Movies
‘Punch’ Trailer – New Slasher Villain Draws Inspiration From Historical Puppet Show
A new slasher is heading our way next month, Punch, featuring a horror villain that borrows from historical puppet show Punch and Judy. A brand new trailer gives a closer look at the Mr. Punch styled killer.
Punch slashes its way onto Digital and VOD on January 16, 2024.
In the film, “Before heading back to university, Frankie craves one final night out in her coastal hometown, but sinister local legend Mr. Punch is on the prowl, and chaos ensues as Frankie and her friends fight for survival in this eerie slasher.”
Watch the trailer below to see Mr. Punch begin his prowl.
Andy Edwards (Midnight Peepshow) wrote and directed the feature.
Kierston Wareing, May Kelly, Dani Thompson, Jamie Lomas, and Mark Sears star in the upcoming horror movie.
The Mr. Punch character and his wife Judy have been around for centuries, with the Punch and Judy puppet show centering around slapstick humor and violence. That violent brand means that Punch isn’t the first time the enduring mischievous character has found its way into horror. Stuart Gordon featured a Mr. Punch in his fairy tale horror film Dolls, and George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead featured a Punch and Judy inspired puppet scene.
How will Punch fare in slasher form?
From director Sébastien Vaniček, Evil Dead Burn releases in theaters July 10, but that’s just one of two brand new Evil Dead movies releasing in the next two years.
Evil Dead Wrath recently wrapped production, with the upcoming film from director Francis Galluppi (The Last Stop in Yuma County) set for theatrical release on April 7, 2028.
We’ve known virtually nothing about the movie up to this point, but a recent interview with producer Rob Tapert has surfaced this week (thanks, Dread Central) and it reveals a very surprising bit of information about Evil Dead Wrath. The film is set in 1972!!
Tapert told the students at Michigan State University during a chat, “Evil Dead Wrath is yet another great departure. It predates everything. It takes place in 1972.”
That means Evil Dead Wrath takes place even before the arrival of Ash Williams and friends to that infamous cabin in the woods, which should give the film a whole new kind of flavor.
Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness was of course set in the Middle Ages, but Evil Dead Wrath will take place chronologically before Ash Williams was transported into medieval times!
“It will feel like a 1972 movie because the director and his DP want to imitate the film’s look and feel of something that’s called Ektachrome 100, which was a film stock,” Tapert notes. “Still available. A lot of movies shot on back then. And so it’s very warm, very tungsten.”
Tapert calls Wrath “very Tarantino-esque, very deliberate. [Galluppi] made a movie, not a horror movie, that I liked a great deal called Last Stop in Yuma County. It’s worth looking up.”
The Last Stop in Yuma County, it’s interesting to note, is also set in the 1970s!
Charlotte Hope (The Nun), Jessica McNamee (Mortal Kombat), Zach Gilford (“Midnight Mass”), Josh Helman (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ella Newton (Dangerous Animals), Elizabeth Cullen (Diabolic), and Ella Oliphant will star in Evil Dead Wrath.
Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi and franchise producer Rob Tapert are producing. Bruce Campbell and Lee Cronin will executive produce alongside Romel Adam and Jose Canas.