Punch Blu Ray Review (Darkside Releasing)

Punch is a 2023 independent slasher film written, produced, shot, and directed by Andy Edwards (Cinderella’s Revenge, Grindsploitation, London Horror Story, Graphic Desires, Zombie Spring Breakers, and Midnight Peepshow). It was produced by Thomas R. Atherton (100 Streets, Eve, Inland, Viking Destiny, That was a Serious Party, and As I Am). Before returning to back to school, Frankie (played by: Alina Allison from The Break, Cuttlefish, Purgatory, and Salvable) wants one last night out in her small hometown. It’s not just friends, mom Julia (played by: Kierston Wareing from Avengement, The Double, The Holding, Fish Tank, Luther, Rise of the Footsoldier, 100 Streets, and EastEnders), and ex-boyfriend Daryl (played by: Macaulay Cooper from Blitz in the Bitz, A Light Through Coloured Glass, Once a Year on Blackpool Sands, and The Bay) that don’t want to see her leave again. The local monster known as Mr. Punch is stalking the town and knows just the way to do it. As the madness escalates during a brutal night, Frankie and her best friend Holly (played by: Faye Campbell from Doctors, The Space Between, and If We Lived) must fight to stay alive!!!!The British has been capitalizing on fairy tales and popular characters lately when it comes to horror. Punch is no different, it makes the famous Mr. Punch into a nasty villain for this low budget slasher. It does start out a little slow, it takes about 20 minutes to kick in before it gets interesting. Filmmaker Andy Edwards is no stranger when it comes to independent horror, that’s basically everything that he has done so far behind the camera. Newcomer Alina Allison is solid as Frankie, she’s just trying to enjoy her last night in town before all hell breaks loose. Veteran actress Kierston Wareing is good as her wild mother that refuses to grow up. The rest of the cast is decent, I’ve personally never heard of anyone else in this slasher before. Mr. Punch had so much potential to be a possible horror icon. I thought the hoodie look was a little cheap and lazy, I think a legit outfit would have elevated the villain so much more in this. I’m not sure about the voice either, I guess it fits the character because it was silly so it worked with all his jokes and one liners. Some of them were actually hilarious. I wish they were more creative with the kills in Punch. Most of them were generic, rushed, and mainly bashing skulls in with a bat. It had a decent body count. There’s a few impressive deaths and the fx were decent for being such a small movie. I will say that, it had some nice twists and the finale was better than expected. Punch wasn’t the worst horror film that I’ve seen or anything like that but it was just okay. It’s worth checking out at least once, it’s available for streaming on Tubi right now. Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Darkside Releasing! This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer is good for being a very low budget horror feature. This is a slight upgrade compared to it’s DVD. It has a English: Dolby Digital 5.1 track. All of the dialogue is very clean, the killing is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has a “Trailer” for Punch and a variety of “Trailers” from Trinity Creative. This is a M.O.D (BD-R) home video release. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!