''Blood Punch'' is a 2013 horror thriller film directed by Madellaine Paxson in her directorial debut, and starring

Milo Cawthorne Milo Cawthorne (born 13 January 1989) is a New Zealand actor who played Ziggy Grover from the television series ''Power Rangers RPM''. Career Cawthorne began acting as a teenager with a role on the TV show ''P.E.T. Detectives''. After gradua ...

Olivia Tennet Olivia Tennet (born 4 January 1991) is a New Zealand actress and dancer best known in her home country for her role as Tuesday Warner on the nightly medical drama ''Shortland Street'', along with several roles in television and theatre. Outside ...

Ari Boyland Ari Boyland (born 10 August 1987) is a New Zealand stage and television actor. Life and career Known for his role as '' KC'' in Cloud 9's '' The Tribe''. He was a cast member in Series 1–3, along with a brief appearance in Series 5, and whose ...

. and

Adelaide Kane Adelaide Victoria Kane (born 9 August 1990) is an Australian actress and model. She first gained recognition for her roles as Lolly Allen in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' and Tenaya 7 (later Tenaya 15) in the children's series ''Power Rangers RP ...

. The film had its world premiere on 26 October 2013 at the

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

, where it won the ''Dark Matters Audience Award''. The film had a positive critical reception.

Synopsis

When Milton (

) is caught cooking meth, he is sent to a rehab center where he meets the beautiful Skyler (

). 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 (

), who tells him that he knows about Milton's fling with Skyler. Unbeknownst 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

as Milton *

as Skyler *

as Russell *

Fleur Saville Fleur Saville (born 14 July 1984) is a New Zealand television actress best known for her roles in the television sitcoms '' Being Eve'' and '' The Tribe'' in which she became known to international audiences for her portrayal of Ruby. Saville p ...

as Claire *

as Nabiki * Mike Ginn as Riley

Production

Screenwriter 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 '' Memento''. 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

Critical and viewer reception for ''Blood Punch'' was positive. The '' Austin Chronicle'' and ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

'' both praised the film, and ''Bloody Disgusting'' favorably compared it to the 1948 film '' Road House''.

Awards

*''Dark Matters Audience Award'' at the

(2013, won) *''Audience Award for Fusion Features'' at

Dances With Films Dances With Films is an annual independent film festival located in Los Angeles, California and was founded by Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent. Lineup Taking place every year since 1998, the festival is dedicated to representing true independent ...

(2014, won) *''Audience Award for Run of Fest Features'' at Dances With Films (2014, won) *''Festival Award for Best Feature Film'' at the

Hoboken International Film Festival The Hoboken International Film Festival is an annual festival that promotes domestic and international television pilots, screenplays, non-studio films. Awards, with cash prizes, are given for the best submissions. The festival was founded by Kennet ...

(2014, won) *''Festival Award for Best Director'' at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Madellaine Paxson) *''Festival Award for Best Cinematography'' at the Hoboken International Film Festival (2014, won - Neil Cervin) *''Jury Award for Best Feature Film'' at the New Orleans Horror Film Festival (2014, won) *''Jury Award for Best OFF THE EDGE Feature'' at the Omaha Film Festival (2014, won)

References

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, 2825230 2013 films 2013 horror films 2013 directorial debut films Time loop films 2010s English-language films