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Released by: Artsploitation Films
Released on: October 27th, 2015.
Director: Matt O.
Cast: Adam Boys, Kasey Ryne Mazak, Ken Tsui, Gabrielle Giraud
Year: 2014
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Matt O., 2014's Bloody Knuckles introduces us to an underground comic book artist named Travis (Adam Boys) who publishes a gleefully offensive comic called Vulgarian Invasions. When Travis finds out about a Chinese businessman named Leonard Fong (Kasey Ryne Mazak) who has been peddling toxic substances around town and getting away with it, he decides to make Fong the subject of his latest issue. At the launch party Travis meets a pretty reporter named Amy (Gabrielle Giraud) who is writing a story on his series. They drink a beer and hit it off but that night she gets mugged on the way home by some goons and loses her phone.
The next day she calls him from a bar and he heads out to meet her but before he can, he's snatched up by Fong's goons. They take him to his evil lair and cut off his drawing hand - it seems Leonard was none too pleased with Travis' comic. Travis, not too surprisingly, falls into a bit of a funk, much to the dismay of his roommate/step-brother Ralphie (Ken Tsui). Things start to get weird shortly after, however. Right around the time that Amy starts writing up an article on Fong, Travis gets a visit from his severed hand. The hand is pissed, the hand wants revenge… and with the help of a gay leather daddy superhero named Homo Dynamous (Dwayne Bryshun), the hand just might get what it wants.
Essentially a rallying cry for the importance of free speech in trash movie form, Bloody Knuckles is a gleefully offensive hour and a half of twisted sight gags, subtle and not so subtle political jabs and crass humor but it works. The whole thing is pretty over the top but the quick pace of the film and the constant humor and horror elements keep it entertaining without the movie ever overstaying its welcome. While there are times where the movie's modest budget pokes its head in the door, for the most part the effects featured in the movie work really well. The crawling severed hand is clearly the highlight of the picture in that regard but in addition to that we get some pretty high quality gore most of which looks like it was done the old fashioned way, sans CGI. The massacre that takes place in the sex club (Joe D'Amato fans will notice that it's named Buio Omega) in particular features some pretty solid splatter but most of the gore in the film is done with a sense of humor. In the context of the movie's political leanings, which are spot on but far from subtle (take that censorious governments of Canada!), it never feels inappropriate.
Performances are pretty fun here too. Adam Boys makes for a pretty decent lead, his Travis goes through some interesting character development, starting off as cocky and self-assured and then, after being punished by Fong, understandably depressed about what happens to him. When he falls inside a bottle for a while, we get it, but he's likeable enough that we want he and Gabrielle Giraud as Amy to have a shot at making it. They have a decent understated chemistry together. Kasey Ryne Mazak is fun as the heavy here. He's got a great speech about the importance of profit that suits the character - if his product happened to kill a mentally handicapped guy or two, he doesn't care, as long as he gets paid and as long as he gets in on that sweet real estate deal he's hoping for. Mazak plays the part with enough sinister relish to make it his own. Dwayne Bryshun does most of his acting behind a bondage mask but he makes the most of it and he's pretty funny as the brutal vigilante superhero Homo Dynamous while Ken Tsui is both likeable and funny as Travis' stepbrother.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Bloody Knuckles hits Blu-ray in a very sharp, colorful AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. Shot digitally, there's obviously no print damage and the picture is sharp and amazingly colorful. Detail is typically really solid here and black levels are nice too. There are no problems with edge enhancement to note while skin tones look nice and realistic. Yeah, for a movie made on a pretty modest budget, this one looks excellent on Blu-ray.
The only audio option for the feature is a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track and there is nothing to complain about here. The dialogue stays clean, clear and properly balanced while the score and different soundtrack selections have a bit of noticeable depth to them. There's some fun channel separation in some of the gooey, crazier scenes too. No alternate language options are supplied but English subtitles are provided.
There are a LOT of extras on this disc, starting with an audio commentary from director Matt O. that is definitely worth a listen. As is often the case, low budget shoots are more interesting than big budget blockbusters and Matt's got some stories here about having to get the project finished with limited funds and some of the challenges that entailed. He also talks about using locations to his advantage (and some of the occasionally gross things you find at certain locations), what happens when someone calls the cops on you when you're making a movie, different films and filmmakers that influenced his work on this picture, his admiration for the cast, crew and effects guys and quite a bit more. This is a pretty engaging discussion that really leaves no stone unturned.
Two of Matt O.'s earlier short films are also included here. The first one is Electric Fence and in it a guy gets his knob chomped off during some rather unusual oral sex but is then rebuilt, Bionic Man style. But of course, things go wrong. Very, very wrong. The second film is Adjust Tracking and it was originally made to be an entry for The ABCs of Death but that didn't happen. Don't let that dissuade you though, it's also a fun watch as it tells the story of an overbearing father who hates his kid's obsession with horror movies. When he gets rid of one of his coveted VHS tapes, the son decides to get revenge.
Moving right along, we get roughly half an hour's worth of interviews conducted by Matt O. with a few different people but before we does that, he kicks off with a seven minute piece called A Hate Letter To Censorship. This is basically Matt talking about why it's important that free speech be protected even in cases where you might not necessarily agree with what is being said. This carries over into an interview with Cinema Sewer's Robin Bougie in which they talk about the importance of allowing those who you disagree with to voice their opinion, right or wrong. They also discuss the Mike Diana, the comic book illustrator in Florida who was locked up by the cops, and they talk about how in Canada police would raid comic book shops looking for obscene stuff to bust shop owners over (this was fairly command and I remember it happening too). Bougie was originally intended to do the comic art featured in the movie but wasn't able to do it due to scheduling conflicts (but he does have an amusing cameo in the movie). From there, Matt heads to Philadelphia to visit the base of operations for Diabolik DVD. Located in the basement of a house, it's pretty great to see stacks and stacks and shelves and shelves full of great cult films from around the world. They talk about how the business got started and then Matt points out a few of his favorites. Last but not least, Matt sits down to talk with Josh Schafer, the guy behind Lunchmeat. They talk about the importance of the VHS boom years and their love of the format.
Aside from that we get a trailer for the feature, three minutes of deleted scenes, menus and chapter selection. Trailers for a few other Artsploitaiton Films properties play before the main menu screen loads.
The Final Word:
Bloody Knuckles is a lot of fun, a well-made low budget indie film that gets pretty much everything right. It's goofy, gory and more than a little bit over the top but it's frequently pretty clever and features some decent performances and some solid effects. Artsploitation Films have gone all out on the Blu-ray release, presenting the film in great quality and on a disc stacked with extras. All in all, a great package.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
