By David Dent
Unlike most of her friends and family, Frankie (Alina Allison) has managed to escape the dullness of her Hastings home by going to University. So when she comes back to the town to visit, things are difficult with her resentful mother who has just taken up with a new man, and friends who think she’s got too big for her boots.
Only close friend Holly (Faye Campbell) remains loyal to her, as does her on off boyfriend Daryl aka ‘Dazzler’ (Macaulay Cooper). Both encourage Frankie to let her hair down for one night before leaving to resume her studies; but while she pursues a night of hedonism, a strange figure wearing a Punch mask, a figure descended from local legend, stalks and kills the fun loving denizens of the town.
Andy Edwards, who previously collaborated on 2022’s Midnight Peepshow, to some extent follows the well-trod narrative arc of many a Brit low-budget horror: some soapy domestic intrigue establishes the characters; there’s some mid movie carnage; and a final girl who spends the last third of the film trying to outwit a murderer.
But within this tried and tested formula Edwards is doing something rather different. Firstly there’s a fabulous sense of seaside ennui established by shots of closed entertainment, gaudy pubs and arcades, and the supporting cast of youths who effectively summarise the boredom of living in a largely employment-free area, where anyone seeking to better themselves is seen as ‘other’. As Frankie Allison is very effective as a young woman caught between the worlds of her past, containing the friendships that she has clearly missed, and a possible future.
The Punch character himself is pretty eerie, sporting a squeaky voice, uttering a series of sotto voce one-liners like a more embarrassed Freddy Kreuger. In some ways, Punch acts as a kind of animated spirit of the violence that lies vaguely hidden beneath the surface of the town, which is underlined in the film’s rather unexpected ‘twist’ ending.
The end credits announce that Mr. Punch will return, and I for one would be interested to see how Edwards develops his themes in future movies. Pretty good, then.
Punch will be available on digital platforms from 22 January 2024.
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