‘Punch’ review: Dir. Andy Edwards [FrightFest 2023]

Andy Edwards is a writer and director whose relationship with Pigeon Shrine FrightFest goes back a number of years. Most people will know him as the director of 2016’s Ibiza Undead, but he also co-wrote last year’s The Ghosts of Monday and directed a segment in last August’s Midnight Peepshow. After having been a small but integral part of these two projects last year, Edwards returns this year with Punch, a production that has his name, and his name alone, stamped all over it. 

Punch has the honour of christening the Discovery Screen strand this year as it plays first on Discovery Screen 1’s opening night. Whereas the main screen opener is very American, with Joe Lynch directing Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton in Suitable Flesh, Edwards’ film is British through and through. Filmed in Hastings and set in a seaside town, Punch takes place during Frankie’s (Alina Allison) last night at home. Although her mother and so many around her are townsfolk for life, Frankie wants out of the monotony and is about to head off to Loughborough University to study art. Her BFF, Holly (Faye Campbell), insists on one last hurrah together and so the pair attend a local party. Later, on their way home, Frankie is stalked by the infamous Mr. Punch, a killer who punishes ‘wayward’ women. 

Although a stalk and slash movie at heart, Punch has a little more going on for it than simply that. It takes a while for the murders to get going and in that time the audience gets to learn a lot about where Frankie comes from. Her father died a while ago and his death has had a substantial impact on her. She is more reserved than she used to be and saw his demise as the kick she needed to ensure that she too won’t waste away in the town. Her mother (Kierston Wareing) is Frankie’s opposite; the first scene between the two perfectly captures this. They are not an odd couple, more different leagues of personalities. Frankie is more composed and considerate, whilst her mother is, frankly put, a massive chav. The inclusion of Elton (Jamie Lomas), her mother’s boyfriend, throws their dynamic further off kilter. 

Outside of her strained family unit, Frankie is something of a town fascination. This is the type of place where everyone knows your name and business. It is easy to relate to Frankie’s drive to leave this place behind her. That she can’t even walk down the road without some guy telling her to “smile love” is a horribly accurate reflection of the entitlement that some feel to weigh in on other people’s lives. This forms a very strong thematic strand to Punch, and also allows for some folk horror type elements to creep in. There is something about this community that is ‘off’, and their close-knit connections conjure up The Wicker Man and Midsommar feelings, just with more cursing and cans. 

As all of these other elements unfold on screen, the Punch puppet masked killer stalks the promenade. The design of the mask is uncannily close to the Mr. Punch puppets that you still see performing despite the story’s heavy thread of domestic abuse. That this is the chosen face of the killer makes perfect sense, given Mr. Punch’s proclivity for violence, and disdain for women. It also looks eerie. More than that, this is not a silent masked killer, he taunts and teases his victims. His voice sounds like the Mr. Punch characters that we grew up hearing and the design combined with the performance is genuinely disturbing. The kills are aggressive, violent, and in a couple of instances, cruel. Punch’s weapon of choice is a baseball bat and the brutality of his massacre really hits home. 

Edwards makes the most of his setting, making the beach almost its own character with how often it is featured. He also spends time showcasing all the expected seaside town locations – the greasy spoon cafe, the pub, the amusement arcade. Edwards also captures the decay of these places. Everyone thinks of the seaside as this bright and fun place, and whilst that is true for those visiting for the day or week, for those that reside there, it is sometimes rotten. The money from tourists is not going back into the community and so outsiders are not welcomed, and those that seek to leave are viewed as traitors. 

Although Punch has several slivers of intrigue, it is a little rough around the edges. It could be argued that this aligns with themes of the film itself, but the clear modest budget does on occasion distract the viewer. Similarly, the script goes from some hit-the-nerve accurate encounters like the “smile love” comment to completely over-the-top silly expressions such as “what’s the matter? Someone pissed on your chips?” A chasm forms between dialogue that people would and would not say, the differing strains leaving the viewer unable to decipher the correct tone for Punch. Nonetheless, the marriage of new ideas and subgenres help keep Punch on track, and ultimately present genre audiences with a fun British slasher. 

Punch was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023.