Donkey Punch (R, 2009)

With style, sun, fun, and drug-fuelled sex that ends in death, Donkey Punch works as an effective cautionary tale. Don't go boating with strange boys/overdo the booze and pills/believe the stories about mythical sexual techniques, or bad things will happen. So says the film, and as the characters squirm about trying to clean up the messes they've made -- with ever-worsening ramifications and a mounting body count -- we're more than willing to listen. As Donkey Punch's plot goes from hi-jinks to homicide, we wind up feeling curiously hopeful for (and, at the same time, judgmental of) all the characters; we've all had a party go a little wrong, and as the characters deal with one little fatal faux pas, we almost sympathize with their plight. Almost.

Although it's in no way meant for teens or kids, when you wipe the blood off of it, Donkey Punch is actually a fairly good suspense thriller for adults; the characters actually matter as characters -- who they are determines the plot, and not vice-versa. Director Oliver Blackburn also has a great eye for shots and lighting: During a drug-fuelled orgy, a room is lit in hazy, glowing soft light; after the room has become a crime scene, the room is seen in bleak, bright glare. Donkey Punch isn't a knockout, but it does go the distance.