“Escaping” one’s hometown is a dream shared by anyone who’s ever grown up in a small town but yearned for something greater.  You find so many unhappy middle aged people working dead end jobs, who all have a story of the dreams they once had but what ultimately led to them settling and staying in town.  Writer/Director Andy Edwards explores this very idea in his latest indie slasher Punch…

Night Back in Town
The film follows Frankie (Alina Allison), a student returning to her  hometown before back to her “bigger and better things”.  She hangs out with her best friend, goes to a party, sees her (sort of) boyfriend, and is looking to experience everything in this type of life once last time before leaving it all behind.

All the while, people like her mother and creepy men around town seem to want to tell her how she should be acting, more specifically how a girl her age should be acting and the societal role that she should be fulfilling.  But she’s just looking to move on with her life and not be tied down to the same stereotype that befell her mother and ancestors that came before.

Punches Punches Everywhere
However, things go south when a deranged killer, dressed in a black hoodie and Mr. Punch (of British puppet fame) mask, and armed with a baseball bat shows up and starts brutalizing people.  And we use that word very specifically here.  Because these kills are absolutely brutal. Because it’s a blunt object, it makes the violence hit much harder (no pun intended).

As far as slashers go, it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel, but it follows the tropes in a really effective way.  The pacing is suspenseful, the mask is really creepy, and the way in which the killer uses a high pitched voice changer makes for an interesting experience.  He’s one part Ghostface, but much more comedic and chaotic.  He almost sounds like an elderly grandmother cracking one liners as he kills people.

All the while, the Punch-faced killer winds up becoming an interesting metaphor for the aforementioned issues with knowing one’s place, especially for Frankie and women in general.  Without getting into spoilers, Punch wants to enforce what society thinks Frankie should be like, and when he gaslights her with glee, it feels even more sinister than when he was killing people.

It’s a really cool killer design, and he winds up representing something that’s both fascinating and concerning about our own society.   And the fact that he borrows the imagery from the iconic British puppet also suggests a few things about British culture and the way in which its oppressive social class system has been for the past few centuries.

Overall, Punch is a very effective and entertaining slasher that boasts interesting, relatable characters, and has something very interesting to say.  Indie slashers are often very hit or miss and this is one of the hits!

Punch is currently available on VOD in both the UK and US

What did you think of Punch?  What are some of your favorite low budget slasher films?  Let us know in the comments!

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