Film Review - Bloody Knuckles (2014)

If the concept of a huge black sex toy swathed in a swastika armband that shouts “Sieg Heil!” when it’s right gonad gets squeezed makes you grin then stop reading this review now and skip straight to the order link because that’s just the tip of the outrageously impish spunk – berg that is Bloody Knuckles.

Main protagonist Travis designed his above mentioned chef-d’oeu·vre as a 12th grade”art project” and if anything he has gotten more callow as time has passed. Putting his fearlessly childish wit to good use as an underground artist with zero boundaries his Vulgarian Invasions comic book mocks all-comers with impunity.

Unfortunately for our hero notoriety is often a catalyst for unwanted attention and local kingpin Mr Fong takes exception to being depicted having intimate relations with a zombie.After a rather disagreeable appointment with a power tool Travis becomes separated from his precious drawing hand and forms a surrogate relationship with alcoholic despair.

One night Travis accidentally regurgitates the contents of his latest bender down the same drain that happens to be the resting place of his beloved hand.This(of course) creates a chain reaction that see’s the vengeful extremity re-animate and begin a relentless campaign of goading and abuse.Using both mental and physical torture the devilish appendage is determined to reunite him with his anarchic artistry and thus reclaim his self respect.

What follows is a hilarious exercise in grind house profanity as Travis finds his destiny inexorably funneled towards a show down with Fong and his vicious gang of fashion disasters.

Frankly the low budget production values prove irrelevant to the enjoyment of this preposterous B-movie as it’s consistently brash visual banter and solid artistry lift it well above the usual exploitation expectations.

The commitment and enthusiasm of the cast is palpable as they wrestle with the deft one liners and slap-stick physicality of the genuinely amusing script from director Matt O’Mahoney.

Dwayne Bryshun is particularly superb as Homo Dynamous the violent vigilante inspired by the work of Travis.He achieves cult hero status in record time with his thirst for black orgasms and unlimited access to the kinky weekend wardrobe of Lord Humongous.

The extensive and highly talented effects team punch well above their budgetary weight and the bountiful gore is as beautifully executed as it is imaginative.The meat of the twenty-four carat carnage is practical in nature intensifying the aura of midnight movie mania.

The severed hand itself is particularly well realised through the melding of optical chicanery and enterprising camerawork. To add extra character depth the film makers provide the disembodied mitt with a voice of it’s own in a way that’s cunningly resourceful.

The set pieces are played out with uncouth relish and one moment of supreme immaturity storms straight into the hall of fame to take it’s rightful place as main exhibit in the bad taste section.

B- movies are currently very much in vogue with every film festival offering a relevant side bar in their programming from Toronto’s Midnight Madness to London’s Cult strand. Genre entries like Deathgasm and Turbo Kid have proved massively popular and their subsequent hype leaves Bloody Knuckles feeling fresh and fashionably under the Radar.

Blended in with the used condoms as weapons mentality is a sweet love story and an ironically complex fable for our times.The responsibility of artists to explore the moral issues surrounding self censorship and boundless expression has never been greater.

Bloody Knuckles is the type of film that you least expect to explore such cerebral themes and yet it does so with it’s own brand of licentious warmth and maladjusted moxie.

This offensive and relentlessly puerile film is a love letter to direct-to-VHS fodder written on toilet paper using bodily emissions as ink.

Thoroughly recommended.