DONKEY PUNCH -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/25/09

 

Seven young Brits on holiday in Spain go from party to Purgatory with a single DONKEY PUNCH (2008), director Olly Blackburn's deviously clever and exhilaratingly tense horror-thriller.

Three sexy lasses--Kim (cute-as-a-button Jamie Winstone), blonde babe Lisa (Sian Breckin), and their more reserved friend Tammi (Nichola Burley), who's nursing a broken heart--hook up with party boys Marcus, Josh, and Bluey (Jay Taylor, Julian Morris, and Tom Burke, respectively) in a nightclub on the Spanish coast. The boys are tending a luxury yacht while the owners are away and invite the girls aboard, where they meet the more reserved Sean (Robert Boulter), who we just know is going to hit it off with Tammi.

Taking the yacht out onto the open sea, the thrill-seeking yoots delve into a hedonistic free-for-all of booze, drugs, and "sexy time." While Sean and Tammi have a nice, reserved heart-to-heart chat on deck, the others soon retire to the master bedroom to indulge in enough wild softcore sex for three Skinemax flicks put together. Bluey invites shy observer Josh into the mix, but in his moment of peak excitement he foolishly applies a move jokingly referred to earlier by Bluey--you guessed it, the dreaded "donkey punch"--and in one terrible instant one of the girls is dead and the rest of the bunch suddenly has a serious problem on their hands.

Up to this point Blackburn has directed the film with the light touch of a teen sex romp, but with an underlying bad-vibes tone that lets us know things are gonna go wrong. Even the musical score somehow sounds a little off as it slithers its way around the action with a hint of mockery. The sex scene, which is probably the main reason this film is being sold in both rated and unrated versions, starts out slow and then picks up momentum until it's out of control. In another movie such graphic debauchery would seem gratuitious, but here it's necessary to convey the mindless abandon that leads to that one fateful mistake which plunges everyone into their worst nightmare.

The story then becomes a deliberate, inevitable progression from bad to worst as the guys hotly debate whether or not to cover up the deed while the remaining girls, who have no intention of watching their friend's body being dumped overboard and then complying with a fake story, begin to realize what a tenuous position they're in. The conflict will become more deadly as the situation devolves. At this point screenwriters Blackburn and David Bloom start ratcheting up the nailbiting suspense and bloody mayhem until the former pleasure cruise becomes a frenzy of survival instincts gone wild.

Blackburn deftly choreographs his actors, all of whom are very good (especially my future wife, Jamie Winstone), and the camera flows beautifully throughout the yacht's confines with an unobtrusive documentary style that's effective rather than affected-looking. It's all very straightforwardly done, with no hokey jump scares or musical stings, in an almost real-time way that makes us feel like we're a part of the relentlessly unfolding events. Once things get started, there are no lulls in the action and the suspense is kept increasingly taut until the fadeout. It's like stepping onto a carnival ride that doesn't let up until it's over.

The DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment's Magnet label is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound, which look and sound fine. Extras include a director/producer commentary track, a "making of" featurette, interviews with director Blackburn and the cast, deleted scenes, and trailers for this and the other films in the Six Shooter Film Series. As stated before, the DVD is available in both rated and unrated versions. I got to see the unrated version (heh, heh) so I'm not sure exactly what you'll be missing out on with the other one, although I'm willing to bet it'll mostly have something to do with that orgy sequence.

DONKEY PUNCH is a finely-wrought exploitation flick with a really good cast and production values, and generous helpings of sex and violence to augment its harrowingly suspenseful story. And as a cautionary tale, it should succeed in reminding today's youth that boys and girls can have a cracking good time together without the need of anyone whipping out the old donkey punch for any reason whatsoever.

DONKEY PUNCH -- DVD Review by Porfle

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/8/16

 

It's one thing to "come out of the closet" nowadays, when being openly gay isn't necessarily a career killer.  But when Tab Hunter was America's number one heartthrob, it could not only end your career but land you in jail.

That's how the documentary TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (2015) begins, with the celebrated subject attending an all-male party in the Hollywood Hills (old 8mm film footage sets the stage) which was raided by the cops.  Before he knows it, he's behind bars and worrying about how to explain it all to his mother.

How a wildly popular young celebrity known for his boyish masculinity and powerful sex appeal to swooning females copes with being "queer" in a world that considers it both a crime and a mental disorder fuels this cracking good film with a consistent appeal of its own. 

Hunter states at the start that he's never been this open before, and indeed his interview segments are thoughtful, heartfelt, and candid.  In his mid-80s, he retains a hint of the young Tab Hunter who shone brightly as an acting and singing sensation before his downfall and eventual comeback as a John Waters star.

The film's narrative is not just related to his sexuality but is an interesting story about a handsome, likable young guy--who, at first, had only a modicum of actual talent--breaking into the movies and then, due to his sheer charisma and almost angelic good looks, blazing a trail like a shooting star across the Hollywood sky. 

Through it all, as we learn from interview segments by friends and fans such as John Waters, Robert Wagner, Connie Stevens, Debbie Reynolds, George Takei, Rex Reed, Darryl Hickman, Lainie Kazan, Mother Dolores Hart (the WHERE THE BOYS ARE star who became a nun), and many others, Tab never let it go to his head and remained Arthur "Art" Gelien, the humble son of a troubled German mother who raised her two sons alone. 

 

As one old friend relates, Art was already a hit with the girls before stardom, often getting mobbed in the hallways of his school.  So he seemed destined to be the stuff of countless crushes by teen girls (and boys). 

Tab's secret life is explored in stories of his covert love affairs with men, including another rising star Anthony Perkins (PSYCHO, FEAR STRIKES OUT). We learn of the studio wielding its power to protect his image from such media sharks as "Confidential" magazine, the model for L.A. CONFIDENTIAL's "Hush-Hush." 

Gossip mag queen Rona Barrett herself is on hand to add her perspective on this, as is actress Venetia Stevenson who served as a "beard" on arranged dates with Tab and Tony. "They created this persona, and that was your job--to be this persona," Tab reveals.  The film also explores his close friendship with Natalie Wood and the one time he almost married a French actress with whom he shared a brief but passionate relationship.

When he quit the studio to go out on his own, Tab lost his immunity from media scrutiny and soon became fair game in the press.  This helped sink his career, which wouldn't see a resurgence until John Waters cast him along with 300-pound transvestite Glenn "Divine" Milstead (PINK FLAMINGOS) as his leading lady in the nuclear family satire POLYESTER, which was a hit. 

Technically, the documentary is another finely-crafted work by Jeffrey Schwarz (I AM DIVINE, SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY).  The colorful montage of stills, film and television clips, and interview segments is seamless and consistently engaging, making this documentary both informative and fun from start to finish. 

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL benefits from the way the two main threads of Hunter's life--the dazzling superstardom and the constant fear of being a closeted homosexual--intertwine and affect each other in ways that are sometimes tragic, sometimes inspirational, and always fascinating. And through it all shines Hunter's winning charm, which remains undiminished.

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL -- Movie Review by Porfle