience knows from the beginning that in this somewhat conventional storyline, nothing is what it seems, sharing in the characters' bewilderment to figure out what's really going on. The story starts on the morning of the cook, where Milton finds a video he's already made to explain to himself what's really going on. As he unravels the mystery of his own circumstances, the characters are trapped together and the audience is trapped with them.

Filmmakers Paxson (director) and Guzelian (writer) are a husband-and-wife team who've built their resumes in Los Angeles developing Disney entertainment. They wanted to make a movie of their own and for it to be a departure. They met the cast in New Zealand while filming a season of the Power Rangers. A group collaboration from the beginning, Guzelian wrote the story with input from Paxson, specifically for their New Zealand friends. Filmed in three locations around Los Angeles, the film has an indy feel, limited budget but professionally produced with substance (story and characters) over flash. Tennet plays Skyler with layers of subtlety, and Cawthorne portrays Milton's evolving confusion convincingly, a nerd who's made bad life decisions. Boyland can't quite portray Russell to be as deeply psychotic as he's supposed to be; the actor seems like just too nice of a guy. Special mention to Holloway who took the over-the-top Archer and even went beyond that.

definitely not a horror

[trashgang · 5/10 · 22 November 2016]

One of those pro or contra flicks, no in between and for me it was a contra. Sold as a horror I asked myself, where's the horror?

It's not because it has some supernatural stuff going on that it immediately is a horror. Oh yes, it contains blood but it never becomes scary or even creepy. The story goes in a circle and it's killing the same person over and over again, every time in a different way. But it's the conversations that are sometimes a bit foolish.

I thought by reading a few reviews that it was bloody as hell, for me it was underneath that. Not my cup of tea.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Not an outstanding achievement in the horror genre...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 12 June 2018]

When I sat down to watch "Blood Punch" I hadn't heard about it. I picked up the movie and was intrigued by the front cover. I read the synopsis on the back and it seemed fairly interesting. So why not give it a chance?

This was sort of a morbid twist on "Ground Hog Day". But this horror version just didn't really pan out for me. Sad to say.

The storyline just was a bit too muddy and scrambled for my liking, and there weren't really any great progression to the storyline. It just took forever for the movie to virtually go nowhere. So no great achievement here for director Madellaine Paxson or writer Eddie Guzelian.

It should be said that the acting was good, although the actors and actresses had very little to work with in terms of storyline and script. Milo Cawthorne actually carried the movie quite well with his performance.

I managed to sit through the entire movie, although it was a struggle to remain in my seat for the last half of the movie.

Wow! A shocking and totally unexpected low-budget masterpiece!

[colleenpryoritize · 9/10 · 9 December 2015]

I had various friends and blogs recommend this movie to me, but I kept avoiding it, mostly because the title and poster made me certain that I would be getting just another brain-dead horror movie gore-fest. Boy, was I wrong.

What I got instead was one of the best low-budget indie movies that I've seen in years. I know, I know. It feels weird to be lumping those kind of lavish praises on a movie like this, but what can I say? This movie took a somewhat bitter and skeptical viewer like me and converted me into a believer with an incredibly ambitious and clever script, three really solid performances from the lead actors, and a fun sense of style that somehow made the movie feel both classic and modern at the same time.

I really don't want to give away anything specific when it comes to the plot and story. It's much better going into it cold and knowing as little as possible. It's a blend of film noir, horror, science fiction, and black comedy and yet somehow comes together almost perfectly, blending and juggling all these familiar genres into its' own incredibly unique and distinctive vision. I watch a lot of movies and often feel like I've seen it all and know where most stories are headed, but this is a movie that really keeps you on your toes. The script was always one step ahead of me and had me guessing right up until the very end.

In general, the look and production values are quite good, but you could definitely feel some of the movie's lack of budget and resources in some areas. But I found myself way too swept up in the story to ever really mind or care. And the three main leads, who are playing very familiar and almost cartoonish archetype characters, do an incredible job of making these characters come across as totally believable and real human beings.

This is an amazingly underrated and totally overlooked little movie. I highly recommend it.

Waste of time

[atsuevo · 3/10 · 3 May 2021]

I don't understand there are many high rates.

It looks like a interesting story coz its core material is time loop. But actually and unfortunately this is absolutelly a meaningless story.

Some people thinks there is a punchline at the end but I cannot say it is a punchline.

Just waste of time.

Very original and entertainining horror

[gsh999 · 8/10 · 3 December 2015]

I like straight up horror movies and generally don't go for horror/comedy mixes like this one. But Blood Punch keeps the comedy kind of low key - much moreso than the popular Evil Dead. I just watched Blood Punch last night and enjoyed it very much. I usually put something on Amazon Prime to go to sleep -- but this movie kept me up too late!

The actors are good and I thought Ari Boyland was very good as the psychopathic Russell. He reminds me of a young Kurt Russell. Olivia Tennet is also very good as the brash and seductive leading lady.

The story is crazy and makes you wonder how they think these things up. But the movie is done well in a way that is both entertaining and suspenseful. I really found myself wondering how our protagonists were going to get out of their very unusual situation.

I won't go into particulars but the twisted plot requires a great deal of bloodshed. So much that it might be too much. I don't mind gory horror but the repetitive brains-getting-blown-out is the only facet of this movie that irritated me at all. Otherwise a great effort. Congratulations to the filmmakers.

Starts out okay...

[petede · 3/10 · 1 December 2020]

Then turns into a convoluted mess. Wished all the tweakers would have just died in the first 15 minutes... boom you have a short film. But nah, they dragged this crap through trope after trope. If I wanted to watch this much white trash I'd go find a trailer park, videotape it, and I guarantee it would be more interesting than this.

The worst

[sch-44934 · 1/10 · 20 September 2018]

It is the worst film I had seen. Very boring Very aimless Very unmeaning Very very bad.

Smart, funny horror film

[filmmadman · 9/10 · 27 November 2013]

It's Groundhog Day meets Blood Simple. At least, that's the way the writer and director describe this well written and performed indie horror film.

Don't let the fact that the writer and director are married and worked on Disney films (like Power Rangers) most of their career. Don't let the fact that the three main leads (two of THEM are married) are Power Rangers. No, really. Frickin' Power Rangers. It helps to have a good past working relationship with your crew/cast and this film's result is solid proof.

The story is edgy, fun and smart. The plot plays out like a mystery/thriller and doesn't let you down in the end.

It was a huge hit at the Austin Film Festival and won the audience award.

It's not easy making a film on a low budget

[brunovanael · 5/10 · 30 May 2021]

The biggest highlight here was the script. A great first 10 minutes, then unfortunately a 30 minute snooze fest (almost gave up) and then you find out what it's about. Containing interesting scenes with at times funny and/or smart dialog. But then there was the acting varying from ok to beyond raspberry nomination. Music I might have liked if it was playing in an underground club or the opera. Interesting enough to see if you have an open mind or like B movies, but it just didn't hit the spot.

"Let's do this again"

[donb-519-335075 · 8/10 · 8 December 2015]

Over the top - crazy - surprising - amazing - and really cool. All of these words describe this movie - one of the time loop/horror genre movies which have become popular. The first clue we get that all is not well is that a young man - Milton - awakes, vomits into the toilet , then watches a video he taped in the future. It is revealed that he is a recovering drug addict - sort of a Walter White wannabe - who gets recruited by Skyler - a sexy, brash girl, to cook a large amount of crystal meth. To make things interesting her boyfriend, Russell (as she puts it) "has not made a pact with the devil, he is the devil".

Russell is a great character, a full blown psychopathic maniac - who is hilariously over the top. For me to really like a movie, I have to care about and like at least some of the characters. I actually liked all three of the principles in the story.

The predicament/time loop that these three are in eventually gets revealed through study of the documents/newspaper clippings in the cabin scrap book which describes the titanic, life and death struggles which have occurred through the ages on this particular plot of land. (Your proverbial Indian land)

Eventually they (and we) figure out how to break the loop, but the execution of the plan, once we understand it, is surprising and very well done. This one literally keeps you guessing until the end - even after you think the movie is over. I highly recommend this, not only if you like the "time loop, alternate reality" type of movie, but if you like mysteries with plenty of blood and mayhem. This one takes its place with other similar films such as "Coherence," "Source Code," "Triangle," and "Time Lapse." Highly recommended.

Just how many cigarettes??

[pauljwarren-81420 · 5/10 · 1 January 2022]

It was slightly original to what I've seen before, a few continuity errors which I always seem to pick up on, but on the whole a fun movie. The acting was above par and I was very impressed for a movie with this kinda budget and questionable script. Imagine Groundhog Day with blood. A nice Sunday morning movie where you can just watch and not think too much.

Groundhog day but with a body count

[patrikbjrk · 5/10 · 16 July 2021]

A chemistry nerd finds himself in rehab for making meth and falls for the bad girl. Her boyfriend breaks them out, and then things turn into Groundhog Day or Fifty First Dates only with killing instead of kissing.

It's not bad. In fact it was rather entertaining, but it felt very predictable. A well done movie but nothing really new. I did like the end even if it was very predictable.

Some goofs though. How come some of the characters remembered "yesterday" sometimes, but sometimes not?

And how come the computer wasn't reset when everything else was?

Excellent Psychological Thriller

[hardjasonhardee · 9/10 · 31 March 2017]

I believe that the filmmakers called this film a "horror" because they were not sure how to describe it. Indeed, this film may be hard to categorise, but, rather than being a drawback, this actually speaks volumes about this film's strengths.

I went away from this film feeling mildly euphoric, and distinctly entertained. With just the right amount of drama, tension, gore and comedy, this was what I would consider to be a perfect film.

It's certainly not "scary" in the way that horror movies tend to be; and is more like a thought-experiment, or an exploration into the nature of humanity. However, it doesn't feel preachy, and has enough twists and turns in the plot to leave the viewer amazed.

It goes without saying that the actors in this movie are all absolutely amazing, and the dialogue always feels realistic and to the point. Beautifully shot and well-handled, this indie film is better than most modern Hollywood film offerings.

Time-loop movie

[sanchuj · 8/10 · 13 May 2017]

This is my first time loop movie. In this story Skyler with her boyfriend, Russell who are addicted to drugs, asks Milton to make drugs to become rich. They take him up on a mountain and asks him to make the drugs. The next day when he wakes up he finds that he is stuck in a time loop. This movie was so good than I thought. I recommend this movie to all. Nobody should miss it.