Blood Punch is a 2013 horror thriller film directed by Madellaine Paxson in her directorial debut, and starring Milo Cawthorne, Olivia Tennet, Ari Boyland. and Adelaide Kane.[1] The film had its world premiere on 26 October 2013 at the Austin Film Festival, where it won the Dark Matters Audience Award.[2] The film had a positive critical reception.
| Blood Punch | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Madellaine Paxson |
| Written by | Eddie Guzelian |
| Produced by | Fred Schaefer Fleur Saville Ethan Pines Rose McIver |
| Starring | Milo Cawthorne Olivia Tennet Ari Boyland Adelaide Kane |
| Cinematography | Neil Cervin |
| Edited by | Sean Stack |
| Music by | Adam Berry |
Production company | Bluff Road Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Synopsis
editWhen Milton (Milo Cawthorne) is caught cooking meth, he is sent to a rehab center where he meets the beautiful Skyler (Olivia Tennet). He is wildly attracted to her, so much so that they have sex shortly after meeting. Milton also agrees to break out of rehab with her and travel to the woods, where he will make a large amount of meth for an exorbitant sum of money. He is ill-prepared for her psychotic boyfriend Russell (Ari Boyland), who tells him that he knows about Milton's fling with Skyler. Unknown to Milton, the cabin is set in the middle of a land that has been forever psychically tainted by a massive and bloody Native American war.
Cast
edit- Milo Cawthorne as Milton
- Olivia Tennet as Skyler
- Ari Boyland as Russell
- Fleur Saville as Claire
- Adelaide Kane as Nabiki
- Mike Ginn as Riley
Production
editScreenwriter Eddie Guzelian came up with the idea for the film from an incident where 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.[3]
The film in many ways serves as a reunion of cast and crew for the 2009 series Power Rangers RPM: 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.
Reception
editCritical and viewer reception for Blood Punch was positive.[4][5] The Austin Chronicle and Bloody Disgusting both praised the film,[6] and Bloody Disgusting favorably compared it to the 1948 film Road House.[7]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10.
Awards
edit- Dark Matters Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival (2013, won)[2]
- Audience Award for Fusion Features at Dances With Films (2014, won)[4]
- Audience Award for Run of Fest Features at Dances With Films (2014, won)[4]
- Festival Award for Best Feature Film at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won)[8]
- Festival Award for Best Director at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Madellaine Paxson)[8]
- Festival Award for Best Cinematography at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Neil Cervin)[8]
- Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the New Orleans Horror Film Festival (2014, won)[9]
- Jury Award for Best OFF THE EDGE Feature at the Omaha Film Festival (2014, won)[10]
References
edit- ^ Donnell, Hayden. "Kiwi actors go from Power Rangers to blood fest". NZ Herald. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ a b Riese, Monica. "Austin Film Festival Announces Audience Awards". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ Interview with Milo Cawthorne
- ^ a b c Gupta, Shipra. "Indie Horror 'Blood Punch' Wows Fans and Wins Big at Dances With Films Closing Night Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ Myers, Randy. "Cinequest 2014: 10 films for your must-see list". Mercury News. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ Chen, Josette. "A Drink to 'Blood Punch'". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ Cooper, Patrick. "[MHHFF Review] 'Blood Punch' Is a Supernatural Film Noir on Meth". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ a b c Shaw, Michael. "Independent 'Blood Punch' winning big". Screen Casting NZ. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ "NOHFF". New Orleans Horror Film Festival. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ "OFF winners". Omaha Film Festival. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.